27th President of Colombia
In office September 18, 1894 – August 7, 1898
Preceded by	Rafael Nuñez
Succeeded by	Manuel Antonio Sanclemente
4th President of Colombia
In office August 7, 1892 – September 29, 1892
Preceded by	Rafael Nuñez
Succeeded by	Rafael Nuñez
2nd Vice President of Colombia
In office August 7, 1892 – September 18, 1894
President	Rafael Nuñez
Preceded by	Eliseo Payán
Succeeded by	José Manuel Marroquín
Personal details
Born	Miguel Antonio José Zoilo Cayetano Andrés Avelino de las Mercedes Caro Tobar (1845-11-10)November 10, 1845 Bogotá, Cundinamarca, Republic of New Granada
Died	August 5, 1909(1909-08-05) (aged 63) Bogotá, Cundinamarca, Colombia
Nationality	Colombian
Political party	Conservative
Other political affiliations	National Party
Spouse(s)	Ana de Narváez y Guerra
Occupation	Journalist, philologist, politician
Religion	Roman Catholic

Miguel Antonio Caro Tobar was a Colombian scholar, poet, journalist, philosopher, orator, philologist, lawyer and politician.

Biographic data[link]

Miguel Antonio Caro was born in Bogotá on November 10, 1845, and he died in the same city on August 5, 1909.^[1]

Early life[link]

His father José Eusebio Caro and Mariano Ospina Rodríguez were the founders of the Colombian Conservative Party.^[2] His father’s criticisms of President José Hilario López led to his exile to New York City.^[3]

Caro did not attend college or University. Nevertheless, as autodidact, he was very well versed in economics, world history and literature, social science, jurisprudence, linguistics and philology. He was also well known as great orator, debater and poet. Also, as a scholar, he translated several of the works of Virgilio from Latin. He was appointed as Director of the National Library, elected as MP, and founder of the Academia Colombiana de la Lengua.^[4]

Political career[link]

Caro, as philosopher, scholar and orator played a decisive and important role in the preparation, composition and enactment of the new Constitution of 1886. This significant achievement gave him an enormous prestige in the political realm.^[5]

During the presidential election of 1892, the Colombian Conservative Party was divide in two movements: traditionalists and nationalists. The nationalists nominated Rafael Núñez as candidate for President and Caro as Vice-President. The traditionalists nominated Marcelino Vélez and José Joaquín Ortiz. The Colombian Liberal Party did not participate. Obviously, the conservatives won, and the nationalists outnumbered the traditionalist. Thus, Núñez and Caro were elected for the 1892-1898 presidential term.^[6]

The Presidency[link]

Núñez had expressed his clear desire not to be inaugurated, but rather to retire to his native city of Cartagena. Nevertheless, Caro insisted that Núñez had to be inaugurated as President before retiring. Thus, Núñez accepted and was inaugurated in Cartagena and immediately after he resigned. Therefore, Caro, as Vice-President, began acting as President.^[6]

Caro never used the title of President, but rather the one of Vice President of Colombia in charge of the Executive Office. Although he was the legitimate and constitutional President of Colombia, he did so to show respect to his mentor Rafael Núñez, whose illness forced him to cede day-to-day power.^[7]

Due to the vehement animadversion and tenacious opposition from the liberals and traditionalists conservatives towards his government, Caro imposed a severe censorship law against the opposition. On August 4, 1983, by decree and invoking the law 61 of 1888, known as the “ley de los caballos” (law of the horses), he muzzled the opposition newspapers and curtailed the freedom of the press.^[6] In a subsequent decree, Caro shut down the major opposition and liberal newspapers “El Redactor” and “El Contenporáneo”, and expelled out of the country its directors Santiago Pérez and Modesto Garcés. Other opposition leaders and activists were incarcerated.^[4]

During the six years as President of Colombia, Caro had to crush three coup d'état attempts by the liberals.^[4]

On January 22, 1894, the liberal party launched a major offensive against the government of President Caro. The Colombian Liberal Party, with its principal leaders spelled out of the country or detained, its newspapers closed and the freedom of the press and freedom of association suspended, the liberal party found no other alternative but to engage in civil war. This revolt rapidly extended throughout the country, mainly in the states of Boyacá, Cauca, Cundinamarca, Bolívar (Bolívar Department), Tolima and Santander (Norte de Santander Department). Even though the rebels had been aided by foreign countries, they were promptly defeated by the armies of President Caro. On March 15, 1895, the civil war came to an end at the battle of “Enciso”, in Santander.^[7]

Almost a year later, on January 1896, the conservative group of the traditionalist sent to Caro a very stern admonition, known as the “Manifesto of the 21”, expressing their discontent and disapproval of the affairs of his administration. The manifesto’s main signatory was Carlos Martínez Silva and twenty other prominent dignitaries and political leaders. They urged Caro to lift martial law, reinstate civil liberties and to have a magnanimous approach towards the liberals.^[7]

Caro was so disillusioned and offended by the “Manifesto of the 21”, that he resigned to the presidency on March 12, 1896. Caro appointed General Guillermo Quintero Calderón to replace, and he retired to his family retreat in Sopó. General Quintero Calderón designated Abraham Moreno, of the opposition group, as Minister of Government. This infuriated Caro, and he retook his office of the presidency on March 17, 1896.^[8]

References[link]

Bibliography[link]

• The 1893 Bogotazo: Artisans and Public Violence in Late Nineteenth-Century Bogota. D Sowell - Journal of Latin American Studies, 1989
• Limits of Power: Elections Under the Conservative Hegemony in Colombia, 1886-1930. E Posada-Carbo - The Hispanic American Historical Review, 1997
• Rodríguez-García, José María "The Regime of Translation in Miguel Antonio Caro's Colombia." diacritics - Volume 34, Number 3/4, Fall-Winter 2004, pp. 143–175
• The Political Economy of the Colombian Presidential Election of 1897. CW Bergquist - The Hispanic American Historical Review, 1976

v t e Heads of state of Colombia United Provinces of New Granada (1810–1816) José Miguel Pey de Andrade Jorge Tadeo Lozano Antonio Nariño Manuel Benito de Castro Antonio Nariño Manuel de Bernardo Álvarez del Casal Camilo Torres Tenorio José María del Castillo y Rada Joaquín Camacho José Fernández Madrid Custodio García Rovira Antonio Villavicencio Manuel Rodríguez Torices José Miguel Pey de Andrade Camilo Torres Tenorio José Fernández Madrid Custodio García Rovira Liborio Mejía Fernando Serrano Gran Colombia (1819–1831) Simón Bolívar Domingo Caycedo Joaquín de Mosquera Rafael Urdaneta Domingo Caycedo Republic of New Granada (1831–1858) Domingo Caycedo José María Obando José Ignacio de Márquez Francisco de Paula Santander José Ignacio de Márquez Domingo Caycedo Pedro Alcántara Herrán Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera José Hilario López José de Obaldía José Hilario López José María Obando José María Melo Tomás de Herrera José de Obaldía Manuel Maria Mallarino Mariano Ospina Rodríguez Grenadine Confederation (1858–1863) Mariano Ospina Rodriguez Bartolomé Calvo Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera United States of Colombia (1863–1886) Francisco Javier Zaldúa Eustorgio Salgar Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera Manuel Murillo Toro José María Rojas Garrido Tomás Cipriano de Mosquera Joaquín Riascos Santos Acosta Santos Gutiérrez Eustorgio Salgar Manuel Murillo Toro Santiago Pérez Aquileo Parra Julián Trujillo Largacha Rafael Núñez Francisco Javier Zaldúa Clímaco Calderón José Eusebio Otalora Ezequiel Hurtado Rafael Núñez Republic of Colombia (1886–2012) José María Campo Serrano Eliseo Payán Rafael Núñez Carlos Holguín Mallarino Miguel Antonio Caro Rafael Núñez Miguel Antonio Caro Manuel Antonio Sanclemente José Manuel Marroquín Rafael Reyes Jorge Holguín Ramón González Valencia Carlos Eugenio Restrepo José Vicente Concha Marco Fidel Suárez Jorge Holguín Pedro Nel Ospina Miguel Abadía Méndez Enrique Olaya Herrera Alfonso López Pumarejo Eduardo Santos Alfonso López Pumarejo Alberto Lleras Camargo Mariano Ospina Pérez Laureano Gómez Roberto Urdaneta Arbeláez Gustavo Rojas Pinilla Gabriel París Gordillo Alberto Lleras Camargo Guillermo León Valencia Carlos Lleras Restrepo Misael Pastrana Borrero Alfonso López Michelsen Julio César Turbay Ayala Belisario Betancur Virgilio Barco Vargas César Gaviria Ernesto Samper Andrés Pastrana Arango Álvaro Uribe Juan Manuel Santos

Antonio Caro (b. 1950, Bogotá, Colombia) is a contemporary artist known for using conceptualizations and iconic visuals that often make political commentary about his home country. Since 1970, Caro has built a career that, according to the categorizations of history and criticism, denotes an authentic example of conceptual art in Colombia. Since then, Caro's work has proposed a critical eye on social and political conditions in his country, as to their academic and popularly understood historical connotations. Caro's work is achieved through the implementation of informal procedures in traditional artistic practice, including photocopying, public installations, lectures, posters, and materials related to indigenous cultural practices, such as salt or achiote. The vast majority of his work makes use of text as a tool to communicate strong messages, but instead acquires the paradoxical nuances of a political nature as a means of production and dissemination. One may classify Caro's art as politically charged pop art. In 1998, Caro received the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship.

Some of his important works include: Sal (1971), Imperialism is a paper tiger (1972), there is no art here (1972), There is no case (1974), Colombia-Marlboro (1975), Colombia 1977 (1977), Defend your talent (1977), all very Caro (1978), Homage to Manuel Quintin Lame (1979), Project 500 (1987), Annatto, among others.

• Sullivan, Edward J., Latin American Art in the Twentieth-Century. Phaidon Press Limited; London, 1996. pg. 177.
• La Biblioteca Luis Ángel Arango del Banco de la República - www.lablaa.org - Bogotá, Colombia
• http://www.lablaa.org/warhol/colombia/caro.html
• http://www.gf.org/fellows/all?index=c&page=4
• www.artfacts.net

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