One of the most turbulent periods in…

One of the most turbulent periods in Ecuador's century and a half as a nation are the fifteen years from 1845 to 1860.

The marcistas fight among themselves almost ceaselessly and also have to struggle against former president Juan José Flores's repeated attempts from exile to overthrow the government.

The first marcista president had been a businessman, Vicente Ramon Roca, who served a full four-year term of office.

The most signifcant figure of the era, however, is General José Maria Urvina, who had first come to power in 1851 through a coup d'etat, remains in the presidency until 1856, then continues to dominate the political scene until 1860.

During this decade and the one that follows, Urbina and his archrival, Garcia Moreno, will define the dichotomy—between Liberals from Guayaquil and Conservatives from Quito—that will remain the major sphere of political struggle in Ecuador in the late twentieth century.