Caio de Lima Guimarães

Caio Arruda Lopes Constantino de Lima Guimarães (June 2, 1847, Serra do Cacete, Indauá, Viceroyalty of Maracatibe - September 13, 1920, Praia, Paraté, Maracatibe) was a Maracatibean military and politician, commander of the Maracatibean Army during the war of independence of his country, and first president of Maracatibe, position that he assumed for three years and 254 days between 1907 and 1911, confirmed by the Provisional Legislative Congress in 1908. Between 1911 and 1916, he also assumed the post of Commander of the Army.

History
Son of Jungastian businessman Rafael Constantino de Lima Guimarães and professor Rosalina Arruda Lopes, Caio de Lima Guimarães was born on June 2, 1847, in the city of Serra do Cacete, in Indauá. His father owned a large mining corporation in the colony, and his uncle also had large land holdings. He was the youngest son in his family. At the age of 18, Lima de Guimarães, on the recommendation of his father, went to Jungastia, where he began his law studies at the University of Santo André. Initially aspiring to be a lawyer and then a diplomat, Guimarães went to the Royal Military Academy of Santo André at the age of 23, with the aim of becoming an officer. On the way, he married Samara Chagas Guimarães.

He served in Jungastia for ten years, until, at the time of his father's death, he returned to Maracatibe, where he remained permanently, serving in the colonial brigades. In 1895, Guimarães, already as a lieutenant colonel, participates in two battles, the Battle of Forte Francisco and the Battle of Barão, both in Santa Helena, and against the colonial monarchist government, which was replaced that year by the government appointed by the First Republic of Jungastia. He became a General in 1905, two years before joining the independence movement. Guimarães commanded the 11th colonial brigade in Praia.

Independence war and provisional government
Adept of liberal ideas, Caio de Lima Guimarães was called to command the independence army, on the night of April 25, 1907. At the time, Guimarães was commanding the 2nd Colonial Brigade in São Pedro. The Battle of São Pedro Fort was the first of the entire independence war, and ended in the movement's victory over the Jungastia detachments. From the victory in São Pedro, Guimarães started to command the whole army until the taking of Indaiataba in the same year, and in that process, he participated in the battles of Natal and Praia Longa.

Responsible for successfully articulating a general rebelliom of all colonial forces against Jungastia, in addition to organizing and recruiting and training thousands of civilian volunteers to fight, Caio de Lima Guimarães is recognized as one of the Great Heroes of Independence. He was chosen by the Congress of Independence to be the first president of the Republic.

In the taking of Indaiataba at the end of 1907, just a few years before the total expulsion of the Jungastians in Maracatibe, Guimarães decreed the installation of a National Constituent Assembly, which was elected in 1908. However, only 17.8% of the citizens of  Maracatibe went to the pools. The Constitutional Assembly operated alongside the Provisional Legislative Congress, whose purpose was to assist and oversee the presidential government and to draft, discuss and vote on laws. The Provisional Congress voted to keep Guimarães in the presidency, on November 1, 1908. After 1909, the war became practically won, with Jungastia sinking into an internal crisis and the battles being basically to prevent attacks by Jungastian ships and also to invade  Albaterra. Caio de Lima Guimarães was a strong supporter of the idea of ​​United Lusophone Avalonia, which consisted of an independent republic formed by Maracatibe and Albaterra. Thus, in his view, the objective of the war of independence was not only to bring autonomy to Maracatibe, but to completely eliminate Jungastia's influence in Avalonia.

However, plans to conquer Albaterra did not materialize, with the war being quite costly and with Congress ordering the end of the annexation plans. Maracatibe started to take a defensive position in relation to the border with Albaterra, but money and weapons were sent to idependentist groups in the neighboring colony, keeping alive the idea of ​​the Free South-Avalonian Republic (name idealized by Guimarães, but discarded in the Constituent Assembly).

In the government of Guimarães, Maracatibe obtained support from Zahava in the war and structured Maracatibean armed forces, composed of Army, Navy and Air Corps. A small spurt of industrialization also occurred during the provisional government, due to the end of the anti-industry policies imposed by the colonial system. The education received major investments, with the first anti-illiteracy plan being created under its government, and several universities were founded. The policies of social and racial segregation, which caused the political exclusion of a large part of the population, were endorsed by Guimarães. Guimarães sympathized with centralist ideas, arguing that federalism would cause policies aimed at enriching local oligarchies while causing the nation's backwardness. For him, only a strong central government could command the nation's success. His ideas were close to those of the Republican Constitutionalist Party, and many considered his choice to run for president in the 1910 elections.

Post-presidency and death
Guimarães refused to participate in the 1910 elections, and supported the victorious candidate, Paulo Mascarenhas d'Ávila for president. He became army commander in 1911, appointed by d'Ávila, and continued to work in the final phase of the war of independence, until its end in 1914. In 1916, Guimarães went to the army reserve, after deciding not to support  the repression of rebels, mainly in the southwest, of the civil war that year. He retired from public life and moved to Praia, Paraté. His daughter, Anastácia Guimarães, was one of the pioneers in the struggle for women's suffrage and in 1919 she was the first female senator elected in Maracatibe, by the Liberal Republican Party. The RLP even sought out Guimarães to be a candidate for the presidency, but the offer was refused.

Caio de Lima Guimarães died of an ulcer in September 1920, in Praia, Paraté. His last public appearance was at the Independence Day parade on April 26 of that year.