The peruvian period of independence: the debate on the form of government, the constituent congress and the presidency of José de la Riva-Agüero (1822-1823)

Abstract

This article depicts an overview of political life in Peru during 1822 and 1823. Its protagonists are the Peruvian leaders who held the reins of the government in those years, among whom José de la Riva-Agüero y Sánchez Boquete, first president of the country, stands out. We are talking about the «Peruvian” period of Independence, which followed the years of Chilean-Rioplatense domination in the times of José de San Martín, and which was interrupted at the beginning of 1824 with the beginning of the dictatorship of Simón Bolívar granted by the Peruvian Congress. Within this general framework, specific topics are discussed such as the birth of Peruvian republicanism, the unfortunate campaigns to Puertos Intermedios, the presidency of Riva-Agüero, the political activity of Antonio José de Sucre as Colombian representative in Peru, the Peruvian political split, Riva-Agüero’s plan to approach the royalist side and expel the Colombians (perceived as invaders and a much greater threat than Spanish domination) and the dramatic end of this first Peruvian government in November 1823.