Mariano Ignacio Prado
| Mariano Ignacio Prado | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Interim President of Peru | |
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In office April 25, 1865 – June 24, 1865 |
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| Preceded by | Juan Antonio Pezet |
| Succeeded by | Juan Antonio Pezet |
| 18th President of Peru | |
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In office November 28, 1865 – January 7, 1868 |
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| Preceded by | Pedro Diez Canseco |
| Succeeded by | Pedro Diez Canseco |
| 21st President of Peru | |
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In office August 2, 1876 – December 23, 1879 |
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| Preceded by | Manuel Pardo |
| Succeeded by | Nicolás de Piérola |
| Personal details | |
| Born | December 18, 1825 |
| Died | May 5, 1901 (aged 74) |
| Profession | Army General |
Mariano Ignacio Prado Ochoa (December 18, 1825 – May 5, 1901) was twice the President of Peru, from 1865 to 1868 and 1876 to 1879).
Born in Huánuco in 1826, he entered the army at an early age and served in the provinces of Southern Peru.
After a coup which overthrew Juan Antonio Pezet's government, Prado assumed the dictatorship of the country in 1865. He only served in that position for two months, leaving Pedro Diez Canseco as a provisional president for less than a month. Prado's intentions were to participate in that year's elections which, surprisingly, he won. He defended Peru against Spanish aggression at the Battle of Callao on May 2, 1866. His first presidency lasted until 1868 when he had to resign under pressure from the Peruvian Congress.
After Manuel Pardo's presidential term ended in 1876, Prado was elected president again on August 2 of that year. His second term was marked with the War of the Pacific (1879–1884) which broke out with Chile. Prado took active measures to prepare for defence by leaving for Tacna and later Tarapacá (where he met Bolivian president Hilarión Daza), with the intention of taking command of the armies assembling there. He assessed Peru was not ready for the war and decided to go back to Lima to prepare and send back new reinforcements.
In the course of these deliberations, Prado left his vice-president La Puerta in charge and decided to leave for Europe to buy more armament and obtain more money for the war. Prado wrote a manifesto to the nation explaining the difficulties of the war and that those "circumstances forced him to leave the country to acquire armament to defend the honor of the Homeland". Many Peruvians took this as a cowardly act and excuse for his inability to govern in the middle of the war, which led Nicolás de Piérola to stage a successful coup d'état and later declared himself commander-in-chief on December 23, 1879. Prado did not return to Peru until the end of the war, having defected to Chile, where he was made a General. The funds entrusted to him for the war effort were misplaced in Chilean coal mines, which considerably increased his personal wealth.
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