Jorge Córdova
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Jorge Córdova | |
---|---|
12th President of Bolivia | |
In office 15 August 1855 – 9 September 1857 | |
Preceded by | Manuel Isidoro Belzu |
Succeeded by | José María Linares |
Personal details | |
Born | La Paz, Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata (now Bolivia) | 23 April 1822
Died | 23 October 1861 La Paz, Bolivia | (aged 39)
Cause of death | Assassination |
Nationality | Bolivian |
Spouse(s) | Edelmira Belzu Gorriti |
Relatives | Manuel Isidoro Belzu (father-in-law) |
Signature | |
Military service | |
Allegiance | Bolivia |
Rank | Lieutenant Colonel |
Battles/wars | Battle of Ingavi |
Jorge Córdova (23 April 1822, La Paz – 23 October 1861) was a Bolivian general and politician who served as the 12th President of Bolivia from 1855 to 1857.
A general, Córdova was longtime dictator Manuel Isidoro Belzu's son-in-law. As such, he was the main support to his despotic regime. When in 1855 Belzu decided to call elections and "retire" from politics in the face of repeated rebellions against his rule, he sponsored Córdova's candidacy. The latter was elected president and proceeded to be sworn in on August 15, 1855, at age thirty-three. Not surprisingly, Córdova was widely seen as ex-president Belzu's proxy, and merely an instrument of his power. Belzu remained the proverbial "power behind the throne," and this fact only spurred the opposition to continue to conspire against the hated Belzu-Córdova regime, which had run Bolivian politics since 1847. Eventually, the forces arrayed against the president coalesced around the forceful civilian Constitutionalist José María Linares, who in October 1857 at long last succeeded in toppling Córdova from power. Fleeing the country, he eventually returned to Bolivia, eager as always to support his father-in-law's ambitions to return to the .
Former president Jorge Córdova was assassinated on 23 October 1861, during the so-called "" (Yáñez Bloodbath), when president José María de Achá's supporter and military governor of , , massacred dozens of opposition figures, many of them from the pro-Belzu camp. He was 39 years old at the time of his death.
References[]
- 1822 births
- 1862 deaths
- 19th-century Bolivian politicians
- Assassinated Bolivian politicians
- Bolivian military personnel
- Bolivian people of Spanish descent
- Candidates in the 1855 Bolivian presidential election
- Leaders ousted by a coup
- Murder in 1862
- People from La Paz
- People murdered in Bolivia
- People of the War of the Confederation
- Presidents of Bolivia
- Bolivian politician stubs