Manuel Freyre y Santa Cruz

Colonel Manuel Freyre y Santa Cruz held political office before leading Peru’s mission in Washington. As minister of government in 1863, he challenged Lima’s wholesale renaming of streets. He argued that the municipality could name new streets but could not freely rename existing ones, and that changes risked confusion in property transactions. His dispute with the municipality continued until his resignation in August, when Pedro Diez Canseco transferred the presidency to Juan Antonio Pezet. ¹

In Washington, Freyre sought to prevent the departure of gunboats being built in New York for Spain. In December 1869, Hamilton Fish informed the federal prosecutor that correspondence with the Spanish and Peruvian representatives no longer justified treating the two countries as at war for the purpose of detaining those vessels. ²

He also requested American assistance for Peru’s mission to Japan and China. Instructions issued through Fish enabled American representatives to offer good offices to Aurelio García y García. Chinese officials initially refused negotiations because of reports of mistreatment of Chinese laborers in Peru. Freyre helped arrange diplomatic support from Washington, while García conducted the negotiations in Asia. ³

When fiscal difficulties again threatened the legation in 1877, Freyre offered to continue without salary if the government met office and postal expenses. He died on 9 June 1878. His son Manuel de Freyre y Santander, born during the Washington posting in 1872, later returned to the same capital as Peru’s ambassador. ^{4, 5}