1856-1860
President Urbina, despite being despised by the vast majority of Euador, was taking effective steps towards repairing the nation's tarnished image and rebuilding it's broken economy.
On 10 February 1856 a group of conservative rabble-rousers were caught slandering the government. As the police moved in to arrest them, a full fledged riot broke out in Iquitos. Federal troops were sent in immediately, but it wasn't until March 18 that the military prevailed, sending the rioters back home.
Ecuador was experiencing greater wealth than ever before, and had not only paid off all debts but expanded the treasury by over 400 pounds. President Urbina was not one to leave money unspent and gathering dust, so when the opportunity came along to rebuild decrepit sewers in Quito he gladly agreed.
In late September of 1857 a consortium British bankers approached the Ministry of Finance with an offer. In exchange for allowing British investment in land along the Peruvian border, the bankers would help pay off Ecuadorian debt. President Urbina understood that there was much to gain by agreeing to the British offer, but he also felt that allowing British meddling along an already tense border might exacerbate the situation. With a heavy heart, President Urbina turned away the bankers empty-handed.
March 27 1858 brought yet another anti-Urbina revolution, this time in Guyaquil, where local laborers were frustrated by former slaves (freed several years earlier by President Urbina) getting equal pay. The revolters, numbering over 7,000, proved to be the biggest threat so far in the 1850s.
The rebels were taken care of by Urbina himself, leading a mixed unit of infantry and cavalry. Although the losses were heavy, the rebels were beaten quite handily by 19 May 1858.
On January 11, 1859, tremendous events were underway. The budget was growing rapidly (approaching a thousand pounds!), the slaves had been emancipated, native tributes had been ended, and Ecuador's sovereignity had been firmly established at the expense of British banks. In a shocking turn of events, President Urbina (confident that his work was done, or rather, as done as could be, given the circumstances) presented a letter of resignation to the Parliament. The clearly surprised assembly told Urbina that they would take up debate as to whether or not to accept his resignation and restore Ecuador to a democracy.
After tedious and heated debate, it was announced that Parliament would indeed accept Urbina's resignation. Urbina further shocked the political speculators by requesting that former president Luis Rocio be restored to his position. When questioned why Urbina would surrender his position to a Conservative, he replied that as much as it pained him to say it, his liberal reforms, while good for the future of Ecuador, were not popular and that the people clearly wanted the Conservative Party of Ecuador to be the leader of the government. Parliament accepted to install Rocio on the condition that an election will be held before the end of the year, and the Third Democratic Era began.This was not without contention, however, and certain groups (notably the Quecha and former slaves loyal to Urbina due to his racial equality programs) were clearly upset by this sudden change.
President Rocio, in keeping with his policies during his previous term, lowered taxes to below 20% on all classes and raised considerable tariffs on foreign goods. Money was now flowing into Ecuador quickly, much to the pleasure of the government.
In April of 1859, the government announced that it would take a considerable loan in order to build a railroad in Quito, the nation's first! This was heralded as a clear sign of the industrial progress Ecuador made in the 1850s, no matter how turbulent the era was. Immediately following the completion of that railway in August, another loan was taken to expand it west to the coast through the sugarcane plantations of Guyaquil.
As was expected, President Rocio won re-election handily in the election of 1859 (which was held as a result of the resignation of President Urbina). The final tally was surprising in that the Jesuit Party had surged past the Liberal Party as the chief opposition. Poll numbers were released several days later:
Conservative Party of Ecuador (Luis Rocio) - 68%
Jesuit Party (Manuel Carrera) - 22%
Liberal Party (Frederico Utilisante) - 10%
As the 1850s closed, Ecuador was finally emerging as a nation worth living in. Railroads had been constructed in Quito and Guyaquil, relations with Peru were slightly improved, and the budget had been turning out positive numbers for several consecutive years. Things were looking up for the forgotten nation of South America!