Luis José de Orbegoso

Peru's transition from more than three centuries of colonial rule to nominal independence in 1824 under President Bolivar (1824-26) proves tortuous and politically destablizing.

Independence does little to alter the fundamental structures of inequality and underdevelopment based on colonialism and Andean neo-feudalism.

Essentially, independence represents the transfer of power from Spanish-born whites (peninsulares) to sectors of the elite Creole class, whose aim is to preserve and enhance their privileged socioeconomic status.

However, the new Creole elite is unable to create a stable, new constitutional order to replace the crown monolith of church and state.

Nor is it willing to restructure the social order in a way conducive to building a viable democratic, republican government.

Ultimately, the problem is one of replacing the legitimacy of the old order with an entirely new one, something that many post-colonial regimes have difficulty accomplishing.

By one count, Peru experiences at least twenty-four regime changes, averaging one per year between 1821 and 1845, and the constitution is rewritten six times.

This is not to say that larger political issues do not inform these conflicts.

A revisionist study by historian Paul E. Gootenberg shows in great detail how the politics of trade (free or protectionist) and regionalism were central to the internecine caudillo struggles of the period.

In this interpretation, nationalist elites—backing one caudillo or another—manage to outmaneuver and defeat liberal groups to maintain a largely protectionist, neomercantilistic, post- colonial regime until the advent of the guano boom at mid-century.

This view stands in opposition to the dominant interpretation of the period, according to which unrestricted liberalism and free trade led to Peru's "dependency" on the international economy and the West.

A particularly virulent form of Andean caudillismo surges into the political vacuum left by the collapse of Spanish rule.

Caudillo strongmen, often officers from the liberation armies, manage to seize power through force of arms and the elaboration of extensive and intricate clientelistic alliances.

Personalistic, arbitrary rule replaces the rule of law, and a prolonged and often byzantine struggle for power is waged at all levels of society.

The upshot is internal political fragmentation and chronic political instability during the first two decades of the post-independence era.

On the other hand, the large-scale importation of British textiles after independence virtually destroys the production of native artisans and obrajes, which are unable to compete with their more technologically advanced and cost-efficient overseas competitors.

For the most part, however, the economy will continue in the immediate decades after independence to be characterized by a low level of marketable surplus from largely self-sufficient haciendas and native communities.

The chaotic Peruvian era of the caudillo, however bewildering, can be divided into several distinct periods.

In the first, Bolívar had tried, unsuccessfully, to impose a centralist and Utopian liberal government from Lima.

When events in Colombia caused him to relinquish power and return to Bogotá in 1826, his departure left an immediate vacuum that numerous Peruvian strongmen will try to fill.

One of the most successful in terms of tenure is the conservative General Agustîn Gamarra (1829-34) from Cusco, who manages to crush numerous rebellions and maintain power for five years.

Then full-scale civil wars carry first General Luis de Orbegoso (1834-35) and then General Felipe Salaverry (1835-36) into the presidential palace for short terms.

The power struggles reach such a chaotic state by the mid-1830s that General Andres de Santa Cruz  y Calahumana marches into Peru from Bolivia to impose the Peru- Bolivia Confederation of 1836-39.

This alliance upsets the regional balance of power and causes Chile to raise an army to defeat Santa Cruz and restore the status quo ante, which, in effect, means a resumption of factional conflict that will last well into the 1840s.

Peru's descent into chronic political instability, coming immediately after the destructive wars for independence (1820-24), accelerates the country's general post-independence economic decline.

Silver mining, the country's traditional engine of growth, had collapsed during the 1820s,  and massive capital flight had resulted in large external deficits.

A new Peruvian parliament is formed in 1833, but this time it is hostile towards Gamarra.

Since his term as president is already over and there is no time to call for elections, parliament resolves to turn the presidency over to General Luis Orbegoso.

Gamarra does not recognize the new government, and prepares to challenge Orbegoso.

However, popular opinion and most of the army rally against him, and he is frustrated in his effort to again seize power.

General Luis José de Orbegoso also has to deal with General Felipe Salaverry, who, after the establishment of the republic had rose in the army, until, at the age of twenty-eight, he had obtained the rank of general.

When the garrison of Callao revolts against Orbegoso in January 1835, pronouncing in favor of La Fuente, Salaverry defeats the insurgents, and is appointed governor of the fortress.

Nevertheless, on February 23, he himself rises in arms against the government, and as Orbegoso abandons Lima, Salaverry occupies the capital and proclaims himself "Supreme Chief of the Republic.”

In a few months, he has possession of the south, and Orbegoso has been reduced to commanding a small force in the northern provinces.

Orbegoso does not lose the support of southern Peru, however, and calls in to his help the president of Bolivia.

It is the opportunity that Marshal Santa Cruz, himself a former president of Peru, has been waiting for.

The Bolivian army promptly proceeds to invade Peru.

Luis José de Orbegoso, with Bolivian help, quickly regains his leadership throughout Peru.

Felipe Santiago de Salaverry retires to Arequipa, and on February 7, 1836, is totally routed at Socabaya, a district of the city.

After wandering for several days, Salaverry surrenders to General Miller, who delivers him to Andrés de Santa Cruz, and he is shot.

Orbegoso agrees to the formation of the new Peru-Bolivian Confederation as a reward for the support he had received from Andrés de Santa Cruz.

Santa Cruz is to assume the supreme protectorship of the confederation and Orbegoso is to maintain only the presidency of the newly created Nor-Peruvian state.