Conservative President Severo Fernández wanted to settle the decade-long debate regarding what city was officially the Bolivian capital. Up until 1880, the seat of executive power was wherever the current president resided. Hence, Congress met, between 1825 and 1900, on twenty-nine occasions in Sucre, twenty in La Paz, seven in Oruro, two in Cochabamba and one in Tapacarí. Officially, the capital of Bolivia was Sucre since the presidency of Antonio José de Sucre, remaining as such over the years due to the lack of resources to build a new capital and the influence of its aristocracy. However, by the 1880s, conservative presidents chose to settle in Sucre, making it the de facto capital of the country. On October 31, 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 November 6 there was a massive riot in La Paz: rioters demanded federalism and that their city be made the capital. On November 14, a Federal Committee was created and chaired by Colonel Pando while its deputies defended their cause in Congress. Three days later, the "Radicatory Law" was approved, making Sucre the official capital and seat of executive power. On November 19, the new status of the city was officially promulgated. In response, on December 12, with the people of La Paz behind them, a Federal Board of Liberals was formed, which included some authority figures who had switched sides (these being the Prefect and Commander General Serapio Reyes Ortiz and the Minister of Instruction Macario Pinilla). Pando's liberals allied themselves with Pablo Zárate Willka, cacique (or 'chief') of the Altiplano. Outbreak of war After these events, the deputies from La Paz withdrew by order of the Federal Board. The people of La Paz received their representatives with great fanfare and ceremony. One of the federalists' main objectives then became the overthrow of