Business networks of Francisco Ignacio de Yraeta and Isidro Antonio de Icaza during the expansion period of the Guayaquil cocoa traffic, 1774-1783

Abstract

The increase in Guayaquil’s cocoa traffic in New Spain is analyzed and how it brought about the commercial opening of 1776 and the Anglo-Spanish war of 1779-1783, giving rise to the mobility of the Icaza brothers from Panama to Guayaquil and New Spain. Likewise, the interpersonal links established by Francisco Ignacio de Yraeta and Isidro Antonio de Icaza are examined, as well as how they exchanged increasing amounts of the Ecuadorian bean for goods from Europe and Asia, based on complex family networks, nationhood, and businesses that rendered the confidence required by the magnitude of the trade they carried out, the need to resort to credit, and the slowness of information circulation.