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Portoviejo Ecuador history
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By 1765 Portoviejo
took on the category of a province, with a
 population of
5,200. As it was a city of
the Spanish foundation, it had certain privileges: one of them was to have a town assembly
and the right to elect mayors who were not dependent on the
mayors of Guayaquil, according to Horacio Hidrovo Peñaherrera,
in his work "Postal Espiritual de
Portoviejo". |
Independence
On October 18th, 1820,
Portoviejo, in open assembly, proclaimed its
independence.
Jose Joaquin de Olmedo, first civil governor of
Ecuador, who sent a letter written and signed,
in which he declared that
Portoviejo had broken the yoke of slavery.
From
Portoviejo |
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the
Spanish American troops set out for Guayaquil, and
then for Quito, |
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carrying their discoveries to the river
Amazon. Orellana was especially interested in the prospects offered by
Portoviejo. During the colonial period it was the operational center of
the conquistadors and later the center of emancipation
movements, and managed to proclaim its independence on October
18th, 1820. |
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