Rafael Antonio Gutiérrez

Not to be confused with António Guterres.

• Marcela Gutiérrez (mother)

General Rafael Antonio Gutiérrez
17th President of El Salvador
In office 10 June 1894 –13 November 1898 Provisional: 10 June 1894 – 1 March 1895
Occupation	Military, politician
Military service
Allegiance	El Salvador
Branch/service	Salvadoran Army
Years of service	? – 1894
Rank	General
Battles/wars	First Totoposte War Revolution of the 44

Rafael Antonio Gutiérrez (24 October 1845 – 9 January 1921) was the president of El Salvador from 10 June 1894 to 13 November 1898. He was a leader of the Revolution of the 44 which overthrew President General Carlos Ezeta from April to June 1894. Gutiérrez served as provisional president until being officially inaugurated in March 1895 after his victory in the 1895 presidential election, in which he was the only candidate.

During his four-year presidency, Gutiérrez settled land disputes, attempted to combat an economic crisis, and was a key figure in the foundation of the short-lived Greater Republic of Central America. He was overthrown on 13 November 1898 by General Tomás Regalado. Gutiérrez's overthrow subsequently lead to a revolt in Izalco the following day and the dissolution of the Greater Republic of Central America on 29 November 1898.

Early and personal life

Rafael Antonio Gutiérrez was born in Ilobasco, Cabañas, El Salvador on 24 October 1845. ^[1] His father was a Spaniard and his mother was Marcela Gutiérrez. ^[1] He married Carlota Mejía and they had eight children: Rafael Antonio, Carlos, Carlota, Tulio, Marcela, Rosa, Bernardo, and María. ^[1] His daughter Marcela married a son of Fernando Figueroa, another Salvadoran general who served as president of El Salvador provisionally in 1885 and officially from 1907 to 1911. ^{[1] [2]} Gutiérrez was an idealist liberal. ^{[3] [4]}

In May 1885, Gutiérrez supported General Francisco Menéndez in a coup d'état which overthrew President Rafael Zaldívar and installed Menéndez as president of El Salvador. During the coup, Gutiérrez led indigenous Salvadoran soldiers in Nahuizalco. ^[5]

Presidency

Rise to power

Further information: Revolution of the 44

On 29 April 1894, Gutiérrez, along with several other military officers, began a rebellion against President Carlos Ezeta, a pragmatic reformist, who had allowed a financial crisis to arise. ^{[4] [6] [7]} With assistance from Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua, Ezeta was overthrown on 9 June 1894 in what is known as the Revolution of the 44. ^{[8] [9] [10] [11]}

After a rivalry and struggle with General Manuel Rivas for the presidency, in which Rivas conceded to Gutiérrez, he became provisional president of the nation on 10 June 1894. ^{[1] [12]} He officially became the president of El Salvador on 1 March 1895 following the 1895 presidential election, in which he was the only candidate and won 61,080 votes. ^{[1] [13] [14]} The election for vice president was contested between Prudencio Alfaro, Carlos Meléndez, and four other minor candidates, in which Alfaro defeated Meléndez with 38,006 votes compared to Meléndez's 18,792 votes and the minor candidates' approximately 4,000 votes. ^[13] Gutiérrez repealed several taxes Ezeta had put into effect to combat the financial crisis, and later, Ezeta attempted to retake power in 1895 but his attempt failed. ^{[7] [15]}

Izalco land disputes

On 1 June 1895, Simeón Morán, a partidor, and 150 comuneros signed a petition to Gutiérrez to allow the indigenous community of Asunción to take more time in partitioning their land to Dolores, requested a surveyor to assist in the partition, and requested that the local governor nullifies partitions in Rincón del Tigre. ^[16] A separate petition, signed by 120 comuneros, stated that Luciano Argueta, another partidor, had the actual authority over the land being partitioned and requested him to be the surveyor, as he had been an administrator since 1890. ^[16] The system of partidores and comuneros on Izalco land was established in 1881 and 1882 under President Rafael Zaldívar in an attempt to "stimulate investment in commercial agriculture" and "create a class of entrepreneurial peasants and farmers," but the system took land away from Izalco indigenous people which caused tensions. ^{[17] [18] [19]}

Morán filed two complaints against Argueta accusing him of selling land in 1896, with the second complaint specifying that he sold 180 hectares (440 acres) of land to Abraham Castillo Mora, a military officer, and 22 hectares (54 acres) of land to Eliseo Godines, a local judge. ^{[20] [21]} In 1897, Gutiérrez decreed that Morán's partition was invalid and he was removed as a partidor. ^[22] He was later jailed for several illegal actions he carried out between 1881 and 1886. ^[22]

Economic crisis and the University of El Salvador

Gutiérrez supported and was directly involved in the management of the University of El Salvador (UES). ^[23] He revived the University Council that was abolished during Ezeta's presidency. ^[24] El Salvador faced an economic crisis in 1897. ^{[25] [26]} In response, Gutiérrez took "extreme fiscal policies" to combat the crisis. ^[25] Those policies included the construction of a railroad from San Miguel to La Unión and another from San Salvador to Nejapa. ^{[26] [27]} Prior to the crisis, he had also constructed a rail line from Ateos to La Joya in 1895 and from La Joya to Santa Ana in 1896. ^[27] His policies, however, were unpopular, and his government was blamed for the poor handling of the crisis. ^{[25] [28]}

He faced protests from university students because of the economic crisis, and as a result, he had the university expel any students who spoke out against him or university officials. ^{[23] [25]} On 28 September 1898, he issued a decree that would grant the university more autonomy from the government and was signed by Minister of Public Instruction Francisco Gavidia, but the bill never went into effect. ^{[23] [25]}

Central American union and overthrow

Gutiérrez was a supporter of a Central American union and signed the Pact of Amapala with Honduras and Nicaragua on 20 June 1895 which established the Greater Republic of Central America. ^{[29] [30]} The union did not last long, however, as he was overthrown in a coup d'état led by General Tomás Regalado, a pragmatic liberal who had helped him rise to power in 1894, on 13 November 1898. ^{[8] [31] [32]} The day following his overthrow, Indians in Izalco staged a revolt against the Salvadoran government. ^[33] The overthrow of Gutiérrez eventually lead to the collapse of the Greater Republic of Central America on 29 November 1898. ^{[33] [34]}

Later life and death

Gutiérrez stood for election for the presidency in 1907 but received only one vote. ^[35] He died on 9 January 1921, aged 75, at 10:00 p.m. in Barrio San Jacinto, San Salvador, El Salvador. ^[1]

Electoral history

Year	Office	Type	Party		Main opponent	Party		Votes for Gutiérrez				Result	Swing
								Total	%	P.	±%
1895	President of El Salvador	General		Liberal	"Against"			61,080	99.85	1st	N/A	Won		Hold
1907	President of El Salvador	General		Liberal	Fernando Figueroa		Liberal	1	0.00	8th	–99.85	Lost		Gain

See also

• El Salvador portal

• Policarpo Bonilla – President of Honduras who helped form the Greater Republic of Central America
• José Santos Zelaya – President of Nicaragua who helped form the Greater Republic of Central America

References

Citations

1. "Presidentes de El Salvador – General Rafael Antonio Gutiérrez" [Presidents of El Salvador – General Rafael Antonio Gutiérrez] (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2 March 2009. Retrieved 1 September 2020.
2. "Presidentes de El Salvador – General Fernando Figueroza" [Presidents of El Salvador – General Fernando Figueroza] (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2 March 2009. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
3. Linares Nogales 2008, p. 78.
4. White 2018, p. 86.
5. Ching 1997, p. 131.
6. USGPO 1985, p. 126
7. "Elections and Events 1850–1899". UC San Diego. The Library – UC San Diego. Archived from the original on 23 March 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
8. White 2018, p. 298.
9. Linares Nogales 2008, p. 79.
10. Flores Macal 1976, p. 122.
11. Haggerty 1990, p. 12.
12. Appletons' 1895, p. 709
13. Ching 1997, p. 175.
14. Lauria-Santiago 1999, p. 510.
15. Washington Crichfield 1908, p. 168.
16. Lauria-Santiago 1999, p. 511.
17. Lauria-Santiago 1999, p. 504.
18. Burns 1984, pp. 299–302.
19. Beverley 1982, pp. 57.
20. Lauria-Santiago 1999, pp. 511–512.
21. Lauria-Santiago & Binford 2004, p. 26.
22. Lauria-Santiago 1999, pp. 513–514.
23. Editorial Universitaria 2013, p. 34
24. Editorial Universitaria 2013, pp. 33–34
25. Linares Nogales 2008, p. 80.
26. Aparicio 2007, p. 30.
27. Martin 1911, p. 197.
28. Linares Nogales 2008, p. 83.
29. Slade 1917, pp. 210–211.
30. White 2018, p. 87.
31. Lauria-Santiago 1999, pp. 521–522.
32. White 2018, p. 88.
33. Lauria-Santiago 1999, p. 519.
34. Slade 1917, p. 214.
35. "Cuadro Demonstrativo de los Votos Emitidos para Presidente y Vice Presidente de la República en el Período de 1907 a 1911" [Demonstrative Table of the Votes Cast for President and Vice President of the Republic for the Period of 1907 to 1911](PDF). Diario Oficial (in Spanish). Vol. 62, no. 48. 26 February 1907. p. 354. Retrieved 4 February 2023.

Bibliography

• Aparicio, Luis Alonso (2007). Alberto Masferrer Pedagogo–Político [Alberto Masferrer Pedagogy–Politics] (in Spanish) (1 ed.). Pedagogic University of El Salvador. ISBN   978-99923-30-07-4 . Retrieved 29 March 2021.
• Beverley, John (1982). "El Salvador". Social Text (5). Duke University Press: 55–72. doi:10.2307/466334. JSTOR   466334.
• Burns, E. Bradford (April 1984). "The Modernization of Underdevelopment: El Salvador, 1858–1931". The Journal of Developing Areas. 18 (3). College of Business, Tennessee State University: 293–316. JSTOR   4191260.
• Ching, Erik K. (1997). From Clientelism to Militarism: The State, Politics and Authoritarianism in El Salvador, 1840–1940. Santa Barbara, California: University of California, Santa Barbara. OCLC   39326756. ProQuest   304330235 . Retrieved 28 February 2024.
• Editorial Universitaria, ed. (January–March 2013). "VI. La Universidad Durante el Periodo Liberal del Dr. Rafael Zaldívar" [VI. The University During the Liberal Period of Dr. Rafael Zaldívar]. La Universidad – 172 Años de Identidad Universitaria [The University – 172 Years of University Identity](PDF). La Universidad (in Spanish). Vol. 20. San Salvador, El Salvador: University of El Salvador. pp. 29–34. ISSN   0041-8242 . Retrieved 4 December 2020.
• Federal Research Division Library of Congress (1990). Haggerty, Richard A. (ed.). El Salvador: A Country Study (PDF). Washington, D.C.: The Library of Congress.
• Flores Macal, Mario (1976). "Historia de la Universidad de El Salvador". Anuario de Estudios Centroamericanos (2). University of Costa Rica: 107–140. JSTOR   25661573.
• Lauria-Santiago, Aldo A. (August 1999). "Land, Community, and Revolt in Late-Nineteenth-Century Indian Izalco, El Salvador". The Hispanic American Historical Review. 79 (3). Duke University Press: 495–534. doi: 10.1215/00182168-79.3.495 . JSTOR   2518288.
• Lauria-Santiago, Aldo A.; Binford, Leigh (9 May 2004). Landscapes of Struggle: Politics, Society, and Community in El Salvador. University of Pittsburgh Pre. ISBN   0822972549 . Retrieved 7 January 2022.
• Linares Nogales, Federico (2008). "Primeros Periodos Presidenciales en El Salvador" [The First Presidential Periods of El Salvador](PDF). Realidad y Refleción (Quarterly Journal) (in Spanish). 7 (23). San Salvador, El Salvador: 78–100. ISSN   1992-6510 . Retrieved 24 March 2021.
• Martin, Percy Falcke (1911). Salvador of the Twentieth Century. Longmans, Green & Co.
• "Salvador". Appletons' Annual Cyclopædia and Register of Important Events of the Year (19, 34). Cornell University: D. Appleton & Company. 1895.
• Slade, William F. (October 1917). "The Federation of Central America". The Journal of Race Development. 8 (2). Clark University: 204–276. doi:10.2307/29738239. hdl: 2027/inu.30000056731338 . JSTOR   29738239.
• United States Congressional Serial Set, Volume 3279. U.S. Government Printing Office. 1895.
• Washington Crichfield, George (1908). Latin America, Historical and Actual. Harvard University.
• White, Alastair (2018). El Salvador 1550–1973: Cuatro Siglos de Evolución Histórica y Geopolítica Salvadoreñas [El Salvador 1550–1973: Four Centuries of Historic Evolution and Salvadoran Geopolitics] (in Spanish). Central American University. ISBN   9781987013306 . Retrieved 24 March 2021.

Political offices
Preceded by Carlos Ezeta	President of El Salvador 1894–1898	Succeeded by Tomás Regalado