Ismael Montes Gamboa (5 October 1861 – 16 October 1933) was a Bolivian general and political figure who served as the 26th president of Bolivia twice nonconsecutively from 1904 to 1909 and from 1913 to 1917. He was a member of the Liberal Party. During his first term, the Treaty of Peace and Friendship with Chile was signed on 20 October 1904.
Early life and military career
left|thumb|219x219px|Battle of el Alto de la Alianza, where Montes performed heroically and was nearly killed.
Montes was born on 5 October 1861, in the city of La Paz, Bolivia. He belonged to a wealthy land-owning family. Montes was the son of General Clodomiro Montes and Tomasa Gamboa.
In 1878, he continued his higher studies by entering the Faculty of Law of the Universidad Mayor de San Andrés (UMSA), but due to the occupation by the Chilean army of the Bolivian town of Antofagasta on 14 February 1879, Montes decided to leave his studies and enlist as a private in the Murillo Regiment, then belonging to the "Bolivian Legion". In 1880, Montes' regiment was ordered to participate in the Battle of Alto de la Alianza, the last great battle between Bolivia and Chile in the War of the Pacific, in which he participated and barely survived, finishing the battle seriously wounded. Incidentally, he was captured by the Chilean army and remained as a prisoner for the remainder of the war.
Upon his return to Bolivia, due to his heroism during the battle, Montes was directly promoted to the rank of captain by the government. Montes was elected as the head of Civil Law at the faculty of law in the UMSA.
As a deputy, Montes was known for his elegant and eloquent personality, making him a perfect partner to the vociferous and mercurial Atanasio de Urioste Velasco, another staunch liberal of the time. The two remained friends and allies until the end of their lives.
On 31 October 1898, the deputies of Sucre proposed to definitively install the executive capital in Sucre, known as the "Radicatory Law". However, their La Paz counterparts proposed that the Congress should move to Cochabamba (a neutral place), a proposition which was rejected. The liberals seemed to initially accept the plan to make Sucre the official capital. The liberals had done so strategically since if they had vetoed it they would have provoked the inhabitants of the capital, and they knew that if it was approved they could convince the people and the garrison of La Paz (under the orders of Colonel José Manuel Pando) to mount an insurrection. On 6 November there was a massive riot in La Paz: rioters demanded federalism and that their city be made the capital. On 14 November, a Federal Committee was created and chaired by Colonel Pando while its deputies defended their cause in Congress. One of the federalists' main objectives then became the overthrow of Fernández. In Sucre, La Paz's pro-Fernández counterpart, there were public demonstrations in support of the government. Two brigades were formed: the first was made up of the 25 de Mayo battalion and the Sucre squadron. These were made up of upper-class youths with their own horses and weapons, and included the Olañeta battalion and the Monteagudo squadron, made up of young men from popular classes. During their march to reinforce the president, the government's forces plundered the indigenous populations that lived in the countryside.
The government's first brigade encountered Pando and some of his soldiers in Cosmini, and, after being forced to take refuge in the parish of Ayo Ayo, they were massacred on 24 January 1899. In Potosí the population was openly against helping government forces, meanwhile in Santa Cruz and Tarija the populations took a neutral stance. Among the indigenous communities of Cochabamba, Oruro, La Paz, and Potosí there were uprisings in favor of the Liberals.
President of Bolivia
First term
On 20 October 1904, the Treaty of Peace and Friendship with Chile was signed, which put an end to the state of war between the two countries, not ended since the War of the Pacific because only a truce had been signed in 1884. In the treaty, Montes recognized the absolute and perpetual cession of the Bolivian coast occupied by Chile.
According to Bolivian historiography of the mid-20th century onwards, this treaty was the result of the harassing pressure exerted by Chile on Bolivia (motivated by the expropriation of Chilean and foreign capital that triggered the War of the Pacific), with customs controls and trade restrictions. The liberal governments of Pando and Montes believed that it was time to turn the page with Chile and were convinced that the development of the railways and free transit, stipulated in the treaty, were compensations that were worth the sacrifice. In 1902, Chile had signed a treaty with Argentina that ended their militaristic rivalry with Buenos Aires, reducing its military personnel, creating a compulsory military service law and reducing the number of naval units, meaning that Chile could hardly aspire to exert military pressure on the Montes government.
Montes also signed a trade and customs treaty with Peru in 1905.
The Chaco War and its final years
Throughout his life, Montes had a military career which began at an early age, initially participating in the War of the Pacific in 1879, then in the Civil War of 1898–1899, and in the War of Acre of 1900–1903. These international as well as internal conflicts had given him experiences in acquiring military prestige at the national level for more than fifty years. It is for this reason that during the Chaco War (1932–1935), President Daniel Salamanca decided to commission him as military advisor to the Bolivian army in the Chaco.