Belisario Porras biography

Belisario Porras Barahona (November 28, 1856 – August 28, 1942) was born in Las Tablas, Republic of New Granada, and now Panama. Politician, military and writer, considered one of the most influential politicians of the first half of the twentieth century in Panama. He was president of Panama on three occasions. His first term was between 1912 and 1916, after the US intervention in Panama, which was linked to the interests of the country in the interoceanic canal. He returned to the presidency in 1918 and two years later he was elected president of the country, supported by his elite. In the course of his government, which was marked by the actions of the US government, he worried about improving the country’s infrastructure and economy.

Son of Demetrio Porras Cavero, lawyer and Juana Gumersinda Barahona, attended the first years of training at his native Las Tablas, later moved to Bogotá, where he carried out his secondary studies at the Colegio de San Bartolomé. In the 1870s, he entered the National University of Bogotá, where he studied law, later completed his doctorate in law and political science, graduating in 1881. Porras continued his training abroad thanks to a scholarship granted by the State, he studied at the University of Leuven in Belgium.

Career

After finishing his studies he returned to the country, and began to work as a journalist, for the same period he began to actively participate in the politics of the country, militating in the Liberal Party, a party that at that time had great influence in the country, which was ruled between conservatives and liberals, always in conflict.

His political thinking was influenced by Buenaventura Correoso, a recognized Panamanian military, and educator who ruled the Department of Panama when Porras was small. Towards the end of the 1890s the Thousand Days War broke out, confrontation initiated by the liberals against the conservative regime, during the development of this civil war the liberals were dominated by the force of the conservatives, without any chance of victory. The liberal side negotiated the end of the war through a series of treaties.

During the Porras confrontation, he actively participated in the battles, leading the entrance to the Isthmus of Panama, supported by the governments of Ecuador and Nicaragua, led by Eloy Alfaro and José Santos Zelaya; together they created a battalion of volunteers that invaded Panama, after facing the resistance he managed to take the department and proclaimed himself Chief Civil and Military of the Department of Panama, then appointed Emiliano J. Herrera Chief of Military Operations. However, in July 1900 the liberals of Panama were defeated in the confrontation known as Battle of the Calidonia Bridge (July 24, 1900).

Due to the triumph of the conservative Porras, he was forced into exile in El Salvador. Later, he took refuge in Nicaragua. While residing abroad he worked as a professor of Law and Geography, at the same time he collaborated in several publications in which his political militancy was reflected. During his stay, he also associated with the liberal parties of El Salvador and Nicaragua. In the course of these years, the Department of Panama separated from the Republic of Colombia, an event that marked the history of Colombia. The separation was due to various reasons, among these, the interests of the US government in Panama influenced, specifically in the construction of the interoceanic canal; Porras did not agree with the separation, he saw it as one of the most serious offenses to the sovereignty of the State, he also disagreed with the signing of the Hay-Buneau Varilla treaties, through which certain privileges were given to the United States government in the country.

By 1904 he returned to Panama where he began his political career being elected councilor. However, his career was hampered when his nationality was withdrawn due to his views on the separation of the isthmus. In 1907, he recovered his rights and was appointed delegate of Panama to the International Court of The Hague. In the following years, his career was consolidated, becoming one of the most prominent liberal politicians in the country, a popularity that allowed him to be a candidate for president in the 1910s, being elected as such in 1912.

Porras Mandates (1912 – 1916, 1918 and 1920-1922)

Porras ruled Panama in three periods, during which he tried to consolidate the Republic, which is why he is seen as the father of the Republic in the country. Throughout his government he managed the bases of the Panamanian nation, facing various obstacles linked to the actions of the US government in the country, which intervened and monitored for several years since its economic interests were at stake. During these years he also worried about the economy of the country, boosting trade, carried out various projects focused on improving the infrastructure of the country, also worried about the living conditions of citizens, creating projects that would improve these areas, such as Hospitals and schools. Towards the end of his last term, the military confrontation known as the Coto War (1921) was carried out, a contest in which Panama and Costa Rica met. After a long and outstanding political career, the Panamanian died on August 28, 1942, in Panama.

Gilles De Rais Biography

Gilles de Montmorency-Laval (1404 – 1440). He was born in Brittany, France. Noble and French military considered one of the first serial killers and pedophiles in history, according to the archives of the time he murdered more than 100 underage men, whom he tortured and raped after his death. He received a careful academic training and began his career as a military man while young. He was under the orders of the Duke of Brittany, John V, during the period of tensions between Montforts and the Penthièvres; and later defended King Charles VII of France, fighting alongside Joan of Arc in the framework of the Hundred Years War (1337 – 1453).

After retiring from the military career in 1435, he led a disorganized and criminal life that led him to be tried years later. The figure of this popular murderer has been linked to Bluebeard, creepy character in the work of Charles Perrault.

FAMILY AND BEGINNINGS

Born into a wealthy family established in the region of the Pays de la Loire; Gilles had as parents Guy de Laval and Marie de Craon, descendants of the most powerful families in the region. This wealthy couple fathered Gilles and his brother Rene, who were orphaned in the mid-1410s, at which time their grandfather, ignoring the will of his father took custody. Before the death of Guy de Laval, he left one of his relatives in charge of his children, who were to take Laval’s father-in-law away from the immense fortune of his children, however, when his father-in-law died, Jean de Craon became legal guardian of the heir of the family, thus obtaining control of the immense fortune of the Montmorency-Laval.

At that time the heir had a large area of ​​territory, which covered from Maine to Anjou and from Brittany to Poitou. Under the care of Jean de Craon, Gilles received careful academic training and military training. He mastered Latin, read the work of the classics and became a music fan. Since his grandfather was focused on managing his parents’ fortune, Gilles gave free rein to his wishes without any supervision, he didn’t have someone to guide him, so he was used to doing what he wanted when he wanted it.

MILITARY CAREER AND PERSONAL LIFE

Thanks to his military training, he began his career at the end of the 1410s. At the age of 14, he put himself at the service of John V, Duke of Brittany, participating in the small clashes caused by tensions between Montforts and the Penthièvres. At 17, he returned to the family castle, to fulfill the wishes of his grandfather who sought to unite him in marriage with a wealthy young descendant, but not achieving such a union he was ordered to kidnap his cousin Catherine de Thouarscon of 15 years, with which married in April 1422.

Refusing to accept such a union the Thouarson family, sought to end the kidnapping by negotiating with the young man’s grandfather, however, he locked the negotiators in the dungeons until the family accepted their terms. In a short time, Catherine’s father died and the church endorsed the union, which made them the owners of the family’s fortune. In the following years, Gilles disregarded his wife and his only daughter, Marie, born in 1429. It is believed that his little interest in Catherine was due to homosexual tendencies of the young man, although it should be noted that there is no information to confirm it.

Away from his family and focused on his military career, Gilles joined the campaign of French soldiers in the framework of the Hundred Years War (1337 – 1453). He defended the interests of the French dolphin, Carlos VII, fighting alongside the prominent French heroine Joan of Arc, whom he met in the late 1420s; At that time he was appointed Marshal of France.

Fascinated by the skill and beauty of heroin, Gilles became his right hand, fighting alongside it in each battle until he was captured and sentenced to the stake in Rouen in 1431. Affected by the death of the heroine and his Grandfather in 1432, Gilles decided to retire from military life to devote himself to the management of his property.

Based on the family castle, Gilles led a disorderly life marked by excesses, his obsession with sex and witchcraft. His lifestyle led to his fortune decreasing and he had to sell a large part of his property, which exasperated his relatives who decided to limit his power to keep some of his family fortunes. The chaotic situation of the young man was taken advantage of by his peers, who hoped to gain some of his fortune. Among those interested was the Duke of Brittany, who managed to seize one of his castles, which caused the anger of the military. Humiliated Gilles, kidnapped a young priest, brother of the duke’s treasurer, an act that became the perfect excuse to accuse the young man before the authorities.

CRIMES

Following the kidnapping of the priest, an arduous investigation into the activities of the noble began carried out by the prelate and the duke. This investigation allowed the crimes perpetrated by the nobleman in his properties to come to light, according to the testimonies of the time, every time the nobleman visited a property a minor disappeared. Numerous cases of disappearances, kidnappings, and witchcraft were found, whereby the authority intervened. After he was accused of murder, witchcraft, and sodomy in September 1440, his employees were interrogated, who reported on the terrible acts performed by the nobleman in his castles.

They commented that the nobleman used one of his servants to attract young men, whom he tortured and killed using various methods. Once dead, he abused them or used their bodies for other acts. At the end of the investigation, the nobleman was questioned, who agreed to have perpetrated such atrocities in the children. It is worth mentioning that the nobleman and his employees were questioned at a time when torture was used to obtain confessions so that at present some investigators have questioned the investigation and the conclusions of it.

Also, many historians have commented that his trial and death was due to the interests that the duke had for his territories and not for the crimes of which he was accused. Gilles died by hanging, on October 26, 1440, in Nantes, after being convicted of the murder of more than 140 children (the figure ranges from 80 to 200).

Fidel Castro Biography

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz, better known as Fidel Castro, was born in Birán, Cuba, on August 13, 1926, and died on November 25, 2016, in Havana, Cuba. He was a revolutionary, political and military Cuban, who ruled Cuba from 1959 to 2008.

Fidel Castro was the son of Ángel Castro Argiz and Lina Ruz González, both of Spanish descent, who enrolled him in one of the Birán schools when he was four years old. Although two years later, they would send him to study in Santiago de Cuba due to his excellent grades. In Santiago de Cuba, he would study in different institutions, starting with the Lasallian School of Santiago, going through the Dolores School, of Jesuit direction, and ending at the Colegio de Belén in Havana, where he would finally obtain his bachelor’s degree in 1945. That same year he would enter at the University of Havana, where he would take up to three courses at the same time: Social Sciences, Law and Diplomatic Law. In this institution, he had access to several texts that would redirect his political thinking, and he faced a candidate of the USF, University Student Federation, who received support from the then Cuban president.

In 1947, he was part of the Invasion of Cayo Confites with the aim of overthrowing the dictator of the Dominican Republic, Rafael Trujillo. The following year, and thanks to the financial support of Juan Domingo Perón, he traveled to Caracas, Panama, and Bogotá as a delegate of the USF. In this last city, he intended to meet with Jorge Eliécer Gaitán just the day he was murdered. Back in Cuba, Fidel Castro married the philosophy student Mirta Díaz-Balart, with whom Fidel would have his son Fidel Ángel Castro Díaz-Balart.

“Condemn me, it does not matter, history will absolve me.” Fidel Castro

In 1952, General Fulgencio Batista gave a coup to the government of President Carlos Prío Socarrás. For his actions, Fidel Castro would denounce him before an Emergency Court, but he would not be heard. For this reason, he decided to gather a group of young revolutionaries and try to take the Moncada barracks disguising themselves as soldiers. But this attempt failed and Fidel was imprisoned and sentenced to 15 years of captivity. In 1955, he was acquitted by the general amnesty of that year, and Castro went into exile in the United States and later in Mexico.

In 1956, he returned with 82 other men under the name of the 26th of July Movement. His idea was to disembark in surprise and take Santiago de Cuba, but this failed because the Batista Civil Guard was alerted. Several of the fighters of the July 26 Movement were killed in Alegría del Pío, but Raul Castro, Ernesto Che Guevara, Camilo Cienfuegos and Juan Almeida survived, who took refuge in the Sierra Maestra. From here they set up a new army and started a war against the government. After several unforeseen victories, a coup occurred on December 30, in which Batista flees the country.

After the coup, the country began to have a transitional government directed by Manuel Urrutia, which was made up of several groups of different types, among which was the 26th of July Movement. On January 8, 1959, Urrutia appointed Fidel Castro as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Country. Then, seeing how difficult it was to coordinate the different ministries that made up Cuba, Urrutia appointed Fidel Castro as prime minister. In this position, he fought against racism on the island, decreed the Agrarian Reform and eradicated the mafia, earning the acceptance of the majority of the population. In the middle of that same year, resigned from his position for the differences he had with Urrutia, before which the people pressured the latter to reincorporate him. Urrutia, on the other hand, resigned. With which came to preside over the country Osvaldo Dorticós, who re-appointed Fidel as prime minister.

After the expropriations made by the Agrarian Reform, the United States, under the presidency of Dwight Eisenhower, a sabotage of the Cuban government began, sending planes and decreeing measures of censorship and not trade with the island. Given this, the Cuban government confiscated several refineries and then several US companies.

Later, with the Kennedy government, the tension between the two countries would increase, to the point of the Bay of Pigs Invasion, through which a group of 1,500 soldiers arrived on the island. However, these were stopped and returned to the United States in exchange for food and medicine. In 1962, the Soviet Union positioned several ballistic missiles on the island, which was about to develop a war between the two powers of the moment; but both the United States and the USSR reached an agreement, in which the US government undertook not to invade Cuba. After agreeing on this, the missiles were removed.

“Whoever feels an ideal, does not mind being consumed like an aerolite when it crosses the resistance of the atmosphere.” Fidel Castro

Later, in 1976, Castro would go from being prime minister to being president of Cuba, and he would take the reins of the country, proclaiming himself a socialist, until the 21st century, when his health began to get worse. Already on February 24, 2008, he announced that he would be replaced in power by his brother Raul Castro.

Finally, after having at least 638 assassination attempts by the US government, Castro died on November 25, 2016, for reasons not disclosed in Havana.

Alexander the Great Biography

Alexander III of Macedon, better known worldwide as Alexander the Great, was born in Pela, Greece, around July 20 or 21 of the year 356 b.C., and died on June 10 or 13 in Babylon, 323 b.C. He was king of Macedon and one of the greatest conquerors in the history of the world, extending his territory from Central Europe to East Africa, and from here to Central Asia.

Alexander was the son of the Macedon king Philip II and Olympia, daughter of the king of Epirus Neoptolemus. However, there are versions according to which he was not the son of Philip II but Zeus or Pharaoh Nectanebo I. The latter is more accepted because Alexander was born as a child with the oracle of Amun, the god with whom he was related. It is known that in his childhood he was harshly educated by Leonidas in the matter of sports and by Lysimachus in a matter of letters, who treated him with great kindness, calling him Achilles. In addition, one has the story according to which his father had bought a horse that nobody could tame, Bucephalus. Then Alejandro approached him and discovered that his violent nature was because he feared his shadow. That is why he rode it in the direction of the sun and could tame it. Later he would participate in the Olympic Games, where he would win in the car race.

After being educated by Aristotle, his father appointed him regent in 340 b.C., which should have received the emissaries of Darius from Macedon to pay tribute. Two years later he would lead the cavalry of his nation in the Battle of Chaeronea. Then he was governor of Thrace for the same date. Nevertheless, Philip II would contract marriage shortly after, putting in danger the throne of Alexander. This, in the middle of a party, would discuss both with his father and his new father-in-law, because he had hinted that he was a bastard and that the new union would give a legitimate heir to Macedon. Due to the fury of his father for his behavior, Alexander went into exile in Epirus, the land of his mother. Although over time, Philip II would forgive his son.

“Remember that the destiny of everyone depends on the behavior of each one.” Alexander the Great

In 336 b.C., Pausanias would assassinate Philip II due to an unknown stratagem. Therefore, Alexander became the king of Macedon when he was 20 years old. His father had had to govern a rather small and oppressed state. On the other hand, it was up to Alexander to govern a state with an extensive territory that had control over Greece. Precisely, the Greeks, suspecting the weakness of the young ruler, began to revolt, although they were quickly repressed in Thessaly and Thebes, a polis that was destroyed. Then Alexander went to Athens, where the doors were closed for fear of repeating the destruction that occurred in Thebes. At this, Alexander the Great entered alone with a group of friends, and the Athenians recognized him as the king of all Greece.

After securing supremacy in Greece, he left for Asia Minor to liberate the Greek cities under Persian rule. With 40,000 men, Alexander defeated the opposing army, led by Memnon, and liberated the cities of Ephesus, Pergamum, Miletus, Halicarnassus and many others. Later, he faced the Persian army led by Darius III at the Battle of Isos, where Alexander the Great would win against an army ten times larger than his own. After this defeat, Darius III would retire to the east, while his family was captured by the Macedonians. This was well treated by Alejandro, to the point of offering marriage to Barsine-Estatira, daughter of Darius III. Then Alexander would travel to Egypt, where its habitants would proclaim him Pharaoh and they would unite in their fight against Persia.

After uniting with the Egyptians, Alexander entered Persia without major difficulty on the part of the soldiers of Darius III, occupying Babylon and soon Susa and Persepolis. In Ecbatana, Alexander realized that Darius III had been assassinated by Bessos, that now governed Persia and had fled towards the interior of Asia. Alexander gave a funeral to his old opponent and showed solidarity with his family, so he won the favor of the Persians, who named him king of his region and supported him in his persecution of Bessos.

Finally, after a journey full of fantastic stories and several hardships in Central Asia, Ptolemy, a courtier of Bessos, handed him over to one of Alexander’s generals. Bessos was executed, although the reaction of several Persian princes was to rebel against Alexander. After several battles, Alexander was able to impose his order and unify all the lands he had conquered. By that time, he married the Persian princess Roxana. Then, joining forces and after some difficulties, Alexander also conquered much of the Indian subcontinent.

“For me, I have left the best: Hope.” Alexander the Great

Finally, Alexander the Great would die in June of 323 b.C. in Babylon with only 33 years old. His vast empire, not having a clear successor, was divided between his generals and relatives, commonly called as the Diadochi.