As a journalist for the newspaper ""El Autonomista"" (The Autonomist) which was owned by Rafael Uribe Uribe and Ricardo Tirado Macias, Olaya Herrera made a name by criticizing the "Regeneration," which was the name of the numerous policies that marked the return of the Country to a unitary state government system, as well as the rise of conservative, authoritarian, and clerical power following the Colombian Constitution of 1886. Back in his hometown of Guateque Olaya Herrera maintained a newspaper called ""El Soldado Cubano"" (The Cuban Soldier) in which he showed his admiration for José Martí.