Pedro Barriere

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Pedro Barriere

Doctor Pedro Barriere (b. Cuba, d. May 18, 1827, Milingo, El Salvador) was a Spanish colonial official in the province of El Salvador. After independence from Spain he became the first head of state of El Salvador.

Dr. Barriere entered the service of the colonial government at the end of the eighteenth century, ascending to the rank of lieutenant. His service was distinguished by his loyalty to the royalist cause.

On September 15, 1821, the Act of Independence of Central America was signed in Guatemala City. Barriere replaced General and Doctor José María Peinado as Spanish intendant of El Salvador on the latter's death. Barriere took over the government on September 21, 1821. He was the last colonial intendant of the province and the first governor after independence. He occupied the position until November 28, 1821.

When Manuel José Arce, together with a small group of Salvadoran supporters, asked Intendant Barriere for the election of an economic consultative junta on September 30, 1821, Barriere ordered the arrest of the patriot leaders — Arce, Domingo Antonio Lara, Juan Manuel Rodríguez, Manuel Castillo, Mariano Fagoaga and others. Because he feared popular reaction in El Salvador, they were sent as prisoners to Guatemala, with a strong escort.

The governing junta in Guatemala had received the report of the incident from Barriere, and was ready to punish the prisoners. However, the priest Dr. José Matías Delgado, who had been named the new civil political chief of El Salvador by the Provisional Consultative Junta of Guatemala, secured their release in Santa Ana, El Salvador, before they reached Guatemala.

Dr. Barriere, who scoffed at the protests of the people and depended on the army for his authority, could hardly believe he had been replaced by Padre Delgado. Delgado was received by the people of El Salvador as a liberator from the tyranny of Barriere. Barriere moved to Guatemala, where he was promoted to colonel. He died in the service of the first president of the Federal Republic of Central America, General Manuel José Arce, his former enemy, in the Battle of Milingo.