Juan J. Paz-y-Miño Cepeda*, contributor to Prensa Latina)
But in Latin America, the Mexican Revolution (1910) and the 1917 Constitution, which did not always figure prominently in that contemporary history, marked a new era in the same region. Mexico began the journey towards a social economy, recognizing core labor principles and rights.
With this accumulation of events, the early 20th century brought about a redefinition of Latin American economies, a change in social and political struggles, and a series of institutional changes that consolidated nation-states. Although the nature of primary export did not change, mining exploitation in the region (oil, tin, nickel, etc.) by foreign companies operating as in conquered countries increased, and first steps towards some industrialization were taken in some countries. Latin America was also rapidly changing from being dependent on Europe to becoming dependent on the United States. In addition, social and political processes began to overthrow the oligarchic regimes that had been in place since the end of the 19th century. Likewise, political parties and movements emerged that identified with Marxism (socialist and communist parties), workers, and hopes for a new society. And various governments managed to establish modern institutions that enabled the creation of states with capacities for economic intervention, public investment, and social advancement.
In the historical conditions described, on July 9, 1925, the Julian Revolution took place in Ecuador, a process initiated with the coup d’etat of the young army officers and carried out by two juntas (1925-1926) and the government of Isidro Ayora. (1926-1931). We are approaching the 100th anniversary of this event, which is generally little or not mentioned in Latin American history. But the events in Ecuador have deep implications for the entire region. In fact, it emanated from a successful military movement that functioned institutionally and transcended the era of one-man military dictatorships and caudillos. Henceforth all other military interventions in the country were institutional in nature. In addition, for the first time in Republican life, the Julian process oversaw private banks, established a central bank, and created institutions of economic control such as the Comptroller’s Office and the Superintendence of Banks. In addition, a direct tax on income and even one on profits/investment income was introduced for the first time. Eventually he instituted public policies in favor of workers, established the Department of Social Welfare and Labour, the Directorates of Health and the first pension fund, and enacted the 1929 Constitution, a pioneer in upholding the principles and workers’ rights already enshrined. by the Mexican Constitution.
The cycle of the Julian Revolution ushered in the beginning of the 20th century for Ecuador. Thus began the long road to overcoming the oligarchic regime; national interests could prevail over private interests; Institutions were created that are still valid today; The economy was reoriented to seek some industrialization and to diversify agricultural exports that were once dependent on cocoa. and the politics of the state inevitably took over the guarantees for the social question. It was a process even ahead of the New Deal policies initiated by FD Roosevelt in the US and can also be identified with the classic “populisms” of Latin America. It is therefore clear that the Julian cycle was a step forward compared to what the Liberal Revolution of 1895 achieved and that, moreover, it drew angry reactions from the traditional ruling classes of landowners, merchants and, above all, the bankers who built a state in the service of the plutocracy between 1912 and 1925.
The role of the army at this time is comparable to at least two similar movements in Latin America: that of the young soldiers in Chile between 1924 and 1925, who pushed through the creation of two juntas, the passage of labor laws, the introduction of income tax and an insurance fund, all linked to the Strengthening of state capacities. The other thing that happened in Brazil after the 1922 uprising that led to the “tenentismo”, a military movement that laid the foundations for the takeover of Getulio Vargas in 1930, which established the Estado Novo, a “populist” Nature.” But in the Latin American context, processes with similar economic, political and social content coincided: Costa Rica in the same 1920s, which managed to reform and reduce its armed forces; Argentina, where change began with the Radical Civic Union (1922), lived through the “infamous decade” and achieved the coming to power of Juan Domingo Perón. Added to this is the achievement of Kemmerer’s mission of reaching central banks in Colombia or Chile. And no doubt there is Mexico, where the rise of Lázaro Cárdenas in 1934 marked another milestone in Latin America with the nationalization of oil.
The Julian Revolution in Ecuador was therefore not an isolated event in the geography of one of Latin America’s most backward and least developed countries, at least until the 1960s. The achievements of almost a century ago still haunt life at the national level. The country of today has once again polarized political life between the dominance of a power bloc of private elites that have taken over the state in an election campaign for the presidency of the republic in August 2023 , to impose a clear oligarchic regime, continuity with that which existed before Julianism, and the social ascent of progressive and democratic sectors that want to collapse the plutocratic-neoliberal course in order to pave a way towards a development beneficial to the broad national majorities find.
rmh/jjpmc
*Ecuadorian historian and analyst
(taken from selected companies)