Pedro Leon Gallo Goyenechea

Pedro León Gallo Goyenechea (Copiapó, February 12, 1830-Santiago, December 16, 1877) was a Chilean businessman, miner and politician and one of the founders of the Radical Party.

Biography

He was the third to last son of Miguel Gallo Vergara, a millionaire silver miner from Chañarcillo, and of Candelaria Goyenechea y de la Sierra.

He completed his first studies at the Colegio de la Merced in Copiapó and later entered the National Institute of Santiago.

Pedro León Gallo.

He wrote his first political articles in the newspaper La Tribuna in 1850; in them he adhered to the idea of public order, but with certain reforms. He defended the government of Manuel Montt in April 1851 and in 1852 he returned to his hometown.

Along with dedicating himself to family businesses, in Copiapó Pedro León Gallo continued with his political activities. Elected mayor, he was dismissed by the mayor due to an incident carried out by the city police chief whom Gallo recriminated for punishing gendarmes with stocks in the public square, an act endorsed by the mayor.

This triggered a change in their perception of the Montt government, beginning to frequent meetings of opponents in the north and in the capital, who were already planning a revolution. He publicized his political views in the pages of the newspaper El Copiapino .

As a revolutionary politician, he organized an unsuccessful uprising against the conservative government of Manuel Montt in 1859. Gathering citizens dissatisfied with the government, he achieved popularity at the regional level, and took over Copiapó. Early that year Gallo became "revolutionary mayor" of the province of Atacama, proclaimed by an assembly of citizens. He then put together a medium-sized army with his own resources and with contributions from the revolutionary mining bourgeoisie.

He advanced with the army towards the south towards Santiago, and after the triumph of the battle of Los Loros (March 14, 1859) he conquered Coquimbo and La Serena. Defeated in the battle of Cerro Grande (April 29) in La Serena, he went into exile in Argentina, the United States and later in Europe. He returned to his country after the amnesty issued by President José Joaquín Pérez Mascayano in 1863.

As the leader of an oligarch faction established in Copiapó protected by the central power, Gallo did not support the colonization project of 1876. As a sitting senator for his hometown, Gallo participated in the discussion in the National Congress about the said project to colonize the Atacama desert. This contemplated a colonization territory from Chañaral to Bolivia in which roads and railways would be laid, cities would be built and ports would be built.

During the debates, Pedro León Gallo expressed unfortunate opinions that showed his lack of vision in this regard; Thus, he stated: "I do not see the possibility of creating cities and departments where life is almost impossible (...) entering the path of imaginary adventures (...) it is good for poetry and epic"; The senator made fun of Benjamín Vicuña Mackenna, who compared the feat of the Atacama with that of Christopher Columbus when he discovered America.

Last years of life

Gallo founded the Radical Assembly of Copiapó (1863) and was a candidate for the presidency in 1866. The following year, he became deputy for Copiapó and Caldera, a position he held for 10 consecutive years (1867-1876); Later he was a senator for Atacama for the period of 1876-1882, but he died in 1877. His sudden death was linked to the aggravation of an old wound that he had received in the battle of Los Loros.

Gallo portrayed by Mandiola, 1847, MHN.