Venancio López Carrillo (18 May 1830 – 5 February 1870) was a Paraguayan politician and military officer. He was

Carlos Antonio López Carlos Antonio López Ynsfrán (November 4, 1792 – September 10, 1862) was leader of Paraguay from 1841 to 1862. Under his presidency, he undertook a process of economic and political modernization for Paraguay, and ended the isolationist poli ...

's son, and

Francisco Solano López Francisco Solano López Carrillo (24 July 1827 or 1826 – 1 March 1870) was a Paraguay, Paraguayan statesman, Officer (armed forces), military officer and politician who served as President of Paraguay between 1862 and 1870, of which he serve ...

' brother; Carlos was Paraguay's leader between 1841 and 1862, and Francisco was President between 1862 and 1870. Venancio was for years Minister of War and Navy, and, before that, commander of the

Asunción Asunción (, ) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of Asunción in the north ...

Paraguayan Army The Paraguayan Army () is the ground force branch of the Armed Forces of Paraguay. It is organized into three corps and nine divisions, and several commands and direction. It has gone to war on many occasions, notably in the War of the Triple A ...

garrison.

Biography

Early life and studies

Venancio was born in the 18th of May of 1830 in Asunción, being the second of the five children of Paraguayan leader

and his wife Juana Pabla Carrillo. He studied in the capital under notable teachers of the time, including a

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

, Bernardo Parés. From 1850 onwards he was named commander for the

troops stationed in the capital (he was 20 years old), until his brother,

, became president in 1862 in the aftermath of their father's death. Solano then named Venancio his Minister of War and Navy. The entire family had, over the years, become important landowners, including Venancio. In 1864, Venancio married Manuela Otazú. The couple had three children: Venancio Victor (b. 1862, d. 1927), Ercilia (b. 1865, d. 1962) and Carlos (b. 1867).

Work as minister and death

His term as Minister was very eventful. In 1864, the Triple Alliance War started, pitting Paraguay versus

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

and, from 1865 onwards,

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. Brazil alone had a population more than 10 times Paraguay's, so, despite some initial daring moves by the Paraguayan forces, they soon found themselves on the defensive. The conduct of the war was, however, led by his brother, now a Marshal, Francisco Solano. In May 1865, the Marshal named General

Vicente Barrios Vicente Barrios Bedoya ( – December 21, 1868) was a Paraguayan general and politician who was the son-in-law of President Carlos Antonio López. Under López and his successor, Marshal and President Francisco Solano López, Barrios held many po ...

as Minister of War - Venancio went back to Asunción, to once again command its garrison. This was an unimportant role, for the Allied troops were held up by the

Fortress of Humaitá The Fortress of Humaitá (1854–68), known metaphorically as the Rock of Gibraltar, Gibraltar of South America, was a Paraguayan military installation near the mouth of the River Paraguay. A strategic site without equal in the region, "a for ...

and other Paraguayan fortifications, and thus far away from the capital. In 1868, with the war's fortunes dwindling for Paraguay, Solano López announced he had discovered a conspiracy to murder him, led by Charles Ames Washburn, the chief American diplomat in Paraguay. In the months after this, he ordered the arrest of hundreds of Paraguayans from the leading families of the country, and most of the resident foreigners, for complicity in the plot; Venancio, their other brother Benigno, and their mother and sisters were amongst the arrested. Most of the arrested were killed after sham-trials in the San Fernando massacre; according to documents of the time, Venancio was spared for showing regret for his role in the conspiracy. Venancio was tortured over the following months and, in one of the final deadly marches in the Campaign of the Hills in 1870, mere weeks before the

Battle of Cerro Corá The Battle of Cerro Corá () was the last battle of the Paraguayan War, fought on 1 March 1870, in the vicinity of Cerro Corá, northeast of Paraguay's capital Asunción. It is known for being the battle in which Francisco Solano López, Par ...

(which concluded the war), underfed, exhausted and shackled, he collapsed and was subsequently killed by an unknown Paraguayan officer. This happened near Chiriguelo.

References

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* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:López, Venancio 1830 births 1870 deaths People of the Paraguayan War Military personnel from Asunción Defence ministers of Paraguay Children of presidents