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Jose Maria Obando

Jose Maria Obando (8 August 1795-29 April 1861) was President of New Granada from 21 November 1831 to 10 March 1832 (succeeding Domingo Caycedo and preceding Francisco de Paula Santander) and from 1 April 1853 to 17 April 1854 (succeeding Jose Hilario Lopez and preceding Jose Maria Melo).

Biography[]

Jose Maria Obando was born in Miranda, Viceroyalty of New Granada in 1795, and he rose from humble beginnings to be a distinguished soldier in the Spanish Army and later the patriot cause during the Colombian War of Independence, switching sides in 1822. Obando became military chief of Pasto in 1826, but he resigned in 1827 due to his discomfort with Gran Colombia's un-democratic political establishment. He fiercely opposed Simon Bolivar's dictatorial rule after August 1828, and he and Jose Hilario Lopez rebelled against Bolivar in Popayan in November. In October 1829, Bolivar signed an armistice with the generals and made Obando a general and commander of the Cauca department. In 1830, Obando resigned after surviving an assassination attempt and later helped overthrow Bolivar's ally, President Rafael Urdaneta, installing Domingo Caycedo as president. He went on to take power in November 1831 on Caycedo's resignation, serving as acting president until March 1862. He changed the name of the country from Gran Colombia to New Granada, which implemented many of Obando's federalist ideals. Obando later participated in the War of the Supremes civil war in 1839-1842, resulting in his exile in Peru. In 1849, he was amnestied and became a member of the Chamber of Representatives. Obando led the Liberal forces in the civil war of 1851 and defeated Conservative rebels, and he was elected President in 1853. Obando sanctioned the Constitution of 1853, which abolished slavery, extended suffrage to all married men above the age of 21, and made most offices popularly elected. He was overthrown in a coup led by Jose Maria Melo in 1854, and he later fought against a Centralist rebellion in Cauca in 1860. Obando was speared to death during a battle in El Rosal in 1861.

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