The state originated from the political differences and tensions between Guatemala City on one side, and Quetzaltenango and other parts of western Central America on the other. Debate about separation from Guatemala dated from shortly after Central American independence from Spain in 1821. Such a separate state was provided for by the Federal constitutional assembly of November 1824, but there was sizable opposition to the separation in Guatemala City.
As the liberal Federation crumbled into civil war due to the influence of the Guatemalan conservatives and the regular clergy, who had been expelled from Central America after Francisco Morazán's bloody invasion of Guatemala in 1829, Los Altos declared itself an independent republic.
The independence of Los Altos from Guatemala was officially proclaimed on 2 February 1838. The Federal government recognized Los Altos as the sixth state of the union and seated the representatives of Los Altos in the Federal Congress on 5 June of that year. The flag of Los Altos was a modification of that of the Central American Union, with a central seal showing a volcano in the background with a quetzal (a local bird symbolizing liberty) in front. This was the first Central American flag to use the quetzal as a symbol; since 1871, it has been on the present flag of Guatemala.
Administrative divisions
Los Altos consisted of the administrative regions of
General Agustín GuzmánThe Coat of Arms of Los Altos, carved in stone on the grave of heroes in the Cemetery of Quetzaltenango.Mariano Rivera Paz. Conservative Chief of State of Guatemala during the time Los Altos was established and then recovered for Guatemala by Rafael Carrera.
On April 2, 1838, in the city of Quetzaltenango, a secessionist group founded the independent State of Los Altos, which sought independence from Guatemala. The most important members of the Liberal Party of Guatemala and liberal enemies of the conservative regime moved to Los Altos, rather than needing to emigrate to El Salvador to live in a pro-liberal state.[1]
The liberals in Los Altos began a harsh criticism of the Conservative government of Rivera Paz; they even had their own newspaper – El Popular, which contributed to the harsh criticism.[1]
However, Los Altos was the most productive region with most economic activity of the former State of Guatemala; without Los Altos, conservatives lost many benefits that held the hegemony of the State of Guatemala in Central America.[1]
The government of Guatemala tried to reach a peaceful solution, but "altenses",[Note 1] protected by the recognition by the Congress of the Central American Federation, did not accept this. Guatemala's government then resorted to force, sending the commanding general of the army, Rafael Carrera, to subdue Los Altos.
Carrera defeated General Agustín Guzmán when the former Mexican officer tried to ambush him and then went on to Quetzaltenango, where he imposed a harsh and hostile conservative regime for liberals. Calling all council members, he told them flatly that he was behaving kindly to them because it was the first time they had challenged him, but sternly warned them that there would be no mercy if there were to be a second time.[2] General Guzmán and the head of state of Los Altos, Marcelo Molina, were sent to the capital of Guatemala, where they were displayed as trophies of war during a triumphant parade on February 17, 1840. Guzmán was shackled, wounds still bleeding, and riding a mule.[1]
General Francisco Morazán tried to invade Guatemala for the second time in 1840 after having invaded in 1829 and expelled members of the Aycinena clan and regular orders. In 1840 he was defeated by Carrera overwhelmingly, marking the end of his career in Central America
On March 18, 1840, liberal caudillo Francisco Morazán invaded Guatemala with 1500 soldiers to avenge the insult done in Los Altos and fearing that such action would end liberal efforts to hold together the Central American Federation. Guatemala had a cordon of guards from the border with El Salvador; without telegraph service, men ran carrying last minute messages.[3] With the information from these messengers, Carrera hatched a plan of defense leaving his brother Sotero with troops who presented a slight resistance in the city.[4]
Carrera pretended to flee and led the ragtag army to the heights of Aceituno as only had about four men and the same number of loads rifle, plus two old cannons. The city was at the mercy of the army of Morazán, with bells of their twenty churches ringing for divine assistance.[3] Once Morazán reached the capital, he took it easily and freed Guzman, who immediately left for Quetzaltenango to give the news that Carrera was defeated.[5]
Carrera then took advantage of what his enemies believed and applied a strategy of concentrating fire on the Central Park of the city. His surprise attack tactics caused heavy casualties to the army of Morazán and forced the survivors to fight for their lives.[Note 2][6] In combat, Morazán's soldiers lost the initiative and their numerical superiority. Furthermore, unaware of their surroundings in the city, Morazan's troops had to fight, carry their dead and care for their wounded while still tired by the long march from El Salvador to Guatemala.[6]
Carrera, by then an experienced military man[Note 3] was able to stand up and defeat Morazán thoroughly. The disaster for the liberal general was complete: aided by Angel Molina [Note 4] who knew the streets of the city, he had to flee with his favorite men, disguised and shouting "Long live Carrera!" through the ravine of El Incienso to El Salvador, to save his life. [3]
In his absence Morazán had been relieved as head of state of that country, and he had to embark for exile in Peru.[6] In Guatemala, survivors from his troops were shot without mercy, as Carrera pursued Morazan, whom he failed to catch. This lance definitely sealed the status of General Carrera and marked the decline of Morazán,[3] and forced the conservative Clan Aycinena[es]criollos to negotiate with Carrera and his revolutionary peasant supporters.[7]
Agustin Guzmán, freed by Morazán when the latter had seemingly defeated Carrera in Guatemala City, had gone back to Quetzaltenango with the good news. The city's liberal criollo leaders rapidly reinstated the Los Altos State and celebrated Morazán's victory. However, as soon as Carrera and the newly reinstated Mariano Rivera Paz heard the news, Carrera went back to Quetzaltenango with his volunteer army to regain control of the rebel liberal state once and for all.[8]
Captain General Rafael Carrera after being appointed President for Life of the Republic of Guatemala in 1854.
On 2 April 1840, after entering the city, Carrera told the citizens that he had already warned them after he defeated them earlier that year. Then he ordered most of the liberal city hall officials from Los Altos shot. Carrera, then forcibly annexed Quetzaltenango and much of Los Altos back into conservative Guatemala.
After the violent and bloody reinstatement of the State of Los Altos by Carrera in April 1840, Luis Batres Juarros — conservative member of the Aycinena Clan, then secretary general of the Guatemalan government of recently reinstated Mariano Rivera Paz — obtained from the vicar Larrazabal authorization to dismantle the regionalist Church.[9]
Active priests of Quetzaltenango — capital of the would-be-state of Los Altos — Urban Ugarte and José Maria Aguilar, were removed from their parish and likewise the priests of the parishes of San Martin Jilotepeque and San Lucas Tolimán. Larrazabal ordered the priests Fernando Antonio Dávila, Mariano Navarrete and Jose Ignacio Iturrioz to cover the parishes of Quetzaltenango, San Martin Jilotepeque and San Lucas Toliman, respectively.[9]
The defeat of the liberal criollos in Quetzaltenango reinforced Carrera allies' status within the native population of the area, whom he respected and protected as the leader of the peasant revolution.[7]
Taking advantage of the chaos and unsettled situation, the Soconusco region was annexed by Mexico.
In 1844, 1848, and 1849, unsuccessful revolts against the dictatorship of Rafael Carrera briefly reproclaimed the independence of Los Altos.
Proclamation Coin 1847 of the independent Republic of GuatemalaGeneral Doroteo Vasconcelos who supported Los Altos' reestablishment.
During his first term as president, Rafael Carrera brought the country back from excessive conservatism to a traditional climate. However, in 1848, the liberals were able to force Rafael Carrera to leave office, after the country had been in turmoil for several months.[10][11] Carrera resigned of his own free will and left for México. The new liberal regime allied itself with the Aycinena family and swiftly passed a law which they emphatically ordered the execution of Carrera if he dared to return to Guatemalan soil.[10]
In his absence, the liberal criollos from Quetzaltenango — led by general Agustín Guzmán who occupied the city after Corregidor general Mariano Paredes was called to Guatemala City to take over the Presidential office[12]— declared that Los Altos was an independent state once again on 26 August 1848; the new state had the support of Vasconcelos' regime in El Salvador and the rebel guerrilla army of Vicente and Serapio Cruz who were declared enemies of general Carrera.[13] The interim government was led by Guzmán himself and had Florencio Molina and the priest Fernando Davila as his Cabinet members.[14]
On 5 September 1848, the criollo altenses chose a formal government led by Fernando Antonio Martínez. In the meantime, Carrera returned to Guatemala and entered by Huehuetenango, where he met with the native leaders and told them that they had to remain united to prevail. The leaders agreed and slowly the segregated native communities started to develop a new Indian identity under Carrera's leadership.[15] In the meantime, in the eastern part of Guatemala, the Jalapa region became increasingly dangerous; former president Mariano Rivera Paz and rebel leader Vicente Cruz were both murdered there after trying to take over the Corregidor office in 1849.[15]
Upon learning that officer José Víctor Zavala had been appointed as Corregidor in Suchitepéquez, Carrera and his hundred jacalteco bodyguards crossed a dangerous jungle infested with jaguars to meet his former friend. When they met, Zavala not only did not capture him, but agreed to serve under his orders, thus sending a strong message to both liberal and conservatives in Guatemala City, who realized that they were forced to negotiate with Carrera, otherwise they were going to have to battle on two fronts — Quetzaltenango and Jalapa.[16]
Carrera went back to the Quetzaltenango area, while Zavala remained in Suchitepéquez as a tactical maneuver.[17] Carrera received a visit from a Cabinet member of Paredes and told him that he had control of the native population and that he would keep them appeased.[16] When the emissary returned to Guatemala City, he told the president everything Carrera said, and added that the native forces were formidable.[18]
Agustín Guzmán went to Antigua Guatemala to meet with another group of Paredes emissaries; they agreed that Los Altos would rejoin Guatemala, and that the latter would help Guzmán defeat his hated enemy and also build a port on the Pacific Ocean.[18] Guzmán was sure of victory this time, but his plan evaporated when, in his absence, Carrera and his native allies occupied Quetzaltenango. Carrera appointed Ignacio Yrigoyen as Corregidor and convinced him that he should work with the K'iche', Q’anjob’al, and Mam leaders to keep the region under control.[19] On his way out, Yrigoyen murmured to a friend: Now he is the King of the Indians, indeed![19]
The region is still distinctive, and Los Altos is still a nickname for the region of Guatemala around Quetzaltenango. Similarly, the Mexican portion of the former state is known as Los Altos de Chiapas.
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.
José Rafael Carrera y Turcios was the president of Guatemala from 1844 to 1848 and from 1851 until his death in 1865, after being appointed President for life in 1854. During his military career and presidency, new nations in Central America were facing numerous problems: William Walker's invasions, liberal attempts to overthrow the Catholic Church and aristocrats' power, the Civil War in the United States, Mayan uprising in the east, Belize boundary dispute with the United Kingdom, and the wars in Mexico under Benito Juárez. This led to a rise of caudillos, a term that refers to charismatic populist leaders among the indigenous people.
Pedro de Aycinena y Piñol was a conservative politician and member of the Aycinena clan that worked closely with the conservative regime of Rafael Carrera. He was interim president of Guatemala in 1865 after the death of president for life, general Rafael Carrera.
Salamá is a city in Guatemala. It is the capital of the department of Baja Verapaz and it is situated at 940 m above sea level. The municipality of Salamá, for which the city of Salamá serves as the administrative centre, covers a total surface area of 764 km2 with a population of 65,275 inhabitants at the 2018 census.
Francisco Malespín Herrera was a Salvadoran military officer and politician, elected as the president of El Salvador in 1844. He served from 7 February 1844 to 15 February 1845, when he was deposed by his vice president Joaquín Eufrasio Guzmán after invading and overthrowing the liberal government in Nicaraguan. He also led El Salvador to a short unsuccessful war against Guatemala. After being deposed, Malespin returned to El Salvador with forces from Honduras, but he was captured and assassinated. Some of Malespin's closest allies were Francisco Ferrera in Honduras as well as Juan Lindo, both conservatives. He was supported by Honduras after his downfall.
Doroteo Vasconcelos Vides y Ladrón de Guevara was President of El Salvador 7 February 1848 - 1 February 1850 and 4 February 1850 – 1 March 1851. Vasconcelos was close friend of Honduran general Francisco Morazán. He tried to invade Guatemala and defeat general Rafael Carrera on 2 February 1851 but he was defeated. After defeat, he retired from public life.
Mataquescuintla is a town and municipality in the Jalapa department of south-east Guatemala. It covers 262 square kilometres (101 sq mi).
José Gregorio Salazar y Castro was a general and a Liberal politician in Central America. He was acting president of the Federal Republic of Central America from September 16, 1834 to February 14, 1835, in between two administrations of Francisco Morazán. In 1838 he was assassinated by a mob supporting rebel General Rafael Carrera.
José Felipe Mariano Gálvez was a jurist and Liberal politician in Guatemala. For two consecutive terms from August 28, 1831, to March 3, 1838, he was chief of state of the State of Guatemala, within the Federal Republic of Central America. In 1836, he was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society.
Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically bordered to the south by the Pacific Ocean and to the northeast by the Gulf of Honduras.
María Josefa García Granados y Zavala was a Guatemalan intellectual, writer, journalist and poet of Spanish origin, and one of the greatest intellectual exponents of the independence of Guatemala, which was achieved in 1821. She was also a feminist ahead of her time, who with her strong and dominant character influenced Guatemalan culture. She was the sister of General Miguel García Granados, who was the first liberal president of Guatemala, and Adelaida García Granados, who was tutor of Petrona Álvarez, wife of General Rafael Carrera, lifelong conservative president of Guatemala. As his family was part of the Aycinena clan, they suffered exile and dispossession of their property by Francisco Morazán in 1829.
Mariano Paredes (1800—1856) was President of Guatemala from January 1, 1849 to November 6, 1851 as a compromise chief of state. Paredes, an army colonel, came to power after Rafael Carrera was ineffective in quelling uprisings in eastern Guatemala and short-term governments failed to restore order. But Mariano Paredes was unable to control Guatemala.
Mariano Rivera Paz was Head of State of Guatemala and its first president.
Juan José de Aycinena y Piñol was an ecclesiastical and intellectual conservative in Central America. He was President of the Pontifical University of San Carlos Borromeo from 1825 to 1829 and then of the Universidad Nacional from 1840 to 1865. He was a thinker criticized by liberal historians for his strong relationship with the conservative government of General Rafael Carrera and for eliminating the possibility of getting the Central American Union which the Liberals wanted. His participation in the government has been assessed more objectively in research conducted between 1980 and 2010. He was heir in 1814 to the noble title of III Marquess of Aycinena, and bishop in partibus of Trajanopolis from 1859. He had a taste for law, oratorical talent and wrote over twenty works.
Vicente Cerna y Cerna was president of Guatemala from 24 May 1865 to 29 June 1871. Loyal friend and comrade of Rafael Carrera, was appointed army's Field Marshal after Carraera's victory against Salvadorian leader Gerardo Barrios in 1863. He was appointed Carrera's successor after the caudillo's death in 1865 even though Guatemalan leaders would have preferred Field Marshal José Víctor Zavala.
Luis Batres Juarros or Luis Batres y Juarros was an influential conservative Guatemalan politician during the regime of General Rafael Carrera. Member of the Aycinena clan, was in charge of writing most of the legislation that was enacted during this period. The liberal historians portray him as a villain in a despotic and tyrannical government headed by illiterate Raca Carraca - Rafael Carrera - who was taking each and every one of Batres recommendations since he was considered infallible; However, research conducted between 1980 and 2010 has shown a more objective biography of both Batres and Rafael Carrera and show that it was in fact Carrera who had the reins of the Conservative government.
Agustín Guzmán López, nicknamed "The Altense Hero", was a liberal Central American military general, politician and positivist, who was appointed as Army Commander in Chief of the State of Los Altos when it was formed as part of the Federal Republic of Central America on March 2, 1838. He was defeated by Rafael Carrera on March 19, 1840, and Los Altos was re-annexed by Guatemala. Trying to re-establish Los Altos once again while Carrera was briefly in exile in 1848, he tried to occupy Guatemala City along with rebel leader Agustín Reyes, and after setting fire to Carrera's house, he was killed by enemy fire in the Plaza de Armas.
Manuel Francisco Pavón Aycinena was a conservative Guatemalan politician during the regime of General Rafael Carrera. He was influential in the founding of the government's executive branch and held several Cabinet offices during his career.
Mariano de Aycinena y Piñol was wealthy and influential Guatemalan merchant family and an important conservative politician. A younger son of the first marquis of Aycinena, peninsular-born Juan Fermín de Aycinena (1729–1796), Mariano was a leader of Guatemalan independence from Spain. He served governor of the State of Guatemala in the Central American Federation from 1 March 1827 to 12 April 1829 and patriarch of the Aycinena family. The family had the commercial monopoly in Central American during the Spanish colonial era later year thanks to the Consulado de Comercio. He was one of the signatories of Central American independence and lobbied heavily for the annexation of Central America to the Mexican Empire of Agustín de Iturbide. This arrangement would keep the family's economic position and privileges following independence. After being expelled along with the Aycinena family in 1829 after being defeated by Francisco Morazán, went into exile in the United States and then to Mexico. He came back to Guatemala after the conservatives had allied with general Rafael Carrera; but then he retired from public life and hand the Aycinena family leadership to Juan José de Aycinena y Piñol.
The First Central American Civil War was a civil political and military conflict within the Federal Republic of Central America which lasted from 1827 until 1829. The civil war was fought between Liberal and Conservative lines with Francisco Morazán leading the Liberals and Manuel José Arce, a former Liberal, leading the Conservatives.
González Davison, Fernando (2008). La montaña infinita; Carrera, caudillo de Guatemala (in Spanish). Guatemala: Artemis y Edinter. ISBN978-84-89452-81-7.
Hall, C.; Brignoli, H.P.; Cotter, J.V. (2003). Historical Atlas of Central America. Oklahoma: University of Oklahoma Press.
Hernández de León, Federico (1959). "El capítulo de las efemérides: José Milla y Rafael Carrera". Diario La Hora (in Spanish). Guatemala.
Hernández de León, Federico (1930). El libro de las efemérides (in Spanish). Vol.Tomo III. Guatemala: Tipografía Sánchez y de Guise.
Marroquín Rojas, Clemente (1971). Francisco Morazán y Rafael Carrera (in Spanish). Guatemala: Piedrasanta.
Miceli, Keith (1974). "Rafael Carrera: Defender and Promoter of Peasant Interests in Guatemala, 1837–1848". The Americas. 31 (1). Academy of American Franciscan History: 72–95. doi:10.1017/S000316150008843X. JSTOR980382. S2CID197669388.
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