Oscar Benavides
| Óscar Raymundo Benavides Larrea | |
|---|---|
 |
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| 67th President of Peru | |
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In office February 4, 1914 – August 18, 1915 |
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| Preceded by | Guillermo Billinghurst |
| Succeeded by | José Pardo y Barreda |
| 76th President of Peru | |
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In office April 30, 1933 – December 8, 1939 |
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| Preceded by | Luis Miguel Sánchez Cerro |
| Succeeded by | Manuel Prado y Ugarteche |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
March 15, 1876 Lima, Peru |
| Died | July 2, 1945 (aged 69) Lima, Peru |
| Nationality | Peruvian |
| Spouse(s) | Francisca Benavides Diez Canseco |
Óscar Raymundo Benavides Larrea (March 15, 1876 – July 2, 1945) was a prominent Peruvian field marshal, diplomat, and politician who served as the President of Peru from 1914 until 1915 and again from 1933 until 1939.
He is also the accredited with the quote: "For my friends everything, for my enemies the law".
He was born in Lima on March 15, 1876. The son of Miguel Benavides y Gallegos, Sargeant Major of the National Guard, and Erfilia Larrea, Peruvian socialite. After attending the Guadalupe High School (Colegio de Nuestra Senora de Guadalupe) in Lima, Benavides entered the Military School of Lima (la Escuela Militar) and in 1894, the "Dos de Mayo" Artillery Brigade. In 1901, he was promoted to Captain; and in 1906, at age 30, he graduated with top grades as Sergeant Major at the Military Academy in Lima, directed by the French Military Mission. The Government sent Benavides to France to complete his military training, after which the French Republic distinguished him with the Cross of the Legion of Honor.
Upon returning to Peru in December 1910, Benavides was designated commanding officer of Infantry Battalion N° 9, garrisoned in Chiclayo, on the Northern Pacific Coast of Peru. In February 1911, the Peruvian Government ordered Benavides to lead Battalion Nº 9 to the Northeastern border with Colombia in Peruvian Amazonia. Colombia had established a fortified post at La Pedrera on the southern bank of the Caquetá River, which, according to the Porras-Tanco Argáez Treaty of 1909, was within Peruvian territory.
Battalion N° 9 had to travel more than 2,000 kilometers, passing over the roadless Andean range at Cajamarca and Chachapoyas to the Amazonian jungle. At Balsapuerto, at the headwaters of the Huallaga River, the expedition prepared rafts and obtained canoes, traveling downstream to Yurimaguas on the Huallaga, and thence by boat to Iquitos on the Amazon River. The naval expedition, consisting of one gunboat and four boats, set out from Iquitos on June 29, 1911, four months after departing Chiclayo. On July 10 it faced La Pedrera with blazing flags. After an exchange of notes in which the Colombian Commander refused to vacate the position, Commander Benavides initiated the attack. The triumph of the Peruvian forces was complete. But on July 24, to his dismay, Commander Benavides was informed that the Peruvian and Colombian Governments had signed a treaty whereby the Peruvian forces were to abandon the Caquetá and to withdraw to the Putumayo River.
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