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Biography of Ramón CastillaName: Ramón CastillaBirth Date: August 31, 1797 Death Date: May 25, 1867 Place of Birth: Tarapacá, Peru Nationality: Peruvian Gender: Male Occupations: military leader, political leader, president Ramón Castilla Ramón Castilla (1797-1867) was a Peruvian military and political leader. After a distinguished military career he became president of Peru and provided his country with its first period of order, progress, and reform.Ramón Castilla was born on Aug. 31, 1797, of mixed European-native parentage in Tarapacá (now Chile). When the wars of independence began, he joined the royalist forces in Chile and served from 1812 to 1817, when he was captured by the Argentine-Chilean patriot forces. Sent to a camp near Buenos Aires, he escaped and made his way to Peru. His royalist service continued until 1820, when, shortly after José de San Martin's liberating expedition arrived from Chile, Castilla changed sides. He served with distinction under the command of San Martín and Simón Bolívar until the war ended in 1824.For the next 20 years Castilla moved in and out of the army, occasionally …showed first 150 words…
…showed last 150 words…of guano, and the government borrowed heavily against future guano receipts, setting a pattern to be followed by succeeding administrations.Castilla retired from office in 1862 but kept an active interest in national affairs. In 1864 he was exiled after he had quarreled with the new president, Juan Antonio Pezet, because he considered that the recently negotiated Vivanco-Pareja Treaty with Spain was an affront to the national honor. In 1867 Castilla headed a revolt against Pezet's successor, Mariano Ignacio Prado, but died, apparently from overexertion, on May 25 before the campaign had reached its conclusion. Further Reading While there is an extensive literature in Spanish, there is no biography of Castilla in English. His life and career are discussed in Fredrick B. Pike, Modern History of Peru (1967), and in other general histories of Peru. For a favorable contemporary view of Castilla by a well-informed Britisher see Sir Clements Markham, Travels in Peru and India (1862). |