MundoAndino Home : Peru Andes Travel: Peru culture, lodging, travel, and tours
Miguel Iglesias
Miguel Iglesias Pino de Arce was a Peruvian soldier and politician who held the presidency of Peru in 1883-5.
The original name of the family was de la Iglesia. Their ancestor was Captain Alvaro de la Iglesia who fought against the Moors in Spain in the eighth century. Lorenzo Iglesias Espinach left his home town of Solivella in Catalonia in the early 1800s to join three uncles on his mother's side who had founded the Chota silver mine, near the town of Cajamarca, in the county of the same name,in north Peru, in 1780. Lorenzo Iglesias Espinach became both the heir of his uncles and sub-Prefect of Cajamarca; was a friend of Simon Bolivar who stayed with him in Cajamarca; and was one of the group of dissident Spanish colonists who supported independence from Spain. In 1820 Lorenzo Iglesias married Rosa Pino and their son, Miguel, was born ten years later.
Miguel Iglesias Pino, later General and President, and known to posterity as "El Pacificador" inherited a estate from his forbears, as well as lucrative silver mines. His power in the town of Cajamarca and the surrounding area was that of a feudal magnate and he had been recruiting troops with his own money - effectively a private army - since the 1866 war with Spain. He had been one of the senior army officers present at the Peruvian victory on the "Dos de mayo", was given the rank of Colonel, and named as Prefect of Cajamarca. In 1874, Iglesias initiated a revolution against the government of President Manuel Pardo and proclaimed himself political and military Chief of the North. Even though Iglesias's rebellion was a failure, he was not brought to account because no-one in Lima dared to confront the power of Iglesias in Cajamarca. Thus, Iglesias was able to consolidate his position in his northern Peruvian fiefdom. When war broke out in 1879, between a coalition of Peru allied with Bolivia, ranged against Chile, Iglesias commenced to raise a new private militia.
Need more information for your travel research or homework?
Ask your questions at the forum about Presidents of Peru or help others to find answers.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article Miguel Iglesias
