Crime and Forgiveness. The trial of Gabriel de Torres e Velasco and Cartagena (1824-1827)

Abstract

The martial court of the "Capitaes Gerais" to which Brigadier Gabriel de Torres y Velasco voluntarily submitted himself to in order to be absolved for giving up the Cartagena was a military trial which assumed a political nature. This case demonstrates the ongoing conflict between liberals and absolutists, but also shows, on the other hand, the tacit agreements aimed at keeping recent past events unknown. Throughout the trial process, there is no reference to the liberal triennium nor to the proclamation of the liberal constitution in Cartagena in 1820