10 - ‘La revolución de tres horas’

Summary

The national Congress is one of the unsung heroes of the Age of Santa Anna. From the time of Iturbide onwards, successive generations of congressmen displayed considerable courage in their determination to sustain the independence of the legislative power, often in the face of open hostility from the military-dominated executives. Iturbide's response was to jail recalcitrant deputies and to use his military strength to close the Congress. During the Victoria and Guerrero presidencies, the Congress reasserted its authority, and neither executive was able to dominate or even restrain it to any significant degree. Bustamante, under the subtle tutelage of Alamán, was rather more successful, but even his carefully organized administration was obliged to resort to threats and intimidation against a resolute minority who steadfastly opposed his policies. Santa Anna was even less able to control the representatives, and it is probable that he failed to turn up for his first inauguration day in 1833 because he knew that he could not dictate to them and their majority of radical liberals. Like that of Iturbide before him, his solution was to use the army to lock the doors of the debating chamber, but even that was achieved only after defiant and prolonged resistance by the Congress. As we have seen in previous chapters of this study, Bustamante's second administration witnessed many disputes with Congress until Santa Anna again brought its sessions to an abrupt end with his Bases de Tacubaya.