Chaos

In late 1911 all of Ecuador was thrown into chaos by the death of President Emilio Estrada who had only been in office for three months. Dr. Martinez and his descendants were affected by the tragic and barbaric events which followed. In May 2013, Exactly 101 years later, a Grandson of Dr. Martinez recounted some of the story of Dr. Martinez’ narrow escape from the barbaric violence which ensued:

(Note that this video can go full-screen by clicking the button on the lower right -looks like a flower
…volume is also controlled by the small vertical blue bars on the lower right)

For a more in-depth discussion of these events see: fxmartinez.net (The Close of the Alfaro Epoch)

Background

Three Grandchildren of Dr. Martinez in front of a statue of President Emilio Estrada. L to R: Miguel Martinez Davalos, Maria Elvira Martinez Davalos, Patrick Connolly Martinez

President Eloy Alfaro’s popularity had declined significantly during his second term (1906 to 1911). By that time there was a serious split in the “Liberal Party” due to several factors. His predecessor, President Leonidas Plaza, was the focus of the opposition to Alfaro within the Liberal Party. Through marriage, Plaza had strong ties to the landed classes in Ecuador and as a result he did not share in Alfaro’s determination to guarantee protection to the economically disadvantaged and oppressed masses in the country. By August 1911 this internal rift was strong enough to bring about a military coup overthrowing Alfaro just weeks before the end of his second term. Dr. Francisco Martinez Aguirre was Minister of Defense (“Ministerio de la Guerra”) at that time; he and a few other advisors had warned Alfaro of the impending danger but Alfaro underestimated the seriousness of the situation. Alfaro’s successor after the coup was President Emilio Estrada, a sick man with heart problems. Three months later, on December 21, 2011 he died, leaving a very dangerous power vacuum in a divided, unstable country.

The Revolt

The general feeling among many was that Leonidas Plaza, focal point of the opposing wing of the Liberal Party, would seize power one way or the other. So within a week of Estrada’s death two other powerful men in the country had proclaimed themselves “Supreme Commander” of the country. Dr. Francisco Martinez Aguirre allied himself with one of these men, General Pedro Montero, who had been the Commander of the Military Garrison in Guayaquil and a staunch supporter of Alfaro. Montero set up a provisional government in Guayaquil. Dr. Martinez was appointed Defense Minister in this provisional Government and his son Miguel, who was by then an Attorney, was also a government official in this provisional government. In the next three weeks three battles would be fought between the forces of this provisional government and the forces of the Quito government; but Montero’s forces were on the losing side of these battles. Defeated militarily, Montero himself was brought to trial and Dr. Martinez, former Defense Minister of the provisional government, had to find a way to leave the country quickly as his life was now in great danger. His grandson, Miguel Martinez Davalos, heard the story of these events from his own father who, as previously mentioned, had also participated in the provisional government of General Montero and in late May of 2013, a century after the actual events, recounted what he heard from his father on the video above.