The Latin-American Constitutions and Revolutions1901 - 7 pages |
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The Latin-American Constitutions and Revolutions (1901) John Watson Foster No preview available - 2009 |
Common terms and phrases
amendment American republic anarchy Andrade assumed Balmaceda bition Blanco blood or marriage bloody Bolívar Brazil brothers alternated cabinet campaign candidates career Castro ceeding term chief executive Chile Chilian chosen president citizens Congress consti constitutional provision CONSTITUTIONS AND REVOLUTIONS countries Cuba declared himself dictator dency dent Diaz direct vote driven from power elec election held electoral elects its president ernment EX-SECRETARY executive power Falcon form of government four gress Gual Hernandez independence ineligible for reëlection insurgents Iturbide JOHN W Juarez Latin Latin-American republics Lerdo lican lombia ment Mexico Monagas NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE neighbors Paez partisan party patriots peace pendence Peru Porto Rico practice president is chosen president is elected prohi prohibition related by blood republican government retirement revo revolutionary revolutionist ruler second degree secure South America Spanish-American stitutional methods succeeded territorial tion tive power took up arms Tovar tury tutional United Vargas Vene Venezuela and Colombia vice-president Washington
Popular passages
Page 172 - The insurrectionary movement which disturbed Colombia in the latter part of 1899 has been practically suppressed, although guerrillas still operate in some departments. The executive power of that Republic changed hands in August last by the act of VicePresident Marroquin in assuming the reins of government during the absence of President San Clemente from the capital.
Page 170 - The example of the latter was lost upon him when he rejected the offer of the American army to make him king, and when, after having enjoyed the free suffrages of his countrymen as President, he voluntarily laid down the great office and retired to private life. If the history of the Latin American republics is carefully examined it will be seen that the cause of most of the revolutions which have darkened its pages, decimated their population, and retarded their development has had its origin in...
Page 170 - ... led the insurrectionary movement which gave final independence to Venezuela and Colombia, and thence went to the aid of the struggling Peruvian patriots, achieved their independence, and was made dictator of that country. Having failed in his effort to secure a provision in the constitution making himself president for life, he returned to Colombia, where he was chosen president of the United States of Colombia and Venezuela. Seeking in vain to secure a constitutional provision giving him practically...
Page 164 - HARVARD LAW LIBRARY FROM THE LIBRARY or HEINRICH LAMMASCH Received May 25, 1922.
Page 169 - ... this respect. The provisions of the existing constitutions of those countries relating to the executive may be briefly enumerated as follows : In Mexico the president is chosen for four years by an electoral college, and no prohibition exists against a reelection. The cause of this exception to the general practice will be referred to later. The secretary of foreign relations succeeds to the presidency on the death or disability of the president and orders a new election. In the five Central...
Page 170 - ... and the senators for four years by the state legislatures. A federal council of nineteen members is chosen every two years by the congress, who elects a presiding officer from their own number, and he is president of the republic for the two years. Neither the president nor council can be reelected for the next term. When these countries declared their independence and first essayed the practice of republican government, they soon found that the greatest danger to their institutions arose from...
Page 174 - Diaz was again chosen president ; and he has again and again been reflected without any open protest, and for a quarter of a century he has been the untrammeled ruler of Mexico. Every one conversant with the history of that country concedes that he is the best ruler it has had since the independence. He has given it peace, order, and the reign of law. It has risen phoenix-like from the ashes of anarchy and commercial death, and the praises of Diaz as an administrator and a patriot are sounded at...
Page 172 - Chili has had from the beginning of its existence a more fortunate career, in that its wealthy and more intelligent citizens have usually controlled the government ; and, as a result, it has prospered, and its financial credit has led all the other States. But it will be seen that, when private animosities or personal ambitions were awakened, constitutional provisions were of little avail. After Chilian independence was secured, General O'Higgins was called to the head of the government and became...
Page 169 - ... vote for four years, and he is made ineligible for the next four years. Two vice-presidents are elected. Bolivia has the same provision as Peru. In Chile the president is elected by delegates chosen by the people for the term of five years, and he is made ineligible for the next term. The Argentine Republic elects its president by electors chosen by the fourteen provinces for six years, and both the president and vice-president are declared ineligible for reelection. In Uruguay the president...
Page 171 - ... personal character, the struggles of the partisans of one aspiring individual against the partisans of his ambitious opponent. One of the most notable exceptions was the war of reform waged in Mexico for ten years, beginning in 1857, by the liberal party against the united power of the clergy and Emperor Napoleon. That was a heroic war, involving great principles of government. I can probably best illustrate the historical fact of this personal cause of revolutions by a very brief sketch of the...