Manuel Maria de Llano

Manuel María de Llano Lozano (Monterrey, Nuevo Reino de León, May 23, 1799-Monterrey, Nuevo León, March 1, 1863) was a co-founder of the Republic of the Río Grande and a famous Mexican liberal politician who ruled the state of Nuevo León, Mexico, on four occasions between 1833 and 1845, as well as serving as deputy and mayor of Monterrey in 1826, 1832, 1841, 1850 and 1856.

Biography

He was born in the city of Monterrey at one o'clock in the morning on May 23, 1799 in the bosom of the marriage formed by Pedro Manuel de Llano, a prominent local politician who became a representative of the state of Texas in 1814, and Doña María de Jesús Lozano; he was baptized the same day in the Metropolitan Tabernacle of Monterrey.

At a very young age, he moved to Mexico City, where he studied medicine and came into contact with the liberal ideas of the time. Although it seems that he did not finish his degree, upon returning to his homeland, De Llano joined the first battalion of the Civic Militia as a doctor and practiced medicine for many years, both in the chair and in the clinic.

Of liberal convictions, he always opposed the conservative governments of his time. He initiated his rise in the public administration as mayor of Monterrey; after which he served as a deputy in the local Congress.

Elected by the V Legislature, on February 17, 1833, he took office as lieutenant governor and a few days later, after the resignation of Governor Manuel Gómez de Castro, he assumed command of the State. His rule was not easy. In August of that year, a cholera epidemic appeared that caused almost five thousand deaths, which represented more than twenty percent of the New Leonese population.

Manuel María de Llano was a governor who anticipated the Reform Laws in the state of Nuevo León: despite being a fervent Catholic, he regulated the right of ecclesiastical charges for religious services; he prohibited burial in temples and established that edicts, pastoral letters and religious orders first go through government censorship and founded two schools.

De Llano's intervention in religious affairs, as well as the intensification of disputes between the centralist and federalist currents in the country, would eventually lead to his resignation from the government: in one of Santa Anna's rebellions against Gómez Farías — then Vice President of Mexico—, the military garrisons of Nuevo León headed by Colonel Domingo Ugartechea spoke out; This forced De Llano to resign on August 1, 1834 and hand over power to General Pedro Lemus. In addition, the decrees that he had issued as governor affecting the prerogatives of the clergy were unknown.

For a long time, conflicts between centralists and federalists continued. Always pending becoming a politician and firm in his liberal ideas, Manuel María de Llano tried to establish federalism in Nuevo León and, supported by Santiago Vidaurri, on March 3, 1839, he named himself governor. However, just nine days later, General Pedro Ampudia seized the Monterrey plaza, reinstated the Departmental Board, and forced De Llano to resign.

From September to December 1841, during the movement of General Mariano Paredes y Arrillaga against President Anastasio Bustamante, De Llano held the state's first magistracy for the third time. Still three years later, in December 1844, he would come to power for the last time: as a result of the uprising against Santa Anna, General Mariano Arista placed Manuel María de Llano in the government of Nuevo León, given his quality as the oldest member of the Departmental Board; however, a few months later, the governor would resign due to physical exhaustion.

Manuel María de Llano was one of the commissioners who would agree to the capitulation of Monterrey before the North American invasion. In addition to his career in public administration and medicine, he founded & # 34;El Antagonista & # 34; —the first newspaper that gave expression to opposition groups in Nuevo León—; Likewise, he wrote various controversial pamphlets, among which stand out: Answers between the mayor... and the ecclesiastical council... and Scope of the answers...

This restless and dynamic politician, a fervent Catholic despite his anticlerical decrees (with which he only intended to stop clerical abuses), died in the city of Monterrey on March 1, 1863 at the age of 63.