Vicente Guerrero

Vicente Ramón Guerrero Saldaña (Tixtla, Intendencia de México, August 10, 1782-Cuilápam, Oaxaca, February 14, 1831), was a Mexican politician and soldier of indigenous and Afro-Mexican origin. who served as President of Mexico from April 1, 1829 to December 17, 1829.

During the Mexican War of Independence he was head of the insurgency in the Resistance period (1816-1821). After several clashes with General Agustín de Iturbide between December 1820 and January 1821 in which Iturbide was unable to defeat him, he agreed with him through the Abrazo de Acatempan in February 1821. Later, he promulgated the Plan of Iguala in which the The insurgent and Iturbide's royalist faction joined to form the Ejército Trigarante. Finally, on September 27 of the same year, the Triguarante Army entered Mexico City, consummating the Independence.

After the consummation, he was a substitute member of the Supreme Executive Power that served as provisional government between April 1823 and October 1824 and Minister of War and Navy for a brief period in December 1828 during the presidency of Guadalupe Victoria.

He came out the loser in second place in the federal elections of 1828, for which he was the vice-president. However, due to constant pressure from his supporters who defended the argument that the president-elect Manuel Gómez Pedraza refused to conclude the expulsion of the Spaniards from the national territory, the Constitutional Congress annulled the elections, naming him the winner. He had a brief government between April and December 1829, since he was captured and forced to resign before being sentenced to death by court martial —later declared unconstitutional— and shot by order of his vice president Anastasio Bustamante.

By decree of November 16, 1833, he was declared Benemérito de la Patria and in 1849 the State of Guerrero was created in his honor.

Early Years

Portrait of Vicente Guerrero in civilian clothes, nineteenth century

He spent his early years doing labor with his father and uncle Diego Guerrero in his family's trades and businesses. He was of Spanish, Native American, and Afro-Mexican descent. Tixtla at the end of the 18th century was a mostly indigenous city.^{[citation needed]}

Guerrero was a muleteer. At the beginning of the 19th century, his native Tixtla was one of the most populated and productive centers in southern Mexico and during the viceregal era, being a well-established muleteer by trade allowed privileges such as owning pack animals (horses and mules)., bear arms (to protect themselves from highwaymen), engage in trade, and deal directly with the richest merchants. Thus, the prosperity of his father as a peasant, muleteer, merchant, and gunsmith, the position of his uncle Diego Guerrero within the Spanish militia, and the commitment of his family allowed him a most complete education for the time through of private teachers.^{[citation required]}

His father, Juan Pedro Guerrero Tescucano, and his brothers were dedicated to the armory, so Guerrero learned to drive, maintain, repair and forge weapons such as swords, rifles and cannons. It was also the responsibility of the gunsmiths to store the weapons of the regional army. His father and one of his brothers Diego belonged to the Spanish militia, under the orders of Captain Antonio Galeana, from Tecpán and Second Lieutenant Víctor Bravo, from Chilpancingo. This would allow the young Guerrero to function between shooting exercises and hand-to-hand combat, weapons magazines and military maneuver practices. Because of his father's muleteering business, they also became skilled horsemen. Through the muleteering they would also get to know the entire south and southwest in detail (including the road to Mexico City), to coordinate and mobilize men and cargo, and to survive in the open air, in the mountains and forests. They also learned to read and write and to handle numbers and basic mathematics, in addition to acquiring some rudimentary knowledge of practical mechanics necessary to carry out their trades. They did not acquire the training of a jurist, a writer, a theologian or a bourgeois soldier, nor were they accustomed to the dealings of urban life —reason for which Guerrero would later be frequently labeled as lacking in education—, however their preparation & #39;countryside' It was one of the most formal at the time, as they acquired skills that were not available to the majority of the population of the viceroyalty.^{[citation required]}

"General Guerrero is a Mexican who owes nothing to art and everything to nature. He has a clear talent, a quick understanding, and extraordinary ease to learn. Having not received any kind of education (N.B. education 'formal'), and having begun his career in the revolution, very few lessons could be taken from eloquence and culture in hills and forests, between indigenous and other castes, to whose head he made a war obstinate to the Spanish. His genius could only lead him to the point that we have seen him come, and his constancy is to the truth an irrefragable testimony that he possesses social virtues. The lack of urbanity of his family treatment and some of the man's shelters of the forests were dispossessed, in the care of his great services, and more than all of his humanity and his constant love for freedom. "

Lorenzo de Zavala, 1831, description of Vicente Guerrero

The skills acquired during his youth would help him fight the royalists during the War of Independence. Guerrero was not only skilled with the sword, the saber, the pistol, the rifle, and the bayonet both on foot and on horseback, but also with the spear, the rope, and the machete, weapons that in the hands of the southern insurgents would become feared by the royalists. Knowledge of southern territory would also prove to be an important advantage in future battles, as would Guerrero's ability to build provisional forts on hills and highlands to defend towns and positions under his control. Artillery would also be another novelty that the royalists would come across in the southwest: the insurgents came to melt bells and machines from their farms to build cannons and rifles, in addition to using those they took from the royalists. Guerrero would establish a foundry to forge weapons and a mint, also manufacturing gunpowder and ammunition.^{[citation needed]}

Although from a family often considered humble, his father, Juan Pedro Guerrero, was well known and respected, and the viceregal government even pardoned insurgent prisoners due to his intervention. The Guerreros maintained trade relations with important farmers and landowners from the south, such as the Bravos and Galeanas themselves.^{[citation required]}

He married María Guadalupe Hernández, with whom he had a daughter, María Dolores Guerrero. He was the grandfather of the Mexican politician, intellectual and military man Vicente Riva Palacio. ^{[citation needed ]}

Independence of New Spain

Guerrero began militating under the command of General José María Morelos.

Early Years of Struggle

After the war of independence broke out, he witnessed the arrival of the troops of José María Morelos and Isidoro Montes de Oca in Técpan, and was convinced right there to join the movement. He began his military career in 1810 under the direct orders of Hermenegildo Galeana. Due to the strong character, daring and courage that characterized both, said dumbbell would later be known for his leadership, after leading and participating in furious cavalry charges and ferocious infantry attacks. His incorporation and that of the other combatants from the South produced a change in the military strategy of the insurgents, since the southerners preferred the frontal attack when facing the royalist contingents and gave preference to the formation of well-organized military corps. In 1811, already with the rank of captain, Gral. José María Morelos commissioned him to attack the town of Taxco.

A man who presents himself in the theater of a revolution and in a country, whose resources are exhausted by the war; who is surrounded by both inner and outer enemies: who does not carry in his company more than one or two faithful friends who follow him in his misfortune, without more weapons than a gun without a key, and two shotguns: that with them gives principle to the campaign, defeats several divisions partly, suffers all kinds of jobs and privations Such was General D. Vicente Guerrero.

Carlos María Bustamante, 1838, description of Vicente Guerrero's campaigns during the War of Independence

Vicente Guerrero distinguished himself in the battle of Izúcar, on February 23, 1812, where as second in command of General Mariano Matamoros they defeated Brigadier General Ciriaco del Llano. On July 23, 1812, he participated in the Siege of Huajuapan, where his cavalry, in combination with that of Hermenegildo Galeana, defeated the royalist captain Juan Antonio Caldelas, one of the main defenders, Guerrero being the first to break the siege. The insurgent victory in Huajuapan made it easy to take Oaxaca City, recommended by Guerrero and Valerio Trujano. However, instead, Morelos decides to leave for Tehuacán. Guerrero continued under the orders of Morelos, being commissioned to fight in the south of the state of Puebla.

Vicente Guerrero (only 1890)

After the victory of the royalists in the Battle of Puruarán, Gabriel de Armijo takes Chilpancingo, forcing the Anahuac Congress to mobilize. Guerrero is in charge of guarding and escorting them at the command of a regiment of 400 men. He later is commissioned by Morelos to fight in the southern states of Mexico, where he goes, taking only an assistant with him. At the beginning of 1816, with the death of José María Morelos, most of the insurgent leaders withdrew from the fight and it declined. Despite this, Guerrero continued to fight in the southern states during the period called Resistance. Like other southern insurgents, he distinguished himself by organizing and having professional militias, with good horsemen and skilled men in the use of weapons and artillery. He was defeated in the Battle of Cañada de Los Naranjos, but later defeated Zavala and Reguera in Azoyú, and Samaniego and La Madrid in Piaxtla. On September 15 and September 30, 1818, he defeated the Commander of the South José Gabriel de Armijo in the Battle of El Tamo and the Battle of Cerro de Barrabás, almost annihilating his royalist contingents. On December 5, 1819, he was defeated in the Battle of Agua Zarca, managing to escape from the royalists.

Like other insurgency leaders in the south, Guerrero equipped, trained, and uniformed his men to the best of his ability. The military group closest to him, under his direct orders, was known as the San Fernando Regiment, which initially consisted of 500 soldiers. Guerrero received a license to train it after reaching the rank of Colonel. The regiment would stand out for its courage and skill throughout the armed struggle, becoming one of the elite regiments of the insurgency. Right after their formation, they managed to defeat the larger forces of the royalist La Madrid, who had underestimated them. Guerrero's militia grew over time, other regiments being commanded by his subordinates.

And#34;The Homeland Comes First#34;

Since 1815, Félix María Calleja boasted of having extinguished the insurgent cause in Guanajuato, cradle of the movement, through the use of numerous troops and strong repressive measures. While the insurgent struggle was in decline or overwhelmed by the royalists in many parts of the country, Juan Ruiz de Apodaca carried out a policy of pardons, for which many of the independentista leaders began to surrender. Vicente Guerrero was one of the few who did not accept the pardon. This was highlighted in 1831 by Lorenzo de Zavala, who wrote in his Essay on the Revolutions of Mexico the anecdote that Pedro Guerrero, father of the caudillo, personally went to offer the viceroy's forgiveness. The insurgent chief, according to Zavala, then said: "Gentlemen, this is my father, he has come to offer me forgiveness from the Spanish and a job as a Spanish general. I have always respected him, but the country comes first".

It should be noted that the other historians of the insurgency, such as Carlos María de Bustamante or Lucas Alamán, do not mention this episode. Zavala affirmed that it was a personal comment made to him by Vicente Guerrero himself, but there is no documentary evidence that Don Pedro had been sent to offer the pardon.

For many years, the phrase "the Fatherland is First" He was in numerous harangues. The full phrase is "love of country comes first". In Spain, in the face of the French invasion, they insisted on the love that patriots should have for the trinity made up of the king, religion and the homeland. This caused the aforementioned apothegm to be referred to in various publications of the time. The most famous occasion is from 1813, when Simón Bolívar tried to comfort a father, whose children had been sacrificed in the war of independence. According to the memoirs of Daniel Florencio O'Leary, the Liberator would have improvised the following verses: "And you, father, who exhales sighs / when you lose the most tender object / interrupt your crying and remember / that the Love for the Homeland is First".

Most 19th century historians did not pay attention to that apothegm attributed to Guerrero. It was not until the XX century when patriotic historiography highlighted it. In 1971, the Congress of the Union promoted Vicente Guerrero as "true consummator of independence" and put that phrase in gold letters on the Wall of Honor.

Insurgency leader and victories over royalist bosses

Juan José Ruiz de Apodaca, virrey and superior political head of the New Spain between September 1816 and July 1821.

Estandarte del Regimiento de San Fernando, antes enarbolado por José María Morelos.

In 1818, Guerrero was appointed General in Chief of the armies of the South by the remnant of the Chilpancingo Congress, the Junta de Jaujilla. This would be ratified in 1820 by the Subaltern Board, granting it "all authority and command" of the insurgent militias.

Faced with the loss of confidence of the royalists after the long campaigns, Vicente Guerrero seizes the moment and writes a letter to Colonel Gabriel de Armijo, head of the royalist forces in the south, in charge of fighting him. In the letter he invites her to join the insurgent cause to thus achieve independence, presenting her with a proposal very similar to the Iguala Plan. Armijo flatly rejects the offer. On August 17, 1820, Guerrero now writes to Colonel Carlos Moya, Armijo's subordinate, Moya also rejects the offer, but courteously and inviting Guerrero to surrender. The letter reaches the hands of Apodaca. Despite this, the viceroy did not break his contact with Guerrero. Due to this, to the constant defeats, and to the remoteness of subduing Guerrero as required, Armijo resigns from the position of the South Command, leaving the position vacant. He is replaced by Agustín de Iturbide, on November 9, 1820, by proposal of the La Profesa Conspiracy group. These secretly also sought independence, but they aspired to create a Mexican monarchy governed by an Infante of Spain, restore absolutism and abolish the Constitution of Cádiz, since it was liberal in nature and took away privileges from the wealthy class and the New Spain nobility, granting some rights To the population in general.

Guerrero continued to maintain his focus of insurrection together with his right hand, Pedro Ascencio de Alquisiras, in the mountainous area of the state that today bears his name, Guerrero. For his campaign against Guerrero, Iturbide was in charge of the royalist battalion of the Southern Command, formerly under the orders of Armijo, which included the Southern Battalion, the Potosí regiment, Isabel's squadrons, the Infantes de la Corona, the Murcia Battalion and the Tres Villas Battalion. Later, at his request, he was also joined by the Celaya regiments and the Frontera cavalry corps.

Guerrero faced the royalist army under the command of Agustín de Iturbide. He, like his predecessors, could not defeat Guerrero, losing like them most of the battles against the southern insurgents. On December 28, 1820, Ascencio de Alquisiras destroyed the rear of Iturbide's army, heavily damaging one of its wings and scatters its center. On January 2, Guerrero breaks the Siege of Zapotepec, cuts the royalist line and destroys the royalist battalion of the South. On January 25, Ascencio de Alquisiras defeated Iturbide again near Totomaloya. Two days later, on January 27, Guerrero dealt another strong defeat to the royalists near the "Cueva del Diablo", after a hard battle that lasted all day. These combats were the last of the War of Independence, because Iturbide, realizing that he could not defeat Guerrero, proposed to meet him.

Agreement with Iturbide and consummation of Independence

Acatempan opening, painted by Román Sagredo in 1870, oil on canvas.

Warrior on the mural of O'Gorman Independence altarpieceproduced between 1960 and 1961.

Agustín de Iturbide proposes to Guerrero an alliance to get a member of the Spanish nobility to rule New Spain as monarch, promising Guerrero position and financial support for him and his troops. Iturbide points out to Guerrero that if he does not accept, the hostilities against the southern insurgents will increase. Guerrero does not accept, but proposes to him, like his predecessors, an alliance in favor of freedom, social justice, and a Mexican government led by the "sons of the homeland"; (for example: the future Mexicans), promising Iturbide to cease hostilities and place his army at his command for that purpose. Guerrero argues pointing out the disregard, arrogance, ridicule and reprisals by the Spanish government towards the citizens of New Spain when they, through their representatives, requested guarantees of equality and recognition of their civil rights; this despite the fact that the then province supported Spain morally and financially during the recent French invasion. He also reminds Iturbide that it is also his obligation to ensure the well-being of his fellow citizens, since being an American, he was well aware of the injustices towards his compatriots (unlike his predecessors, Iturbide was not Spanish citizen). Finally, Guerrero points out to Iturbide that counting New Spain with enough strength and courage to assert their rights and govern themselves, like the other free and noble peoples of the world, it would be a shame to submit to others begging them to respect them. as a gesture of magnanimity, which is why he points out to Iturbide that in the event of a refusal on his part, he and the insurgents under his command had the ability to continue the fight until victory was achieved, and that then, any other matter would they would argue on the battlefield. Iturbide accepted Guerrero's proposal and their agreement was sealed with the so-called Abrazo de Acatempan on February 10, 1821. On February 24, the Plan of Iguala was promulgated with which the armies were united. (insurgent and royalist) thus forming the army of the three guarantees or Tri-guarantee Army. Finally, on September 27, 1821, the Trigarante Army entered Mexico City from different directions, forming a column led by Agustín de Iturbide, thus ending the Mexican War of Independence.

Empire

Pronostico de José Joaquín Fernández de Lizardi en el que mistakemente augura la defeat de Guerrero contra el empire de Iturbide, 1824.

After independence, Vicente Guerrero was named "captain general in the southern direction". Like the other commanders, he was awarded the Grand Cross of the Order of Guadalupe. Along with other former insurgents such as José Manuel de Herrera, Andrés Quintana Roo, and Nicolás Bravo, Guerrero was part of the first circle of the imperial government. In December 1822, Antonio López de Santa Anna rebelled against Iturbide, in favor of a republic. The emperor then decided to keep an eye on suspicious people, including Guerrero and Bravo. At the same time, the Marquis de Vivanco, one of Iturbide's closest collaborators, tried to remove Guerrero from command of the South. This caused him to decide to escape from Mexico City, along with Bravo. In January, in a confrontation in Chilapa, he suffered a wound that left him out of action for some time; but Bravo was able to continue the fight.

After the fall of Emperor Agustín I, Vicente Guerrero was elected substitute member of the Supreme Executive Power from April 1 to October 10, 1824, when General Guadalupe Victoria took office as the first president of Mexico.

Republic

After the fall of the First Empire, Guerrero participated in political life through the Masonic lodges of the York Rite. Although he fought the rebellion of Vicente Gómez in 1824, which sought to expel the Spanish, he advocated against the expulsion of these decreed by the government of Guadalupe Victoria, he strictly adhered to the laws in this regard during his government, prevented the expulsion of some of them (such as the father of Mariano Arista and the sons of Viceroy Iturrigaray), and was designated as the only A man capable of stopping violent popular movements against "the gachupines", as the people called them, in 1829 Guerrero himself withdrew their support when the plans of multiple groups of Spaniards to "reconquer" were discovered. #39; Mexico.

"Montenegro has promised all the Spaniards expelled from Mexico that did not present themselves to implor the clemency of King NS (N.B "Our Lord") and offer them their services, which will be welcomed again by the so-called Government of Guerrero"

Francisco Tañón, November 27, 1829, Spanish Consul in New Orleans, on the promise of Guerrero communicated through Colonel Montenegro and Count of Moctezuma

When Nicolás Bravo took up arms against the government of Guadalupe Victoria, in 1828, Guerrero was sent to fight him, and defeated him in Tulancingo.

Presidential Elections

With the support of Lorenzo de Zavala, Joel Roberts Poinsett and other prominent Yorkers, he ran for president of the republic, replacing Guadalupe Victoria. During this time three social classes were defined: the supreme, made up of the old nobles, rancid capitalists and the high clergy; the average composed of the literati, teachers, soldiers, small merchants and employees; and the smallest to which the poorest belonged. Guerrero was very popular among these last two -the most numerous- as well as among some members of the upper class, since he represented the liberal and egalitarian ideals of the insurgency, surpassing his main contender, Manuel Gómez Pedraza, in this category.. Guerrero was identified as the "middle class candidate". Pedraza was Scottish, identified with the oligarchy, aristocrats and conservatives who supported his candidacy (e.g. the Scottish rite, Spanish, Iturbidistas), being the himself a wealthy criollo landowner who had fought on the side of the royalists during the War of Independence.

"... A man who is regarded as an ostensible head of his party, and who will be his candidate for the next presidency, is General Guerrero, one of the most distinguished leaders of the revolution. Guerrero has no formal education, but has excellent natural talents, combined with a great decision and character, as well as impeding value. Your strong temper makes it hard to control"

Joel R. Poinsett, Minister of the United States in Mexico (i.e. Ambassador)

However, the Constitution of 1824 established that the president of the republic would be appointed by the vote of the 36 representatives of the state legislatures from between two candidates, one not being a resident of the state in turn, and not by popular vote. The state congresses elected Gómez Pedraza, who obtained eleven votes, beating Guerrero who obtained nine. This caused popular discontent, since it was speculated that a direct election would have favored Guerrero. On the other hand, Gómez Pedraza did not resign his position as Minister of War when he was elected as a candidate, on the contrary, he used the military commanders who they were reporting to him as polling agents and he declared himself the winner before counting was up.

In response, radical Yorkers promoted several protests against Gómez Pedraza. Antonio López de Santa Anna rebelled in Perote, while Lorenzo de Zavala led the Riot of the Acordada in Mexico City, which would lead to the resignation of Pedraza. The military chiefs of several states protested the mutiny and prepared their armies to defend the result of the election, however, a large part of their soldiers spoke out in favor of Guerrero, as did the majority of its civilian population. Due to this, Congress ignored Gómez Pedraza, pointing out his election as inconsequential, contrary to the popular will, and dangerous for the Republic and Independence. Congress appointed Guerrero president, who took office on April 1, 1829, committing himself to to put the Government under the supervision of the people and to respect the sovereignty of the States. Initially, his presidential cabinet was made up of José María Bocanegra as Secretary of Interior and Foreign Relations, Francisco Moctezuma in War and Navy, José Manuel de Herrera in Justice and Ecclesiastical Business, and Lorenzo de Zavala in Finance.

Anastasio Bustamante, who had placed third in the election with six votes, would occupy the vice-president position. He had also been nominated as a candidate by the Yorkinos, with the approval of Guerrero. Supposedly, said measure was taken to consolidate the support of the most conservative and elitist wing of said rite and thus avoid future confrontations, by combining a former insurgent, Guerrero, with a former royalist, Bustamante.

President of Mexico

Oil of Vicente Guerrero, by Ramón Sagredo (1865)

Guerrero's presidency lasted eight and a half months. However, Guerrero, as a candidate of the "Partido del Pueblo", managed the creation of public schools and tried to promote the national free education plan that he had previously devised with Bravo and Negrete, managed an agrarian reform favorable to the peasants, he tried to promote the development of the industry, remarking that it was necessary to "set in motion"; the country's natural resources and create jobs so that the Mexican arms "do not weaken in the midst of idleness", created a national care center for the disabled product of wars, called to promote internal trade and with other countries, as well as other programs of a liberal nature:

A free state protects the arts, industry, sciences and trade; and rewards only virtue and merit; if this one wants to acquire it, let us take care to cultivate the fields, the sciences, and how much it can facilitate the sustenance and entertainment of man: let us do so that we are not gracious to the nation before we relieve their needs; helping him to report their burdens and comforting the afflicted humanity, we will also achieve that the nation

Vicente Ramón Guerrero Saldaña, Manifesto to his compatriots

It has been commonplace to say that Guerrero, due to its lack of school and guerrilla preferences, did not deal almost with political, legal and ideological issues[...] But this is inaccurate and unfair[...] It held the thesis -- not often in fortunate military -- that the causes are consolidated and gained, less in the field of weapons than in the case of principles. He defended how much he was able to face the ambitions of his colleagues, the legal and moral authority of the elected Powers[...] to which he provided shelter, resources and protection[...] I believed -- and preached with the example -- in the civil government, not in militarism as a system.

Ernesto Lemoine, 1971, Vicente Guerrero and the Consumption of Independence

In addition, during his government he worked in favor of religious tolerance, the strengthening of the direct election of representatives, the strengthening of the federal system and democracy, streamlining the bureaucracy, pardoning exiles who had benefited the the nation (like Nicolás Bravo), the suppression of military and ecclesiastical privileges, and the sale of goods that had belonged to the Inquisition.

"The interest of localities is the most appropriate to ensure the interest of individuals...The federal system is as expensive as the independence of the nation...The authorities are in all classes of the people"

Vicente Guerrero Saldaña, President of Mexico, 1829

However, his government and liberal ideas faced opposition from conservative groups, particularly the self-appointed "hombres de bien," a party formed by Anastasio Bustamante and Lucas Alamán with members of the clergy, the army and the wealthy class and whose purpose was to end the government of Guerrero and the liberals (whom they labeled as the party of "la masa" or "la chusma") to reestablish the old ways, upholding the ideology that only the wealthy and propertied class should elect and be elected ruler. These groups grew stronger over time due to Guerrero's tolerance, which constituted the greatest criticism of his government, since many Yorkers urged him to take action in the face of the growing hostility of these groups. On the other hand, some Yorkinos, such as José María Bocanegra, opposed the influence of Poinsett, who was finally expelled from the country. Many states of the republic did not agree with the fiscal policies that Treasury Secretary Zavala tried to establish and asked for his departure, considering that the secretary had gone from being a radical federalist to a radical centralist. On the other hand, the government of Guerrero received the country in bankruptcy, since it had inherited financial problems produced by the loss of capital due to the bankruptcy of the English house where the government kept its reserves. His government also inherited a debt with the members of the army, and even so, had to organize the defense against an imminent attack by Spain.

Defeat of the Spanish invasion and Mexican response, proposed invasion of Cuba

“Citizens of Deputies and Senators!

It was certainly unbelievable that a nation like the Spanish, without virtues, without opinion and without resources, became obstinate in carrying forward the crazy company of reconquering Mexico. But the experience today shows us the opposite, and we know that the slaves of Fernando VII dared already desecrate the territory of the Republic.

Miserable! They ignore that Mexicans are always independent; they know their rights; that they know to be free; and that they are insulted by offering them the degrading condition of settlers, that in lesser times they were reduced by a sad adventurer in the year of 1519. ”

Vicente Guerrero, August 4, 1829.

Mexican Army defeats Spanish invasive forces on September 11, 1829 in Tampico.

In September, the Spanish army attempted to reconquer Mexico, led by Brigadier Isidro Barradas, who was easily defeated in Tampico by the troops and generals sent by Guerrero: Antonio López de Santa Anna and Manuel de Mier y Terán. An invasion attempt prior to Barradas's had already been suppressed by Guerrero's army and navy. After Barradas' failed invasion, Spanish and Mexican officials signed a treaty granting pardon to the defeated and guaranteeing respect for Spanish property, in exchange for a promise that there would be no further invasion attempts..

However, the foregoing did not make Spain give up its efforts to 'reconquer' Mexico. The plans of 'Reconquista' they did not cease since independence, and military encounters between the Spanish and Mexican navies were common ever since. In October and November 1829, news that Spain was sending new armed contingents to Cuba (still a Spanish province) for this purpose forced Guerrero to invest and obtain resources to maintain a regular force for the defense of the country. To counteract the threat of a Spanish invasion and respond to Barradas' invasion, some Liberals decide to pay in kind. Colonel and congressman from Veracruz José Ignacio Basadre, Spanish by birth and formerly a member of the Dragones de Nueva Galicia, is commissioned by Guerrero and Congress to study the possibility of an invasion of the Captaincy General of Cuba, the most important Spanish province in the Caribbean. The idea had already been raised previously by Simón Bolívar (suggesting it to Mexico and Colombia) and also during the government of Guadalupe Victoria, also in response to the Reconquest attempts, however it was not executed although troops were gathered for it. Initially, even the conservative Lucas Alamán came out in favor of the invasion, pointing out that: "Cuba without Mexico is destined to fall under the imperialist yoke, Mexico without Cuba is a prisoner of the Gulf of Mexico" (sic). Eventually, the invasion of Cuba was not authorized by Guerrero as he argued in favor of fraternity between the peninsulars and the Latin Americans; however, the possibility of a military counter-offensive by the Guerrero government, with the diplomatic backing of other Latin American countries if executed, forced the Spanish government and the Governor of Cuba to adopt a defensive rather than offensive attitude.

Abolition of slavery and human rights

On September 15, 1829, while he was still president, Vicente Guerrero issued the decree Abolition of slavery, which had been promulgated by Miguel Hidalgo in Guadalajara on December 6, 1810. Through This protocol act made official the position of the Mexican Republic.

1. Slavery in the Republic is abolished
2. Those who have so far been considered slaves are therefore free
3. When the circumstances of the court permit, the slave owners shall be compensated in the terms of the laws

Vicente Guerrero, 15 September 1829

Monument to Vicente Guerrero in Mexico City.

Guerrero's abolition of slavery was one of the most important contributions to human rights during the 19th century, not only on the American Continent and because of Mexico's proximity to the United States, but also because of this it also surpassed many European countries. Spain slavery was not abolished until 1880, Argentina abolished it until 1853, Brazil until 1888. In the Caribbean, with the exception of Haiti, slavery was the basis of the plantation economy, the same as in the southern United States. Coffee, tobacco, sugar, and cotton producers from Brazil to the Chesapeake benefited from European, especially British, industrial development and its high demand for raw materials. At the same time, the abolition of slavery in Haiti, which had been the engine of the Atlantic slave and sugar economy, allowed slave plantations to flourish elsewhere. In Cuba, the arrival of capital from Mexico (caused by independence and the expulsion of Spaniards), gave a strong boost to that slave economy.

The abolition of slavery promulgated by Guerrero was also a call to attention to the Spanish in Cuba, who had organized the reconquest attempt.

This official position was adverse to the interests of the numerous settlers of American origin that populated the state of Texas, who ideologically defended and economically depended on slavery. Years later, the decree was one of the reasons that gave rise to the independence of Texas, coupled with Manifest Destiny and the Monroe Doctrine that through intrigues promoted the ambassadors plenipotentiary Joel R. Poinsett and Anthony Butler. However, the uprisings in Texas they did not occur until after Santa Anna came to power, since Stephen F. Austin himself, the so-called "Father of Texas", recognized the virtues of the Government of Guerrero:

“This government is the most liberal and fundamental (N.B. generous, tolerant) on land with emigrants – after being here a year, you will oppose any change, even if it were in favor of Uncle Sam”

Stephen Fuller Austin, 1829, letter to his sister describing the goodties of the Government of Vicente Guerrero of Mexico and Texas in particular

Pronouncement of the n#34;good men n#34;, and the rebellion in the South

To deal with the economic crisis, political division, and strengthen the country's defense capabilities in the face of another attempt at Spanish reconquest, Guerrero obtained extraordinary powers from Congress. Lorenzo de Zavala promoted a tax reform that promoted the creation of federal direct taxes. This caused state politicians to accuse him of being a centralist, because until then only states had implemented this type of tax. Guerrero was charged with violating the Constitution and acting illegally. Vice President Anastasio Bustamante led a rebellion against the president in December 1829, taking refuge in the Jalapa Plan, whose main arguments were to restore the Constitution and combat the centralist rebellion in Campeche, for which they unjustifiably blamed Guerrero. Lorenzo Zavala was removed from the Treasury position.

The press was favorable to Bustamante's rebellion. Even some liberals like José María Luis Mora were against Guerrero. On December 16, 1829, the president went out to fight the rebels. In Mexico City, a group headed by José Ignacio Esteva, the governor of the Federal District, would proceed to take over the National Palace and force the interim president, José María Bocanegra, to resign. Luis Quintanar and Lucas Alamán would take charge of the government along with Esteva. Congress and the Senate declared Guerrero unfit to govern, so Vice President Anastasio Bustamante was left in charge of the executive branch. If at the beginning of his government he had the support of several liberals, very soon characters like Mora, Vicente Rocafuerte and Andrés Quintana Roo went over to the opposition.

Guerrero headed south, where he had fought during his years of fighting for independence. Federal troops gave chase. Guerrero would propose a truce several times to Bustamante, offering to resign from the presidency if new elections were called, which the vice president would reject.

Harassed by the Bustamante forces, Guerrero had withdrawn to Tixtla. His new rebellion, then called "the War of the South," would gain strength in Michoacán, after Lucas Alamán instigated the military overthrow of the governor of said state, which provoked popular uprisings against what was recognized as oppression. of the central government. Guerrero, together with Juan N. Álvarez and Gordiano Guzmán, then took control of the Tierra Caliente de Michoacán and what is now the State of Guerrero with the support of the inhabitants of the region, one of the few that the royalists had never been able to control. The southerners manage to definitively defeat Armijo, who had been sent to quell the popular rebellion. However, the "War of the South" it would end with the kidnapping and murder of Guerrero, not captured in battle, but through an intrigue and betrayal planned by Bustamante and those close to him.

Such has been the fruit of a pronouncement (N.B. that of Bustamante) that causes thousands of misfortunes to the homeland, hinders the majestic march of the federal institutions, attacks their legislatures, destroying several of them, assassinated misfortunes in horrible dungeons, separates from their soil illustrious men, makes the blood flow from hundreds of victims... in public caldasses they perish men And when are true federalists treated like this?What is the policy that is kept with those who have set centralism in two states?... In such unfortunate circumstances it is my duty to the states to recover their highly offended sovereignty, without complying with the retroactive laws that are dictated in the midst of the fear and threats of the bayonets: I do not aspire to the command...I only want the legislatures to be replenished and respected...People all: judge your cause and that nothing intimidates you, I have always been gratified by the Mexican side

Vicente Guerrero Saldaña, Acapulco, October 1830, a la Soberana, Libre e Independiente Nación Mexicana

Last years and death

Vicente Guerrero's empty tomb at the Pantheon Museum of San Fernando in Mexico City, where his daughter and son-in-law are also found.

On January 15, 1831, on the Tlacopanocha beach in Acapulco, Vicente Guerrero received an invitation to have lunch with the captain of the brig Colombo, Francisco Picaluga, a Genoese mercenary. Once on board, he and his collaborators were suddenly apprehended. Immediately the ship would weigh anchor. The betrayal occurred on account of 50,000 pesos, which had been offered by the Minister of War José Antonio Facio, at the direction of the Vice President, General Anastasio Bustamante, leader of the uprising against President Guerrero. About Guerrero's reaction, the historian Juan de Dios Arias would comment the following:

“He was not without courage or courage to oppose the revolution; what he lacked was the patriotism of those who were forced to help and sustain him... in a circle of perjures and traitors, and who in vain would have wanted to resist a rebellion consummated by the government’s troops, seized by the vice president of the Republic”

John of God Arias, Mexico through the centuries

Guerrero was transported to the port of Santa María de Huatulco, he was handed over to four officers who were waiting for the arrival of the boat on the beach that since then has been called La Entrega; Among them were Captain José Miguel González, Lieutenant Fuentes, and Ensign Maciel of the 4th Cavalry. On January 25, Guerrero began to be interrogated by prosecutor José María Llanes, captain of the active Jamiltepec battalion. Llanes fell ill during the military trial, for which Joaquín Ramírez y Sesma ordered Nicolás Condelle to continue the process as judge-prosecutor and the lieutenant of the 11th regiment, Juan Ricoy, as secretary. The defense attorney was second lieutenant Francisco Cosío. ordinary council of war that judged Don Vicente Guerrero lacked constitutional competence. General Guerrero was the president of the Mexican Republic, and despite the intentions of those in favor of the Jalapa Plan to remove him, the only competent court to try Don Vicente Guerrero under any circumstances, according to the decree of September 7, 1829 in the The constitution corresponded solely to the Supreme Court of Justice and also in said decree it was expressly declared that the courts-martial not apply the death penalty. Guerrero was sentenced to the death penalty. He was shot on February 14, 1831 in Cuilápam, Oaxaca.

In 1833, Bustamante and members of his cabinet are brought to justice for the murder of Guerrero. Juan N. Álvarez, who tried to prevent Guerrero's assassination, accuses Bustamante of forcing him to take up arms in self-defense and to defend the institutions. Likewise, José Antonio Barragán accuses Bustamante of "having waged war to the death" to the patriots who supported the institutions and the rights of Guerrero as president. Likewise, three legislators from Oaxaca request the name change of Cuilápam to "Ciudad Guerrerotitlán", to honor and vindicate the memory of the insurgent. Bustamante and his allies deny the charges, alleging that they paid Picaluga to acquire his boat, and that it was a coincidence that he decided to deliver it on the beach where the forces that would apprehend Guerrero were waiting. On the other hand, the Bustamantistas make the files concerning the orders received by the arresting forces and the deals with Picaluga disappear. However, witnesses on board the Colombo , from both sides, would later testify that Guerrero was taken prisoner in a cabin under double armed guard, and that several of his companions were immobilized with ropes and shackles.

Lucas Alamán, champion of Spanish conservative and supremacist ideology and one of the country's scholars, is brought to trial by Congress as the mastermind behind Guerrero's assassination. Alamán looked after the interests of the descendants of Hernán Cortés in Mexico (acting as proxy for the Dukes of Terranova and Monteleone); In addition, his family had barely managed to escape the armies of Miguel Hidalgo at the beginning of the War of Independence, for which the conservative held a special grudge against the insurgents, whom he equates with the Aztecs, regardless of their place of origin. Of Guerrero, he came to say that his struggles had "the character of the invasions that the barbarian peoples of the north made on the Roman province." Alamán was acquitted by the court in 1835, after the intervention of Santa Anna, who allowed him to direct his own defense. However, before dying, Alamán would declare that the Minister of War José Antonio Facio and the Minister of Justice José Ignacio Espinosa Vidaurre had voted for his death, while the Minister of Finance Rafael Mancini and the Minister of Relations Lucas Alamán for exile., and that Vice President Anastasio Bustamante made the final decision.

After Guerrero is overthrown, and also after his execution, many Spaniards who had been expelled for conspiracy and other major charges are allowed entry. Guerrero's death was publicly celebrated by his enemies, which caused great discomfort both among the liberals and supporters of Guerrero as well as in the majority of the population. Several congressmen and liberals then also held the Spanish responsible for the death of Guerrero, accusing them of attacking the democratic and republican order from the beginning. Bustamante and his close followers would later be expelled from the country.

Guerrero's murder became an international scandal. After trial, the government of Genoa declared Picaluga a "bandit of the first order", and sentenced him to death; the Central American government calls for the sinking of the Colombo; in Mexico, the soldiers who participated in the process against him were expelled from the army.

The remains of Vicente Guerrero rested in the Pantheon of San Fernando, together with his daughter and son-in-law until 1925, when they were transferred to the Column of Independence in Mexico City and there they rested until May 30, 2010, date on which they were transferred to the National Museum of History for their conservation, analysis, authentication and exhibition during the celebrations of the bicentennial of independence, at the end of which they returned to the aforementioned monument.

Legacy

Vicente Guerrero is a national hero, Benemérito de la Patria, consummator of Independence and founder of Mexico, in 1849 the State of Guerrero was named in his honor, several schools, streets and hospitals bear his name today, also it is inscribed with gold letters on the Wall of Honor of the Legislative Palace of San Lázaro along with its famous phrase: "The homeland comes first."

Stamp with portrait of Vicente Guerrero

Monument to Vicente Guerrero in Tixtla.

Patriotism and State Named in His Honor

The phrase y#34;My Homeland is First" It is the motto of the state of Guerrero, named in his honor.

GUERRERO (sonet)

In the mountains of the South, Guerrero one day,
by lifting the serena to heaven in front,
encouraged the insurgent army
And in combat again he led them.
Your father in the meantime, with a stubborn steward,
I narrowed it between his arms tenderly
and in the delusion of his fiery love
I said to her plants,

Have mercy on my miserable life;
I come in the name of the king, your bliss I will;
I will give you your sword.
Never! – crying answered Guerrero;
Father your voice is, to me, sacred,

more my homeland's voice is the first.

José Rosas Moreno

HIMNO A GUERRERO

Chorus:

Patriots Suriful Cantad
An hymn to Warrior immortal warlord
That there in the mountains fighting tenacious
Mexico slave gave freedom

Step I:

So let's celebrate the day he was born
The rebellious homeland gave us
With fire we start sweet lute
Cadences expressing love, gratitude

Chorus:

Patriots Suriful Cantad
An hymn to Warrior immortal warlord
That there in the mountains fighting tenacious
Mexico slave gave freedom
He gave him freedom.
He gave him freedom.

He gave him freedom.

Francisco Figueroa Mata

National Anthem

It has also been suggested that stanzas VIII and IX of the original version of the Mexican National Anthem made subtle reference to Vicente Guerrero, the Bravos, and the insurgents in general. Its author Francisco González Bocanegra was the nephew of José María Bocanegra, Minister of Interior and Foreign Relations during the government of Guerrero and appointed interim president by him on December 18, 1829, after requesting a license to go out and fight the rebels under the command of Bustamante..

VIII

Go back to the patrios homes

the warrior to count his victory,

holding the palms of glory

that he knew in the lyd conquer.

Your blood-threatening lauros will be ruined

in garlands of myths and roses,

that the love of daughters and wives

You know. to the bravos reward.

IX

And the one that hits a fiery shrapnel

of the Homeland in the

you will get in reward a grave

where the light shines with glory.

And of Iguala teaches her dear

to his bloody sword linked,

of immortal laurel crowned,

He will form the cross from his pit.