The Concha Revolution (1912-1916) was an outcome of the assassination of liberal Ecuadorian leader Eloy Alfaro -- responsible for the Liberal Revolution of 1895 -- on January 28, 1912 in Quito. In the north of Ecuador, the citizens of Esmeraldas, especially the Afro-Esmeraldans, were loyal to the liberal cause and the ensuing struggle left many of the poorly armed blacks dead at the hands of government troops. This relatively minor uprising in support of Alfaro was actually against a more conservative wing of the Liberal party and was limited in geographic scope to the city. Ecuadorian blacks contributed notably to the military effort and even formed the bulk of Alfaro’s army in the region. The Esmeraldan rebels were led by Colonel Carlos Concha y Torres (1864-1919). This small civil war left a bitter legacy in the region.
The novel Cuando los guayacanes florecían (1954) by Estupiñán Bass recounts the events of the Concha Revolution.