Vicente Guerrero

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the former Mexican president. For the small town of the same name, see Los Algodones, Baja California.
Vicente Guerrero
Vicente Guerrero

A painting of Vicente Guerrero.
In office
April 1, 1829 – December 17, 1829
Vice President Anastasio Bustamante
Preceded by Guadalupe Victoria
Succeeded by José María Bocanegra
Born August 10, 1782 (1782-08-10)
Tixtla (modern-day Guerrero)
Died February 14, 1831 (aged 48)
Cuilapan, Oaxaca

Vicente Ramón Guerrero Saldaña (August 10, 1782 – February 14, 1831) was the 2nd President of Mexico and one of the leading revolutionary generals of the Mexican War of Independence, who fought against Spain for independence in the early 19th century. He was also the grandfather of the Mexican politician and intellectual Vicente Riva Palacio.

Guerrero was born in the town of Tixtla, 100 kilometers inland from the port of Acapulco, in the Sierra Madre del Sur. His ancestry was obscure and rather uncertain (he probably had spanish, criollo, mestizo, amerindian and african heritage), as well as his family social background. His father Pedro Guerrero was a supporter of the Spanish Crown, however Vicente was a patriot and opposed the Spanish colonial government. When his father asked him for his sword in order to present it to the New Spain Viceroy as a sign of goodwill and capitulation he denied by saying the words: "The will of my father is for me sacred, but my Motherland is first". "My Motherland is first" is the actual lemma (motto) of the southern Mexican state of Guerrero, named in his honor.

Guerrero joined in the early revolt against Spain in 1810, first fighting alongside José María Morelos. When the War of Independence began, Guerrero was working as a gunsmith in Tixtla. He joined the rebellion in November, 1810 and enlisted in a division that independence leader José Maria Morelos had organized to fight in southern Mexico. Guerrero distinguished himself in the battle of Izúcar, in February 1812, and had achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel, when Oaxaca was claimed by rebels in November of 1812.

Following the capture and execution of Morelos in late 1815, Guerrero joined forces with Guadalupe Victoria and Isidoro Montes de Oca (a Mexican general of Filipino origin), taking command the rebel troops. He remained the only major rebel leader still at large, keeping the rebellion going through an extensive campaign of guerrilla warfare. He won victories at Ajuchitán, Santa Fe, Tetela del Río, Huetamo, Tlalchapa and Cuautlotitlán, regions of southern Mexico that were very familiar to him.

Once Mexico achieved independence, he at first collaborated with Agustín de Iturbide, who proposed that the two join forces under what he referred to as the Three Guarantees. Iturbide's professed belief in these ideological mandates - that Mexico be made an independent constitutional monarchy, the abolition of class distinctions between Spaniards, creoles, mestizos and Indians, and that Catholicism be made the state religion - earned Gurerrero's support, and, after marching into the capital on September 27, 1821, Iturbide was proclaimed Emperor of Mexico by the Congress. However, when Iturbide's policies supported the interests of Mexico's wealthy land-owners through continued economic exploitation of the poor and working classes, Guerrero turned against him and came out in favor of a Republic with the Plan of Casa Mata.

When the conservative Manuel Gómez Pedraza won the election to succeed Guadalupe Victoria as president, Guerrero, with the aid of general Antonio López de Santa Anna, staged a coup d'état and took the presidency on April 1, 1829. The most notable achievement of Guerrero's short term as president was ordering an immediate abolition of slavery and emancipation of all slaves.

Guerrero was deposed in a rebellion under Vice-president Anastasio Bustamante that began on December 4, 1829. He left the capital to fight the rebels, but was deposed by the Mexico City garrison in his absence on December 17, 1829. Guerrero hoped to come back to power, but General Bustamante captured him through bribery and had him executed.

After his death, Mexicans loyal to Guerrero revolted, driving Bustamante from his presidency and forcing him to flee for his life. Picaluga, a former friend of Guerrero, who conspired with Bustamante to capture Guerrero, was executed.

Honors were conferred on surviving members of Guerrero's family, and a pension was paid to his widow. In 1842, Vicente Guerrero's body was returned to Mexico City and interred there.

[edit] Legacy

Guerrero is a national hero of Mexico. In his honour, the state of Guerrero is named after him.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Guadalupe Victoria		 President of Mexico
1829		 Succeeded by
José María Bocanegra
v • d • e
Mexican Post-Independence Presidents