Mariano Paredes

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Mariano Paredes

In office January 4, 1846 – July 28, 1846
Vice President(s)	Nicolas Bravo
Preceded by	José Joaquín de Herrera
Succeeded by	José Mariano Salas

Born	ca. January 7, 1797 Mexico City
Died	September 27, 1849 Mexico City
Political party	Conservative
Spouse	Josefa Cortés

Mariano Paredes y Arrillaga (ca. January 7, 1797, Mexico City—September 7, 1849, Mexico City) was an ultraconservative Mexican general and president. He took power in a coup d'etat in 1846. He was the president at the start of the Mexican-American War.

1 Early career
2 The coup d'etat
3 As president
4 Aftermath
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Early career

He entered the Spanish colonial army as an infantry cadet on January 6, 1812. He participated in 22 actions in the War of Independence on the Spanish side. He was arrested for criticizing King Ferdinand VII and exiled to Spain. However, he fled and remained in Mexico. He joined the Ejército Trigarante, where he participated in another 11 military actions. In June 1821, under the Empire, he was made a lieutenant colonel.

On February 11, 1823, when he was then in charge of the plaza of Puebla, he pronounced against the empire of Agustín de Iturbide (the Plan de Casa Mata). He rose in revolt again on December 21, 1829, this time from Guadalajara in support of Anastasio Bustamante's Plan de Jalapa in opposition to President Vicente Guerrero. Bustamante took power the following January 1.

In 1832 Paredes was promoted to brigadier general. He entered the political field in 1835. Briefly in December 1838 he was minister of war. In 1839 he helped Jalisco Governor Escobedo suppress the federalist revolt of May 18.

On August 8, 1841 he headed a reactionary revolt against the regime of conservative President Bustamante, whom he accused of not fighting to recover Texas and yielding to the French invasion in the Pastry War. He, Antonio López de Santa Anna and other rebels signed the Plan de Tacubaya against Bustamante on September 28, 1841. Bustamante agreed to resign, Francisco Javier Echeverría was chosen interim president, and three weeks later Santa Anna occupied the presidency. Paredes was not included in the new cabinet, and he felt he had received inadequate reward for his support. A strong follower of Santa Anna before this point, his support now began to cool.

Paredes was military governor of Jalisco from November 3, 1841 to January 28, 1843. In October 1843 at Celaya, he withdrew recognition of President Santa Anna. Santa Anna also lost other support, and Congress named José Joaquín de Herrera president on January 7, 1845, marginalizing Paredes.

[edit] The coup d'etat

When the Mexican-American War appeared imminent in 1845, Paredes was entrusted with the defense of the country. He was sent to San Luis Potosí. There on December 14, 1845, alleging lack of supplies, he rose in revolt against Pres. Herrera (Plan de San Luis). Instead of marching against the invaders, he marched on the capital. On 1845-12-30, General Gabriel Valencia, in charge of the garrison of Mexico City, seized power and announced his support for Paredes. Valencia held executive power for three days and then turned it over to Paredes. Paredes entered Mexico City on January 2, 1846. On the following day he was named president of Mexico by a junta of notables he had assembled from heads of governmental departments. On January 4 he officially took the oath of office but did not begin exercising power.

[edit] As president

On January 1, 1846 the state of Yucatán declared its independence from Mexico and its neutrality in the war with the United States.

General Pedro Ampudia was defeated by U.S. forces under General Zachary Taylor at Frotón de Santa Isabel on March 5, 1846. Ampudia was replaced by General Mariano Arista, who was also defeated, at Palo Alto. Thereupon Arista was arrested and Ampudia reappointed.

On June 12, 1846 Paredes was officially reelected president by Congress. He chose General Nicolas Bravo as his vice-president. On June 20 he was officially made commander of the Mexican army. His administration continued until July 28, 1846, when he turned the government over to Bravo to take the field to combat his enemies.

The country was in a state of chaos. Paredes took the position that the best way to preserve the country was to turn it into a monarchy with a Spanish sovereign. A royalist party was organized in Mexico City, favoring Enrique de Borbón, cousin and brother-in-law of the queen of Spain. In opposition to this, revolt broke out in Jalisco under General José María Yáñez on May 21, and José Mariano Salas rose in the capital in August. Salas deposed Paredes and reinstituted federalism (August 4), proclaiming the return of Santa Anna and the convoking of a constituent congress.

[edit] Aftermath

Paredes fled but was taken prisoner and confined to a convent. In October he was exiled to France. He returned to Mexico in 1848, in time to oppose the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo ending the war with the United States. Together with Manuel Doblado and Padre Celedonio Dómeco de Jarauta, he again rose in armed revolted, but was defeated by Bustamante at Guanajuato on July 18, 1848. He was exiled again, but was included in a general amnesty in April 1849. He returned to the country again in that year. He died in poverty in Mexico City in September 1849.

[edit] References

(Spanish) Diccionario Porrúa de historia, biografía y geografía de Mexico, 5th ed. rev. Mexico City: Editorial Porrúa, 1986, v. 3, p. 2203.
(Spanish) Enciclopedia universal ilustrada europea-americana, 1st ed. Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, 1958, v. 42, p. 14.
(Spanish) "Paredes y Arriaga, Mariano" Enciclopedia de México, v. 11. Mexico City, 1996, pp. 6206-07, ISBN 1-56409-016-7.
(Spanish) García Puron, Manuel, México y sus gobernantes, v. 2. Mexico City: Joaquín Porrúa, 1984, pp. 35-36.
(Spanish) Orozco Linares, Fernando, Gobernantes de México. Mexico City: Panorama Editorial, 1985, pp. 274-76, ISBN 968-38-0260-5.
(Spanish) Musaccio, Humberto. Diccionario enciclopédico de México. Mexico: Andrés León, 1989, v. 3, p. 1466.
(Spanish) Rivera, Manuel. Los gobernantes de México. Mexico: Imprenta de J.M. Aguilar Ortiz, 1873, v. 2, pp. 286-298.