Guillermo Billinghurst Net Worth

Background and career

Guillermo Enrique Billinghurst Angulo (27 July 1851 – 28 June 1915) was a Peruvian politician who served as the 37th president of Peru from 1912 until his overthrow in 1914.

An Anglo-Peruvian, Billinghurst was one of the leaders of the Democratic Party (El Partido Demócrata), whose members primarily representatives of the national bourgeoisie and middle-class in the south of the country, and oriented toward the domestic market. They were opposed by the Civilistas, whose interests were directly or indirectly linked to foreign capital and were typically oriented to the foreign (export) of raw-material commodities. During his presidency, Billinghurst became embroiled in an increasingly bitter series of conflicts with Congress.

A liberal, he proposed and attempted to pass advanced social legislation in favour of the working classes. This was blocked by the conservative and oligarchic factions in the Peruvian Congress. To get around them, Billinghurst attempted to call fresh elections, which prompted these same Conservative factions to call upon the Peruvian military, led by Óscar R. Benavides, to carry out a coup d'état. As a result of the coup, which resulted in Benavides becoming president, Billinghurst was sent into exile in Chile where he died shortly thereafter.

Despite his problems with Congress and his eventual downfall, Billinghurst nevertheless succeeded in launching a program aimed at building working-class housing and establishing a School of Domestic Education to provide work for poor women. In addition, a decree was introduced during his presidency that provided an eight-hour day for port workers, while a Supreme Decree of July 1913 contained detailed measures intended to provide industrial safety in various establishments.