José de la Riva Agüero

José Mariano de la Cruz de la Riva Agüero y Sánchez Boquete (3 May 1783 – 21 May 1858) was a Peruvian soldier and politician who was the first president of Peru and the second president of North Peru, a constituent country of the Peru–Bolivian Confederation. A leading figure of the Peruvian War of Independence, he was president of Peru in 1823, being the first head of state to serve as ''President of the Republic'' and to wear the two-color presidential sash as a symbol of the power he exercised. Although this power was ''de facto'', that is, born from a coup d'état and not by popular will expressed in elections, since it was imposed by the Peruvian Army through the so-called Balconcillo mutiny, which ordered Congress to dismiss the Supreme Governing Junta headed by José de La Mar. He governed for four months before being replaced by the Marquis of Torre Tagle.

Born to an aristocratic family from Lima he was a determined supporter of the independence movement from very early on. He was in Spain at the time of the Napoleonic invasion, joining the Masonic lodges that at that time were working towards the independence of America. In 1810 he returned to Peru and, from then until the arrival of José de San Martín, he was the main figure of the anticolonial conspiracies in Lima, directing the Lodge of the Copetudos. He collaborated with San Martín before and after his arrival in Peru. Once the Protectorate of Peru was established, he was named president (prefect) of the department of Lima. He was named president after the Balconcillo mutiny, the first coup d'état in the country's republican history.

Riva-Agüero sought to conclude the independence of Peru initiated by separate uprisings a decade before. Thus, without the use of foreign troops, he managed to organize an army and a fleet for the Second Intermedios campaign. The company led by Andrés de Santa Cruz failed in its attempt to stop the royalist advance and the expedition was defeated. Disagreements with Congress and the arrival of Simón Bolívar determined the end of his brief government and his deportation to Guayaquil, first, and later to Europe, where he resided until 1828, then returning to America. He went first to Chile, then returned to Peru in 1833 and was elected deputy for Lima to the National Convention of 1833, which reincorporated him into the Army with the title of Grand Marshal. A supporter of President Luis José de Orbegoso, he was plenipotentiary minister in Chile and under the Peru–Bolivian Confederation he was president of North Peru. After the Confederation's dissolution, he went to Ecuador again. When he returned in 1843, he retired to private life. Provided by Wikipedia