Vicente Ramón Roca

Vicente Ramón Roca Rodríguez (2 September 1792 – 23 February 1858) was President of Ecuador from 8 December 1845 to 15 October 1849. He was a member of the Liberal Party. He led the revolution that overthrew Juan José Flores, along with José Joaquín de Olmedo and Diego Noboa. He ruled under the Constitution of 1845.

Biography

Early life

Born in Guayaquil, on September 2, 1792, the son of Colonel Bernardo Roca and Ignacia Rodríguez, was educated privately at home. It is unknown whether he completed high school; likewise, there are no records indicating that he attended any university. He was a merchant, and it is known that he traveled as far as British Jamaica. Afterwards he served in Guayaquil as chief of police, and the Republic of Ecuador as a representative and senator for four terms. He was also Governor the province of Guayas on three different terms starting in 1836.

Spanish American wars of independence

Participating in the victory at the Battle of Pichincha with Marshal Antonio José de Sucre, he became friends with Simón Bolívar and with other prominent politicians in Gran Colombia who acknowledged him for his service as administrator of the Municipal Revenues of Guayaquil.Gomezjurado, Severo (1955). Vida de García Moreno. Tomo II. Cuenca: El Tiempo. However, in the final days before the separation of Gran Colombia, he had a falling out with Simón Bolívar and his loyalist inner circle.

March Revolution (Ecuador)

Vicente Ramon Roca was one of the leaders of the March 1845 Revolution against the presidency of Juan José Flores. This revolution marked the beginning of an Ecuadorian nationalist period that lasted until the crisis of 1858–1860. On March 6, 1845, troops under the command of General Antonio Elizalde seized the Cavalry Barracks in Guayaquil. A council of prominent citizens formed a Triumvirate Provisional Government, composed of José Joaquín de Olmedo, Vicente Ramón Roca, and Diego Noboa, representing the regional powers of Quito, Guayaquil, and Cuenca, respectively.

The most urgent task of the Provisional Government was to gain the support of the rest of the country, defeat President Juan José Flores, restore constitutional order, justify the coup d’état, and offer the nation new hope. Between March and June, the triumvirate achieved national recognition. However, they were unable to defeat Flores, who had entrenched himself in his estate, La Elvira, near Babahoyo.

The historical period that followed is known as the "''Marcista''" period because it began that March. Its spirit was that of an independent Ecuador for Ecuadorians; however, it ended in a political crisis, with a nation fractured into four sectors. During this period, two civilians, one veteran, and two Creole military officers fought for power. Previously from 1830 until 1845, President Flores had maintained national unity by mediating the conflicting economic interests of the Coastal and the Highlands regions, however, during this process Flores increasingly tied the nation with his own personal identity. The balance of power had shifted toward the Highlands ''Sierra'', and now it was the Costal region turn. Between 1845 and 1860, the great mediator between the two regional interests was General José María Urbina, the fourth president during this ''Marcista'' period. National unity and patriotism was extrinsic: it was embodied in strong men, not in a sense of national identity or in a feeling of belonging to a community. The lower classes in the leftovers of the Spanish caste system, were not in a position to formulate their government. To survive, they had to become supporters of one of the competing patrons.
Nonetheless, this Marcista period signified an opening to broader democratic principles, an independence from foreign militarism, greater attention to blacks and indigenous peoples by the state, and a modest attempt to make the nation more independent from the power of the landed aristocracy and commerce.

In the end the Provisional Government won the war, as Flores, driven by his aristocratic survival instincts, decided to negotiate. At Hacienda '' La Virginia'', Olmedo’s estate, Flores proposed self-exile in Europe for a couple of years if the Provisional Government maintained his military rank, honors, salary, and lands. Likewise, he would be retroactively payed all owed wages and be given a stipend of 20 thousand pesos, equivalent in present day to around a million USD.

Constitution of 1845

The Provisional Government accepted the terms with the coined phrase “To the enemy, a silver bridge.” No sooner had Flores embarked on June 17, 1845, than the triumvirate convened a Constituent Assembly to draft a fourth Constitution and elect a new national leader. With the house put in order and democracy virtually restored, the time had come to justify, urbi et orbi, before the country and America, the March Revolution. José María Cucalón, the general secretary, sent out the “Manifesto of the Provisional Government of Ecuador on the Causes of the Present Transformation,” dated July 6, 1845, Year 1 of Liberty.

The document, spanning 12,000 words, laid out “the powerful reasons that compelled us to reject the illegal authority that governed us.” It identified as a remote cause “the seed of unrest and revolution,” a characteristic of Ecuador since its birth in 1830. It stated that “everything in Colombia and Venezuela was national,” whereas “everything in Ecuador was foreign.” It saw the immediate cause in the countless abuses of Flores. It invoked the U.S. Constitution and the doctrine of various legal scholars to justify the principle that “the people have the right and duty to shake off the yoke” that oppresses them.

It asserted that it was the people of the entire country, not just those of Guayas, who rose up. It prayed to God to grant the people “love for order and a spirit of unity,” and to bestow upon the government to be elected “the peace of liberty,” along with “moderation, zeal, and perseverance.” The Colombian-Venezuelan tricolor could no longer symbolize this new era of true national and Ecuadorian independence. The three vertical stripes—white, sky blue, and white—of the new flag represented the three regions of the country and symbolized peace and liberty. It did not bear a white star in the center because it was not the flag of Guayaquil but of the entire nation. And everything had to be new: following the chronology of the French Revolution, the Provisional Government designated 1845 as Year 1 of Liberty. Fourteen years later, in Year XV of Liberty, Ecuador as a sovereign nation and unified country was on the verge of disappearing.

It was the result of the meeting in Cuenca, following the Marcist Revolution of Guayaquil. Among the main provisions of this new Constitution were:
• Citizenship was granted to those who could read and write, were at least 21 years old, and owned property worth 500 pesos or had a specified income.
• The Catholic religion was the only recognized faith in Ecuador.
• Intellectual property was guaranteed.
• It was established that “No one is born a slave in the Republic, nor can anyone be introduced into it in such a condition without becoming free.” Thus slavery was abolished in Ecuador.

Presidency

Elections and Reforms

After 76 valid counts, the Assembly elected Roca as president with 27 votes against 13 for Olmedo. “Convinced that the candidate for whom I have voted more than 80 times will not be elected… and that an indefinite resistance will produce no beneficial effect, I vote for President Vicente Ramón Roca,” reasoned Deputy José María Vallejo.

Rocafuerte, who had invariably voted for Olmedo, had a famous outburst: “The merchant’s rod has been preferred over the Muse of Junín.” He was referring to the rod of the god Mercury, patron of merchants, contrasting with Olmedo’s ode to Bolívar. Allegations of vote-buying arose, but there was no evidence of such actions. However, Roca used his influence, while Olmedo did not lift a finger—he was beyond good and evil. Roca governed with sagacity and tolerance. He formed a cabinet of competent individuals and respected the opposition, which attacked him from newspapers like El Zurriago (The Whip), El Vengador (The Avenger), El Rebenque (The Horsewhip), El Progresista (The Progressive), El Viejo Chihuahua (The Old Chihuahua), and Fray Francisco y el Padre Tarugo (Friar Francisco and Father Tarugo). However, he acted passionately against Flores’ supporters, especially when he learned that the general was preparing in Europe for a Spanish reconquest of Ecuador in collaboration with Queen Maria Christina of Bourbon-Two Sicilies.

He promoted production through an Agricultural Board created in Guayaquil, improved the administration of justice by introducing juries, and organized the economy. However, government revenues reached only 854,435 pesos in the best year. This fiscal shortage was significantly influenced by the mobilization of Colombian troops against Ecuador and Flores’ expedition. The mobilization was a response to the Marcista revolutionaries’ project to reclaim some of the territories won by Colombia during Flores’ time. However, it was not a serious project, no war occurred, and a Peace and Friendship Treaty was signed, leaving Ecuador’s claim to the Amazonian territories between the Caquetá and Putumayo rivers open.

The Threat of Reconquest

Flores sought to avenge the breach of the “Treaties of La Virginia” and the vile assassination of his most effective lieutenant, General Juan Otamendi. “I will soon leave here at the head of a fleet and an army, which will make you see that I have firm and powerful supporters in Europe,” Flores wrote to his wife on September 13, 1846. With financial backing from the bankers of Queen Maria Christina of Spain, he purchased the steamships Monarca and Neptuno and the sailing ship Gleneig in London, hiring three thousand Spanish, English, and Irish mercenaries. The news appeared in The Times, the Daily News, the Journal des Débats, and several Spanish newspapers.

On October 13, Ecuador received the grim news. A message from Buenos Aires to Quito stated that “the Spanish Government offers Flores, if he succeeds in regaining power in Ecuador and forming an army, to grant him and his descendants everything that today constitutes the Republic of Ecuador, making him the Prince of the Reconquest.” Years later, Flores denied any intention of reconquest. Panic ensued. The army was put on war footing, and Flores’ slaves, furniture, and livestock were sold to cover part

Scandals and Last days

Roca experienced his own hardships: he made enemies while serving in Municipal Revenues. He was accused by Francisco Tamaríz, Minister of Finance under Rocafuerte, of dubious deals that Roca distorted in the press. He emerged from the presidency impoverished. After his roquista party was defeated, he was exiled to Peru in 1851. When he returned to Guayaquil, he led an insecure and modest life behind a desk as an employee at his cousin Agustín Roca’s trading house. He died in Guayaquil at the age of 66.Gomezjurado, Severo (1955). Vida de García Moreno. Volume II. Cuenca: El Tiempo.

References

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Ecuadorian Radical Liberal Party politicians
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