Liberal Party Partido Liberal | |
---|---|
Founded | 1820 [1] |
Dissolved | 1930s [2] |
Merged into | Progressive Liberal Party (faction) |
Ideology | |
The Liberal Party (Spanish : Partido Liberal, PL) was a political party in Guatemala.
The party originated in the pre-independence Cacos group, who were in favour of a free market economic system. [5] It became the ruling party of the Federal Republic of Central America in 1830 when Francisco Morazán became president. However, a civil war led to the dissolution of the federation and the Conservative Party taking power in Guatemala. [5]
In 1871, the Liberal Party returned to power when Miguel García Granados became president. A series of Liberal presidents followed, including Manuel Estrada Cabrera, who ruled from 1889 until 1920 when Congress declared him insane, [5] and elected the Unionist Party's Carlos Herrera y Luna as his replacement. The Unionist Party was formed by both former conservatives and liberals.
However, the party regained power in 1921 when José María Orellana removed President Carlos Herrera from office. Orellana was formally elected President the following year. The Liberals won all 69 seats in the 1923 Congressional elections, with the result repeated in 1925. In 1926, the Unionist Party led by Lázaro Chacón González regained power but was replaced in 1931 by the candidate of the Liberal–Progressive Liberal candidate Jorge Ubico.
The history of Guatemala traces back to the Maya civilization, with the country's modern history beginning with the Spanish conquest of Guatemala in 1524. By 1000 AD, most of the major Classic-era Maya cities in the Petén Basin, located in the northern lowlands, had been abandoned. The Maya states in the Belize central highlands continued to thrive until the Spanish conquistador Pedro de Alvarado—called "The Invader" by the Maya—arrived in 1525 and began to subdue the indigenous populations.
Manuel José Estrada Cabrera was the President of Guatemala from 1898 to 1920. A lawyer with no military background, he modernised the country's industry and transportation infrastructure, via granting concessions to the American-owned United Fruit Company, whose influence on the government was deeply unpopular among the population. Estrada Cabrera ruled as a dictator who used increasingly brutal methods to assert his authority, including armed strike-breaking, and he effectively controlled general elections. He retained power for 22 years through controlled elections in 1904, 1910, and 1916, and was eventually removed from office when the national assembly declared him mentally incompetent, and he was jailed for corruption. As such, he was the longest-serving leader of Guatemala. Son of Pedro Estrada-Monzón and Joaquina Cabrera.
Jorge Ubico Castañeda, nicknamed Number Five or also Central America's Napoleon, was a Guatemalan military officer, politician, and dictator who served as the president of Guatemala from 1931 to 1944.
Juan José Arévalo Bermejo was a Guatemalan statesman and professor of philosophy who became Guatemala's first democratically elected president in 1945. He was elected following a popular uprising against the United States-backed dictator Jorge Ubico that began the Guatemalan Revolution. He remained in office until 1951, surviving 25 coup attempts. He did not contest the election of 1951, instead choosing to hand over power to Jacobo Árbenz. As president, he enacted several social reform policies, including an increase in the minimum wage and a series of literacy programs. He also oversaw the drafting of a new constitution in 1945. He is the father of the current President of Guatemala Bernardo Arévalo.
Lázaro Chacón González was the acting President of Guatemala from 26 September 1926 to 18 December 1926 and President of Guatemala from 19 December 1926 to 2 January 1931.
José María Orellana Pinto was a Guatemalan political and military leader. He was chief of staff of President Manuel Estrada Cabrera and President of Guatemala between 1921 and 1926, after overthrowing Conservative Unionist President Carlos Herrera. During his rule the Quetzal was established as the currency of Guatemala. Orellana Pinto died under suspicious circumstances in 1926 at the age of fifty-four. He was buried in the Guatemalan capital with state honors.
Carlos Herrera y Luna was a Guatemalan politician who served as acting President of Guatemala from 30 March 1920 to 15 September 1920, and President of Guatemala from 16 September 1920 until 10 December 1921.
Enrique Alfredo Olaya Herrera was a Colombian journalist and politician. He served as President of Colombia from 7 August 1930 until 7 August 1934 representing the Colombian Liberal Party.
Liberalism in Honduras is a form of Latin American liberalism. It was influenced by French revolutionaries from 1789 to 1799, when the door was open for ideas of positivism. During this time the populace were exposed to liberal ideas such as: liberty, equality, and popular sovereignty, causing enthusiasm for them to be increased.
The National Liberation Movement was a Guatemalan political party formed in 1954 by Carlos Castillo Armas. The party served as political platform for the military junta.
National Front was a period in the history of Colombia in which the two main political parties, the Liberal Party and the Conservative Party, agreed to rotate power, intercalating for a period of four presidential terms. The National Front Presidents were Alberto Lleras Camargo (Liberal), Guillermo León Valencia (Conservative), Carlos Lleras Restrepo (Liberal), and Misael Pastrana Borrero (Conservative).
The Revolutionary Party was the ruling Guatemalan political party from 1966 to 1970.
Lorenzo Montúfar y Rivera was a Guatemalan politician and lawyer. Superb leader and speaker, helped the liberal regime of Justo Rufino Barrios, served in the Guatemalan legislature, taught in the College of Law of the Universidad Nacional de Guatemala and, towards the end of his life, was a presidential candidate himself losing to general José María Reyna Barrios. He was also Foreign Secretary of Costa Rica in 1856 and from 1870 to 1873, and President of University of Saint Thomas, also in Costa Rica.
Presidential elections were held in Guatemala on 15 December 1921.
Indirect presidential elections were held in Guatemala on 8 April 1920. After two decades of repression and dictatorial rule, political opponents of Manuel Estrada Cabrera organized the Unionist Party (PU) in 1919. Led by Conservatives tied to the landed oligarchy, the Unionists also attracted support among the urban proletariat, artisans, students, and industrialists.
The Conservative Party was one of the two major political parties in Guatemala during the nineteenth and early twentieth century. The Conservative Party originated in the Serviles political group—consisting primarily of merchants and estate owners—representing a strong central government and a continuation of the colonial-era privileges. The Conservatives sought to preserve the power and privileges of the Catholic Church, as well as several of the existing monopolies—particularly the tobacco monopoly and the consulado. The Conservative Party consolidated much of their power between 1839 - 1871, mostly during the period under President Rafael Carrera.
Federico Hernández de León was a Guatemalan writer, historian and journalist. He graduated from the Instituto Nacional Central para Varones of Guatemala, with a high school diploma in 1900. Active politically, was arrested during the last few years of the government of president Manuel Estrada Cabrera, being held in the Central Penitentiary of Guatemala until the president was deposed on April 14, 1920. After his release, he went straight to take over the Diario de Centro América semi-official newspaper of Guatemala at the time. Later, he directed Nuestro Diario along with Carlos Bauer Aviles.
Baudilio Palma was acting President of Guatemala, in place of general Lázaro Chacón González, from 13 to 17 December 1930, when he was deposed and probably assassinated after coup d'état led by general Manuel María Orellana Contreras, who appointed himself as president. Several authors argue that he might not have been killed, but went into exile to El Salvador, where he would have died on 19 June 1944.
Movimiento Semilla is a centre-left, progressive, social-democratic political party in Guatemala. On 14 January 2024, it became Guatemala's governing party following the inauguration of President Bernardo Arévalo.
Anarchism in Guatemala emerged from the country's labor movement in the late 19th century. Anarcho-syndicalism rose to prominence in the early 20th century, reaching its peak during the 1920s, before being suppressed by the right-wing dictatorship of Jorge Ubico.