[The following write-up was originally written in four parts, which attributes to it's lengthy-ness...]
Here's a list of Presidents of the Republic of Cartagena as of 1913 in
Forgotten No More, or;
Aqui tenemos una lista de los Presidentes de la Republica de Cartagena hasta el año 1913:
La republica en el año 1913
First Constitution
- Juan Pablo Maria Pimienta (Independiente/Cartagena) 1837-1857
- Marco Antonio Bosporo (Cartagena) 1857-1863 î
- Mariano Ospina Rodriquez (Conservador) 1863-1873
- Rafael Núñez Moledo (Democracia) 1873-1877
Second Constitution
- Rafael Núñez Moledo (Bolivariano) 1877-1885
- Miguel Antonio Caro Tobar (Bolivariano Nationalista) 1885-1889
- José Manuel Cespedez Polo (Nationalista) 1889-1901
- Ramón González Valencia (Nationalista) 1901-1909
- Juan Pablo Bellido de Luna (Nationalista) 1909--
î = Impeached
The Republic was born out of the hands of opportunity. Juan Pablo Maria Pimienta, the mayor of Cartagena, had overseen the prosperity of the city in the times of lawlessness that resulted from the New Grenada-Venezuela conflicts. It helped that he was wealthy, and had led a revival of the city as migration picked up once more throughout the 1820’s. His tenure oversaw deep relations with American businessmen with Cartagena becoming the door to South America. He met some of the American Federalist Party top-brass as a result and found himself in New Orleans during the American Conference. At the end of the Pan-America diplomatic assembly, Pimienta would be returning home to Cartagena with preparations for statehood.
Of course, Pimienta had already discussed this with American officials nearly a year before the conference. When he got back to Cartagena and the news was relayed, Pimienta oversaw a Constitutional Convention to formally organize the government over the region placed under his control. Established was a federal government structure with a President and a single legislative body, called the Chamber of Delegates. The capital city was the official seat of the government and held seats in the chamber as well, giving it disproportional control over the rest of the country as a large portion of the population lived in the city. Pimienta was unanimously elected President for a five-year term to start in 1837.
The Pimienta Era of the Republic of Cartagena is characterized by four consecutive terms by President Juan Pablo Maria Pimienta, from 1837 until 1857 when he announced he would not seek a fifth term. The Era can be characterized by the emergence of Cartagena as the economic leader in the region, controlling the inland routes of trade from New Grenada and Peru. Pimienta was what is called a Duque or Duke, a style of political leader who became common in the Republic’s early history due to fervent Pimienta followers calling him el Duque (the Duke). It’s characteristics are similar to a legal dictatorship, with President Pimienta being almost completely unopposed thanks to a very loyal Chamber of Delegates. He passed various initiatives, including the creation of the Federal Bank of Cartagena, similar to the U.S. National Bank. Most of his actions benefited the capital city moreso than the rest of the country, however. This caused tension in his last term as the aging President, 71 at the time, called for a national draft movement and intervened in the Pais de Virgin Maria (Country of the Virgin Mary) attempts at conquest in Uraba. The old President oversaw harsh crackdowns of campesino revolts outside of the capital and was ultimately successful in his goals of annexing the Uraba region of New Grenada for Cartagena (along with Eastern Panama) after the collapse of the PVM in 1856. Today, Pimienta is viewed at odds, some calling his crack downs of political freedoms of the campesinos in the “Machete Massacres of 1853” as terrible, while others point to the strong economic prosperity (mostly in Cartagena City proper) and expansion of the Republic under his rule.
The first President quickly organized himself and his band of followers in the Chamber of Delegates behind the Partido de Cartagena (PC), a business oriented, Federalist style party. Those early years saw the party revolve around Pimienta himself. Pimienta's actions in his fourth term, including the draft and Machete Massacre, would be the early signs of the coming end of PC control of Cartagena politics.
Pimienta was followed by the First Delegate of the Chamber during Pimienta's last term, Marco Antonio Bosporo. Bosporo generally supported Pimienta throughout his last term and while the leader of the party in the legislature, he perhaps wasn't the best suited to lead the nation. The public outcry over the lack of payment for troops called during the draft would also become a problem for Bosporo's term. He managed to win the election of 1862, but when electoral fraud was discovered he was impeached and replaced by the First Delegate of the Chamber, Mariano Ospina Rodriguez, a member of the opposition.
Rodriguez was from Antioquia and after a stint fighting for the independence of New Grenada, joined the Republic of Cartagena with distaste over the political atmosphere that had settled in Bogota. In Cartagena, he founded the Partido Conservador de Cartagena (PCC) to challenge President Pimienta. While Pimienta and the PC controlled the government early, the economic hardships of the early 1860s saw the PCC thrust into power in the Chamber of Delegates. The PCC managed to gain a foothold amongst a large number of Cartagena districts and the scandal against Bosporo gave Rodriguez a chance to run the country how he envisioned it. Rodriguez oversaw a redistricting of the Chamber of Delegates in 1864 and oversaw the adoption of a term limit of two terms. He has pushed hard for education in the country as well as for the establishment of the coffee industry as a major part of the countries economy and throughout the countryside. He was re-elected in 1867.
In 1877, Moledo reformed the Constitution under liberal guidelines, and had begun spewing Bolivarian rhetoric. He won election as President once more under the second constitution. Toledo joined the United States in it's war efforts in the late 1870s against Spain, and their efforts were rewarded with 'foreign aid' the United States sent back in return. Cartagena's effort was mostly in the sea's, providing naval support against the Spanish fleet. After the war, Moledo continued his efforts at expanding Cartagena's economic and diplomatic outreach. By 1880, both the German Empire and the United Kingdom, had signed lucrative deals with Cartagena. While somewhat to the ire of the United States, Moledo recognized Cartagena's proper sovereignty. It is also around this time that Moledo signed the Gran Colombian Conference Accord in conjunction with New Grenada and Venezuela. The three nations had been the center of early disputes at the beginning of the Century, but Moledo and leading politicians in the other nations, envisioned a strong diplomatic and economic partnership.
Moledo was re-elected in 1880 against the Traditionalist candidate. Moledo is one of the most popular Cartegenan presidents, and his record of government reform continued in his final term. After news began spreading throughout the Caribbean that the United Kingdom and Central America intended to build a canal in Nicaragua, Cartagena erupted with activity. The German Empire had sent an ambassador to negotiate a deal where Germany would cover the majority of the cost, for a long-term lease at a low-ish percentage of the profits. Unfortunately for Germany, the United States was also looking to build a canal along the thin Virgin Coast, also known as Panama, and the United States had been a long-time ally. President Allison of the United States had instructed Secretary of State Cameron to pursue a deal with Cartagena in early 1884. The American deal was less ideal than the German one, to a degree, and Moledo wanted to weigh out his options. Considering elections were coming that year and he was not standing for re-election, Moledo advised American ambassadors to wait until the new President was inaugurated in early 1885. Confident in his re-election and unable to pursue the matter further, Allison agreed.
The 1884 elections saw Vice-President Caro getting elected. A famed scholar and poet, Caro never attended university. Still, he was well versed in a variety of subjects, such as economics, law, and Latin. Caro had heard the guidance of President Moledo, who advised him to demand the Pacific islands the Americans currently control in exchange for acceptance of the deal.
But President Caro, as of the summer of 1885, has yet to hear from the American embassy on the matter. The Germans remain with their offer, and the Dutch and Danes have also come knocking. It remains to be seen what Caro's legacy will be.
Moledo's successor, Miguel Caro, did as his pre-descessor suggested, and demanded the the Galapagos Islands as part of the Virgin Coast Canal Contract with the United States; a demand that would ultimately be agreed to by President Knickerbocker at the time. In truth, this was an early masterstroke for Caro, who immediately was liked by many across the country. But aside from this, Caro very much ran the executive like the Conservative he once was.
Originally a Conservative, Caro had been made Moledo's Vice-President as part of the alliance of Conservatives, Nationalists and Liberals that over saw the reforms of 1876. With this in mind, as his Presidency went on Caro shut out large portions of the Liberals within the Bolivariano government. Of particular disagreement between the two factions was Caro's distancing from the
Bolivarian idea itself of unity amongst the three nations of Cartagena, New Grenada and Venezuela. For example, Caro was opposed to the free trade measures the Liberals had pushed through between the three nations. His presidency would see a new split within the main party in Cartagena between his own Nationalista faction and the Liberal faction.
Caro was succeeded by another poet, scholar, and Nationalist, José Cespedez, who would be known as Cartagena's Custer by American scholars (and Custer as
el Cespedez del EEUU) though the two men would have some rather stark differences. While Custer had made his rise to the Presidency in the United States as a heroic, though not tactical, general of the people; whereas Cespedez had studied literature, philosophy and jurisprudence. Nonetheless, like Custer, Cespedez would be elected for three, four year terms. Like Custer, Cespedez would also oversee his country's involvement in the Great War. And lastly, that involvement would end with the significant expansion of both men's respective nations.
Cespedez worked out deals with varying Liberal factions that largely saw the Liberals oppose the now anti-Bolivarian Venezuelan government. With this peace between the political factions secured, Cartagena did not suffer from internal turmoil when the war begin. As a result, Cespedez won his initial re-election on the backs of securing peace between the Liberals and Nationalists. But the war was coming, even if not everyone in Cartagena was aware -- and it was coming fast. By 1894, escalations had gone hot and both Central America and Venezuela had been brought in on the opposing side. Still, Cespedez supported the war effort, calling it a 'moment of truth and clarity for the Cartagenan people and Cartagena as a nation.' Efforts against Central America were the most successful, but Venezuela had broken through lines in the East as the 1896 elections came around.
None the less, Cespedez was re-elected in a highly controversial election. Like the 1896 election in the United States, the 1896 election in Cartagena was wrought with questionable actions. Firstly, Cespedez and the Nationalists had tightened dissent laws and speech laws and sent troops to "protect the polls." The Liberals called fraud and once again became vocally against the government. But Cespedez would not suffer the same fate as Custer. His opponent never died, his wife was never caught up in a conspiracy, any stolen election never really "proven," and most importantly, a changing fortune (and American help) post-1896 saw the tide turn against Venezuela, and Central America's total collapse. As part of the peace treaty, Cartagena gained the entirety of the Venezuela Bay from Venezuela, along with gaining control over the Central American provinces of Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Shortly after victory was declared, Cespedez announced he would be stepping down for good after this term. For this, Cespedez is remembered rather fondly in Cartagena, at least for the time being.
Cespedez was succeeded by military hero Ramon Gonzalez Valencia, who was one of the more popular names in the country. Valencia was President for two terms, a strong conservative within the Nationalista Party, but his Presidency saw the rise of tensions with the Liberals once more. After his re-election, a Civil War of sorts began in Cartagena as the Liberals called the government illegitimate. Valencia staunchly opposed the insurgents, but also grew opposed to the office of the Presidency and so he refused to run again. With the election of 1912, moderate Liberals attempted to find an end to the problems, but were unable to persuade the entirety of their compatriots. The meager Liberal ticket that year would failed to beat the Nationalist ticket, that wished to institute a strict policy against the insurgents. The head of this ticket would be Juan Pablo Bellido de Luna.
Unfortunately for Bellido de Luna, the civil insurgency would only get worse during his term. Bellido de Luna and the Nationalists made strong pushes to erode the free press and destroy any public discourse in support of the Liberals. Somewhat short-sighted, however, the New Gloom that affected the United States would also hit Cartagena rather strongly, with their markets so connected. This hit would merge with the civil strife to cause a depression in Cartagena started in 1911 worse than the New Gloom in the United States. And while the Liberals that had begun the civil insurgency had not succeeded in actually toppling the government, they had been the catalyst for the collapse of the functionality of the government's institutions. In 1912, citing mass public unrest and backed by the military, Bellido de Luna called off the Presidential elections.
A Soqualist/Socialist revolution would begin shortly thereafter. Bellido de Luna will be petitioning the United States in hopes of aid...
