Trujillo, Julián (1828–1883)
Trujillo, Julián (1828–1883)
Julián Trujillo (b. 28 January 1828; d. 18 July 1883), president of Colombia (1878–1880). Born into the Popayán gentry, he received his law doctorate in 1849. Trujillo fought in the civil wars of 1854 and 1859–1863 in the army of General Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera, becoming a colonel in 1861 and a general in 1863. He was noted for his courage, and his military prowess in defeating the Antioquian Conservatives in 1877 brought him the presidency. Trujillo's term was marred by a deteriorating economy and deepening dissention among the ruling Liberals. In his quest for an accommodation with the church and the Conservatives, Trujillo was thwarted by the Radical Liberal Congress. His developmental policies were regionally oriented. He contracted for a canal across Panama and negotiated with Francisco Javier Cisneros for a railway from the Pacific to the Cauca Valley. A transitional figure holding moderate Liberal views, Trujillo was caught between the Radicals and Rafael Núñez's Nationalists, toward whom he leaned. He served as general in chief of the army in 1881 and was elected a senator in 1882. He died in Bogotá.
See alsoCisneros Betancourt, Salvador; Parra, Aquileo.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Helen Delpar, Red Against Blue (1981), pp. 121-123.
Hernán Horna, Transport Modernization and Entrepreneurship in Nineteenth Century Colombia (1992), pp. 83-86.
J. LeÓn Helguera