In 1833, four intellectuals who had begun publishing the newspaper El Quiteño Libre to denounce the "pillaging of the national treasury by foreigners" were killed by the authorities at a time when Flores was absent from Quito.
I 1833 begyndte fire intellektuelle at udgive El Quiteño Libre for at kritisere "udlændingenes udplyndring af statskassen", men de blev myrdede af myndighedspersoner, mens Flores var bortrejst fra Quito.