Rafael Campo | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 31st & 32nd President of El Salvador | |
| In office 19 July 1856 – 1 February 1858 | |
| Vice President | Francisco Dueñas |
| Preceded by | Francisco Dueñas (acting) |
| Succeeded by | Lorenzo Zepeda (acting) |
| In office 12 February 1856 – 12 May 1856 | |
| Vice President | Francisco Dueñas |
| Preceded by | Francisco Dueñas (acting) |
| Succeeded by | Francisco Dueñas (acting) |
| 100thPresident of the Constituent Assembly of El Salvador | |
| In office 1871–1871 | |
| Preceded by | Rafael Zaldívar |
| Succeeded by | Doroteo Vasconcelos |
| Deputy of theNational Assembly of El Salvador fromSonsonate | |
| In office 1842–1842 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Rafael Juan Campo y Pomar (1813-10-24)24 October 1813 Sonsonate, then in theIntendancy of San Salvador |
| Died | 1 March 1890(1890-03-01) (aged 76) Acajutla, El Salvador |
| Party | Conservative |
| Alma mater | University of San Carlos |
| Occupation | Politician, businessman, journalist |
Rafael Juan Campo y Pomar (24 October 1813 – 1 March 1890) was a Salvadoran politician, businessman, and journalist who served asPresident of El Salvador from 1856 to 1858. He also served as thepresident of theConstituent Assembly in 1871.
Campo spent his early political career inSonsonate and as a member of the National Assembly. He won the1856 presidential election and assumed the presidency on 12 February 1856. He briefly left office between 12 May to 19 July, during which, Vice PresidentFrancisco Dueñas served as acting president. Campo was president during theFilibuster War and sent soldiers to helpNicaragua defeatWilliam Walker. His government survived multiple coups led by liberal GeneralGerardo Barrios and negotiated a settlement to put Barrios fourth in the presidential line of succession for the 1858–1860 presidential term. Campo left office on 1 February 1858 and was succeeded by GeneralMiguel Santín del Castillo.
After Campo's presidency, he was exiled from El Salvador several times for opposing the presidencies of Barrios, Dueñas, MarshalSantiago González, andRafael Zaldívar. In exile, he founded two newspapers that were critical of Dueñas and González. He returned to Sonsonate in 1882 and he died inAcajutla in 1890.
Rafael Juan Campo y Pomar was born on 24 October 1813 inSonsonate, then in theIntendancy of San Salvador. His parents were Pedro Campo y Pérez de Arpa and Juana María del Pomar. His father was acolonel in theSpanish Army. Campo had several siblings. In his youth, Campo washome schooled and later attended classes at aFranciscan convent in Sonsonate. Campo attended theUniversity of San Carlos inGuatemala City.[1] Campo's family was wealthy and paid for his education.[2]
In 1834, Campo lost much of his wealth and went into debt due to his father's death, the sinking of his boatLa Joven Ángela that lost many of his possessions in the process, and the political instability of theFederal Republic of Central America. To recover financially, Campo boughtcoffee seeds from Costa Rica and established a plantation on the shore ofLake Coatepeque.[1][2]
In 1840, Campo was an elector for the Sonsonate municipal election. He was elected as a deputy to theNational Assembly of El Salvador (lower house) in 1842 and he was also a presidential candidate in the1842 presidential election. In 1843, he was aregidor (council member) on the Sonsonateayuntamiento (municipal council),[3] and at some point, he also served as itssyndic.[2]
By 1851, he was a member of the Senate (upper house). In 1851, he was a senator who was part of the prosecution against PresidentDoroteo Vasconcelos. Vasconcelos was put on trial for being unconstitutionally re-elected asPresident of El Salvador in the1850 presidential election and for leading El Salvador into a war withGuatemala that ended in a military defeat at theBattle of La Arada.[2]
In 1856, the conservativeRepublican Party nominated Campo forPresident of El Salvador. He won the1856 presidential election on 30 January, becoming president-elect. Campo resigned from the Senate and assumed the presidency on 12 February.[2] He succeededFrancisco Dueñas, hisvice president who had served as acting president from 1 to 12 February after he succeeded outgoing president GeneralJosé María San Martín.[4] Campo appointedEnrique Hoyo as General Minister.[2] During Campo's presidency, his government was headquartered inCojutepeque instead of the capitalSan Salvador as the latter was destroyed by anearthquake in 1854.[5]
In April 1856, Campo established a finance committee tasked with managing public works and purchasing weapons and clothing for theSalvadoran Army. That month, GeneralRamón Belloso resigned as commander of Salvadoran forces in Nicaragua and Campo replaced him with GeneralGerardo Barrios. Campo also put Barrios in command of the 4th Division.[6][7] Campo handed the presidency to Dueñas on 12 May.[6] While acting president, Dueñas mobilized 700 Salvadoran soldiers to fightWilliam Walker during theFilibuster War inNicaragua in June.[4] Dueñas returned the presidency to Campo on 19 July. Campo sent 1,700 more soldiers to Nicaragua in September. Campo survived an Octobercoup attempt led by liberals Barrios, GeneralJosé Trinidad Cabañas, andJosé María Zelaya. Campo later pardoned Barrios and appointed him asMinister of Interior Relations.[6]
On 7 June 1857, Barrios returned from Nicaragua after and landed inLa Libertad where he declared his intention to march on Cojutepeque. Campo fired Barrios and placed himself in command of the army, to which Barrios proclaimed himself president and marched on Cojutepeque.[5] Before a military confrontation, San Martín negotiated a settlement between Campo and Barrios. They agreed that during the next presidential term of 1858 to 1860, GeneralJoaquín Eufrasio Guzmán (Barrios' father-in-law) would serve as vice president and Barrios would serve as thesecond presidential designate (fourth in the presidential line of succession).[8]
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On 25 January 1858, the National Assemblyelected GeneralMiguel Santín del Castillo as the next president of El Salvador.[6] Campo left office on 1 February and was succeeded by SenatorLorenzo Zepeda,[9] one of Campo's allies,[8] in an acting capacity until Santín assumed office on 7 February.[10] During Campo's presidency, he ordered the creation of atopographic map of El Salvador. This map was completed by German engineer Maximilian von Sonnestern during Santín's presidency in 1858 and published inNew York City.[1]
Campo returned to Sonsonate and briefly retired from politics after he left the presidency. He was an elector in the Sonsonate municipal election in 1862.[3] Campo opposed Barrios after he became President of El Salvador in 1859.[11] Barrios accused Campo of treason and supporting conservative Guatemalan presidentRafael Carrera leading to Campo fleeing for exile in Guatemala. There, Campo supported Dueñas as the leading opposition figure to Barrios. Campo signed the Act ofSanta Ana on 10 July 1863 that recognized Dueñas as the provisional president of El Salvador. Dueñas named Campo asMinister of External Relations on 8 September, but Campo declined the appointment.[1] Salvadoran rebelsdeposed Barrios on 26 October and installed Dueñas as president.[4] Campo was appointed as the first presidential designate (third in the presidential line of succession).[3]
Campo helped organize municipal elections in Sonsonate in 1864 and 1865.[3] He was also a presidential candidate in the1864 presidential election but won no more than 20 votes, all fromSonsonate Department.[12] In 1866, Campo visitedSpain and met QueenIsabella II at his cousin's palace, the Marquess of Campo. He also traveled toFrance,Switzerland,Italy, and thePapal States where he metPope Pius XI. He returned to El Salvador in 1868.[9] He helped organize two more Sonsonate municipal elections in 1868 and 1869.[3] Campo became critical of Dueñas' government and left El Salvador for exile inChinandega, Nicaragua in 1870. There, he established theLa Trompeta newspaper that criticized Dueñas' government. Campo returned to El Salvador in 1871 after Dueñas was overthrown by MarshalSantiago González.[9]
Campo was thepresident of the 5th Constituent Assembly and the first presidential designate in 1871. Campo became critical of González's government, and in July 1872, he left El Salvador back to exile in Nicaragua where he settled inLeón. He established theLa Coyunda newspaper to criticize González's government.[13] In 1876, PresidentRafael Zaldívar wanted to appoint Campo as Minister of State, but Campo declined the appointment.[9] He returned to El Salvador in 1879, upon which, he was arrested and imprisoned for 22 days for no apparent reason. When freed, he returned to Nicaragua and wrote the bookCorrections to the Historical Review of Lorenzo Montúfar.[13]
Campo returned to Sonsonate in 1882. He was an advisor to the city's charity board. He established the Sonsonate Hospital and a hospice. He also helped finance the construction of a railroad in Western El Salvador centered around the port ofAcajutla.[13] Campo died on 1 March 1890 in Acajutla at the age of 76.[2]
On 15 September 1898, the municipal government of Sonsonate opened a park and named it after Campo.[13] The Rafael Campos [sic] Society of Workerstrade union, named after Campo, existed in Sonsonate during the 1920s.[14] In September 1932, the Salvadoran government opened the Rafael Campos [sic] Indian School between Sonsonate andIzalco. The school sought to "[improve] the social, moral, intellectual, and economic life of the Indigenous class of Sonsonate Department" but was also tasked with providing aid to Indigenous children orphaned by government mass killings of Indigenous Salvadorans committed earlier that year duringLa Matanza.[15] A portrait of Campo is located inside Red Chamber of theNational Palace of El Salvador alongside portraits of former presidentsManuel Enrique Araujo,Gerardo Barrios,Fernando Figueroa,Francisco Menéndez, andFrancisco Morazán.[16]
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Francisco Dueñas (acting) | President of El Salvador 1856 | Succeeded by Francisco Dueñas (acting) |
| Preceded by Francisco Dueñas (acting) | President of El Salvador 1856–1858 | Succeeded by Lorenzo Zepeda (acting) |
| Preceded by | President of the Constituent Assembly of El Salvador 1871 | Succeeded by |
| Post-independence (1821–1823) |  | |
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| Federal Republic of Central America (1823–1841) | ||
| Republic of El Salvador (1841–1931) |
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| Military presidents (1931–1979) | ||
| Salvadoran Civil War (1979–1992) | ||
| Post-Civil War (since 1992) | ||
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| Other | |
