page_title: History of Ecuador (1830–1860)
section_title: 1859: the Terrible Year
hierarchical_section_title: History of Ecuador (1830–1860) / 1859: the Terrible Year
caption_attribution_description: English: Picture of the former ecuadorian president Gabriel garcía Moreno. Español: Imagen del ex-presidente ecuatoriano Gabriel García Moreno.
context_page_description: The history of the Republic of Ecuador from 1830 to 1860 begins with the collapse of the nation of Gran Colombia in 1830, followed by the assassination of Antonio José de Sucre and the death of Simón Bolívar from tuberculosis the same year. Heartbroken at the dissolution of Gran Colombia, Bolívar is quoted to have said shortly before his death, "America is ungovernable. Those who have served the revolution have plowed the sea." These words would seem prophetic during the chaotic first thirty years in the existence of Ecuador.
  General Juan José Flores became the first President of Ecuador, ruling from 1830 to 1834. In 1834, facing a rebellion, he co-opted its presidential choice, José Vicente Rocafuerte y Rodríguez de Bejarano, and supported his presidency, while retaining considerable power as the commander of the military. In 1839, Rocafuerte retired, and Flores regained the presidency. In 1845, the Marcist Rebellion forced him into exile.
  The next fifteen years saw much turmoil, as various factions struggled for supremacy. Matters came to a head in 1859, the "Terrible Year" in Ecuadorian history. Then President Francisco Robles faced several opposition movements.
context_section_description: By 1859, known in Ecuadorian history books as the "Terrible Year", the country was poised on the brink of a leadership crisis. President Robles, faced with the threat of the Peruvian blockade, moved the national capital to Guayaquil, and charged General José María Urbina with defending it. In the wake of this unpopular move, a series of opposition movements championed by regional caudillos were formed. On May 1, a conservative triumvirate, initiated by Dr. Gabriel García Moreno, Pacífico Chiriboga and Jerónimo Carrión (Robles' vice president), formed the Provisional Government of Quito. On May 6, Carrión separated himself from the triumvirate, and formed a short-lived government in the city of Cuenca; he was deposed the next day by forces loyal to Robles. 
  General Urbina promptly set out for Quito to subdue García Moreno and his movement. The Provisional Government was no match for Urbina, and fell in June. García Moreno fled to Peru, where he requested the support of President Castilla; the Peruvian leader supplied him with weapons and ammunition to subvert the Robles regime. Believing that he had the support of the Peruvians, in July, García Moreno published a manifesto in a July edition of the Peruvian newspaper El Comercio, calling on his countrymen to accept Peru as their ally against Robles, despite the territorial dispute and blockade. Shortly afterwards, García Moreno traveled to Guayaquil, where he met with General Guillermo Franco, General Commander of the District of Guayas and third in the Urvinista caudillo hierarchy, after Urbina and Robles. García Moreno proposed that they disavow Robles' government and declare free elections. While Franco accepted, he also aspired to the presidency of the republic, and would prove to be willing to betray his country to satisfy his desire for power.
  As García Moreno was trying to resurrect his movement, the mediation efforts of the Granadine Confederation (a short-lived federal republic) and Chile had fallen through, with both countries blaming Peru for the failure. The Peruvians were playing to all sides in the civil dispute; on August 31, 1859, Castilla betrayed his commitment to García Moreno, and came to an agreement with Franco that resulted in the end of the blockade of Guayaquil. Several weeks later, the Mosquera-Zelaya Protocol, the result of the secret agreement between Peru and Cauca to take control of Ecuador, was signed in Popayán. 
  When he received word of Franco's allegiance with Castilla, Robles disavowed their treaty, and moved the capital once again, this time to Riobamba, where he handed over leadership of the government to Jerónimo Carrión. He and Urbina would leave the country for good within a fortnight. Meanwhile, Rafael Carvajal, a member of the defeated Provisional Government, invaded Ecuador from the border to the north; within the month, Carvajal had reestablished the Provisional Government in Quito. Finally, on September 17, Guillermo Franco declared himself Supreme Chief of Guayas; however, Babahoyo, Vinces and Daule sided with the Provisional Government. On September 18, an assembly in Loja named Manuel Carrión Pinzano military and civil chief of the province; the following day, Carrión Pinzano called a new assembly that established a federal government presiding over Loja, El Oro and Zamora. On September 26, Cuenca affirmed its allegiance to the Provisional Government.
  With the domestic situation at its most tumultuous, and the Peruvian blockade of the rest of the Ecuadorian coast nearing the end of its first year, Castilla sought to take advantage of the circumstances to impose a favorable border settlement. On September 20, Castilla wrote to Quito to declare his support for the Provisional Government; ten days later, he sailed from Callao with an invasion force. While stopped over in the port of Paita, in Peru, Castilla proposed to the Ecuadorians that they form a single government which could negotiate an agreement to end the blockade and the territorial dispute.
caption: Dr. Gabriel García Moreno, leader of the Provisional Government of Quito
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