GUATEMALA AND HONDURAS.
1824-1840.
STATE GOVERNMENT OF GUATEMALA—BARRUNDIA'S
RADICALISM—HIS OVERTHROW—VICE-JEFE FLORES ASSASSINATED
IN QUEZALTENANGO—DOWNFALL OF THE LIBERALS IN
GUATEMALA—ARISTOCRATIC LEADERS EXILED—JEFE MOLINA—HIS
DIFFERENCES, IMPEACHMENT, AND ACQUITTALS—RIVERA CABEZAS'
REFORMS—EARTHQUAKES—GALVEZ' RULE AND ITS BENEFITS—PARTY
OPPOSITION TO HIM—INDIAN OUTBREAKS—CARRERA CAPTURES
GUATEMALA—GALVEZ RESIGNS—SUBSEQUENT RULE OF THE
ARISTOCRATS—GUATEMALA AGAIN INDEPENDENT—HONDURAS' STATE
GOVERNMENT—JEFE DIONISIO HERRERA—EARLY DISSENSIONS—COMAYAGUA
ASSAULTED BY REBELS—MORAZAN IN THE FIELD—HONDURAS SECEDES
FROM THE CENTRAL AMERICAN CONFEDERATION—FEDERALISM ROOTED OUT
OF HER TERRITORY.
Having sketched the life of Central America, first as an appendage of
the Spanish crown, next as a portion of the short-lived Mexican empire,
and lastly as a confederation of states, embracing the period from 1801
to 1840, it is well now to glance over the internal affairs of each
state separately, for the period after its accession to the federal
union down to 1840, beginning with Guatemala as the most important.
I have said elsewhere that the states were organized on the same
principle as the confederation, namely, under a popular, democratic,
representative government. The first constituent congress or assembly
of the Estado de Guatemala was installed at La Antigua on the 16th of
September, 1824,[VIII-1] under the presidency of the clergyman José
María Chacon, and its first act was to call Alejandro Diaz Cabeza de
Vaca to be the provisional chief of the state.[VIII-2] On the 30th,
the votes for jefe and vice-jefe having been counted, and neither of
the candidates having the requisite majority, the congress named Juan
Barrundia to be jefe and Cirilo Flores to be vice-jefe, the former
assuming the reins of government on the 12th of October, and at once
inaugurating a radical policy, which tended to widen the breach between
liberals and serviles.[VIII-3] No person opposed to him in politics was
allowed to have a voice in public affairs. However, no open rupture
occurred, even during a tumult in February 1825, when the Franciscan
friars of the college de propaganda fide refused to take the oath
recognizing the constitution of the republic. The rabble supported
the friars,[VIII-4] but owing to the energetic attitude of the state
government, the priests had to submit.
The assembly continued its labors. A coat of arms was decreed January
20, 1825, and on the 2d of May took place the installation of the
executive council, whose prerogatives and duties were similar in state
matters to those of the federal senate in national affairs. On the same
date was also installed the superior court of justice. The framing
of a state constitution was not completed till the 11th of October,
on which date it was decreed.[VIII-5] After passing a law for the
political division of the state into departments,[VIII-6] the assembly
adjourned sine die one month later. Clouds had already appeared in the
political horizon, the state authorities having transferred the seat of
government from La Antigua to Guatemala, against the opposition of the
national executive.
[Illustration: ARMS OF GUATEMALA.]
[Sidenote: BARRUNDIA AS JEFE.]
The liberal party has been accused of having, with the connivance
of the jefe Barrundia, committed frauds at the elections held in
January 1826 for a partial renewal of the representative council. In
the first ordinary legislature, which met on the 1st of February,
a law was passed for new elections to fill the council. But these
and other arbitrary measures of the liberal party gave rise to such
warm discussions in the assembly, that Barrundia at last ignored the
authority of the council as then existing.[VIII-7] The latter then
denounced him, and called the vice-jefe to assume the government. But
through the mediation of commissioners of the federal government,
harmony was restored. This harmony was not to last long, new
complications arising from another quarter. I have, in detailing
federal affairs at this period, spoken of the plans attributed to
president Arce to overthrow the liberal party, and the events which
culminated with the deposal of Barrundia from his position as jefe
of the state. The first resolution taken by the legislature and
representative council was to remove the capital to Quezaltenango.
The new jefe, Flores, was at the same time empowered to organize
a military force, raise funds, and adopt other proper measures to
uphold the state's sovereignty.[VIII-8] Flores had advocated the
removal of the state capital, but strenuously opposed the selection of
Quezaltenango as an unfit place for the seat of government of a liberal
state.[VIII-9] The assembly paid some heed to his remonstrances, and
tarried a while at San Martin Jilotepec, where it was resolved that
Barrundia should resume the reins of government; but he declined,
pleading ill health.[VIII-10] The assembly remained at that place till
the 29th of September, and then concluded to repair to Quezaltenango,
considering Jilotepec not quite safe.
[Sidenote: PIERZON'S CAMPAIGN.]
Flores, accompanied by a few deputies, arrived at Quezaltenango on the
8th of October, and was received with a shower of flowers. He at once
set himself to complete the defence of the district, which had been
already begun by Colonel José Pierzon,[VIII-11] who had mustered into
the service of the state several hundred men.[VIII-12] Having reason to
apprehend an attack from the federal authority, Pierzon was ordered to
Patsun to watch the enemy. It was during his absence that the events
occurred leading to the murder of Jefe Flores by an ungovernable
fanatical mob, of which a description is given elsewhere. Upon hearing
of those occurrences, and of the friars at Quezaltenango having called
the Indians of the neighborhood to take up arms for the common defence,
Pierzon retreated to Totonicapan,[VIII-13] encountering the Quezaltec
rebels on the 18th of October near Salcajá, and easily defeated them.
He gave no quarter. He demanded the immediate surrender of all arms in
Quezaltenango, guaranteeing the lives of the inhabitants, otherwise he
would destroy the place.[VIII-14] The rebel authorities had to submit,
and on the following day Pierzon recovered possession of the place.
Several draconic ordinances were issued to keep in check the spirit of
rebellion.[VIII-15] The leaders of the riots had, however, fled, thus
escaping the punishment they so richly deserved.
Juan Barrundia now made another effort, from Sololá, to resume his
former authority, but his prestige was lost, and most of his friends
had forsaken his cause.[VIII-16] Pierzon abandoned Quezaltenango on
the 25th of October, and was pursued, overtaken, and defeated by the
federals, under Brigadier Cáscaras, at Malacatan.[VIII-17] Pierzon,
together with his friends Saget and Fauconnier, escaped, and were
proscribed, but they managed to cross into Chiapas.[VIII-18] But it
seemed that it had been preordained that he should perish at the hands
of his foes. On his way to San Salvador to take part in the war against
the federal government, he was taken prisoner, brought to Guatemala,
and shot, on the 11th of May, 1827, without a trial.[VIII-19]
Another body of liberal troops, under Cayetano de la Cerda, not
being aware of Pierzon's defeat at Malacatan, prepared to march
from Los Altos to Guatemala, but the soldiers were induced to rebel,
and thus the last armed force of the state disappeared. The members
of the assembly and council who were not in prison either secreted
themselves or emigrated, and the state was left without authorities.
The federal president assumed power, and replaced the jefes políticos
and military commanders with his own creatures. He published, on the
31st of October, a decree for new elections of state authorities.
The new assembly met on the last day of the year, and on the 1st of
March, 1827, Mariano Aycinena was chosen by popular vote chief of the
state.[VIII-20] It is hardly necessary to state that the elections were
wholly controlled by the servile party, whose views were reflected in
the new jefe's policy. Lest the existing courts should not deal to the
liberals subjected to criminal prosecution such punishments as their
enemies desired, a military court, with three voting members, was
created, to adjudicate verbally upon all causes for treason.[VIII-21]
During the seven months of its existence—to the 29th of October,
1827—it sentenced to the death-penalty upwards of ten persons, but the
sentence was carried out in one case only.[VIII-22]
[Illustration: GUATEMALA MEDAL OF ABOUT THIS DATE.]
[Sidenote: RULE OF AYCINENA.]
The history of Guatemala during Aycinena's rule was identical with that
of the federal government, this jefe being a supporter of President
Arce, and affording him all possible aid in his warfare against
Salvador, all of which has been narrated. Toward the end of 1828,
however, the successes of the arms of Salvador, together with certain
alleged false steps of Aycinena,[VIII-23] aroused such a spirit of
discontent against him and his administration, that on the 20th of
October the assembly passed an act for the renewal of all the chief
authorities of the state.[VIII-24] Soon afterward the project was
entertained of detaching Guatemala from the federation. Neither of the
plans led to the proposed results. The latter was disapproved by the
representative council, and the former was useless, as the incumbents
were continued in office.[VIII-25] This caused the breaking-out of a
revolution at La Antigua in January 1829,[VIII-26] which, though easily
quelled, hastened the march of the liberal forces under Morazan from
San Salvador upon Guatemala.[VIII-27] After this leader took the city,
on the 13th of April, 1829, Aycinena and the other chief men of his
administration being thrown into prison, Juan Barrundia was placed at
the head of the government,[VIII-28] and the authorities of La Antigua
were transferred to Guatemala.[VIII-29] The deposed congress[VIII-30]
of 1826 also reassembled on the 21st of April.[VIII-31] It must be
remarked, in connection with the state's affairs at this time, that,
though nominally in the hands of Barrundia and the assembly, they
were virtually under Morazan's control. To meet his constant demands
for money to support his forces, a number of financial schemes were
devised, the property of the serviles being almost exclusively affected
by them. Their property, as well as that under control of the church,
was taxed severely.[VIII-32] Not satisfied with depleting the resources
of the enemy, under the decrees of June 4th and August 22d, the late
officials were made amenable to prosecution in a summary manner,
though finally a sort of ironical amnesty was granted them, involving
expatriation, which was enforced on the 28th of August.[VIII-33]
[Sidenote: RULE OF MOLINA AND RIVERA CABEZAS.]
New elections for state authorities resulted in the choice of Pedro
Molina as jefe,[VIII-34] and he was inducted in August 1829. His
subsequent disagreement with the temporary president, José Francisco
Barrundia, the novel ideas he suggested for remodelling the federation,
and the intrigues of his opponents, among whom has been named the
vice-jefe Rivera Cabezas, brought on his overthrow, when he was
superseded on the 9th of March, 1830, by said vice-jefe.[VIII-35]
During the administration of Rivera Cabezas the state of Guatemala
enjoyed the blessings of peace. There was only an encounter between the
people of Ilotenango, now Quiché, in Sololá, and those of Chiquimula
in Totonicapan, upon land questions. There were a few wounded. Rivera
Cabezas arranged the matter to the satisfaction of both towns. He also
accomplished many reforms, ascertained the amount of the state debt,
and introduced a proper economy in the expenditures.[VIII-36]
While internal dissensions were exciting the people of Guatemala, they
were forced to undergo, on the 23d of April, 1830, the tribulations
resulting from one of the severest shocks of earthquake experienced
in the country.[VIII-37] Nearly all the inhabitants passed the night
in the streets, public squares, or in the open fields. The assembly
adjourned the following day, and the state authorities removed to
Jocotenango. Fortunately, no more shocks occurred, and the public
alarm gradually subsided, the damage done being less than had been
supposed.[VIII-38] The clergy made use of the earthquakes to arouse the
rabble against the liberals.[VIII-39]
* * * * *
After the removal of the national seat of government to San Salvador,
Guatemala found itself in a great measure freed from the constant
bickerings between the federal and state authorities. The servile
party gained by it; but for all that, the liberal spirit of the
federal administration was still felt. Pursuant to a decree of the
assembly at Jocotenango, elections for state authorities were made,
and José F. Barrundia was the popular choice for jefe, and Gregorio
Marquez for vice-jefe. Barrundia declined the office, pleading a
previous election as senator. The assembly refused his resignation,
and Barrundia reiterated it, till his wishes were granted.[VIII-40]
The vice-jefe Marquez then assumed pro tempore the executive office,
and retained as his secretary-general the clergyman of talent,
Antonio Colom. New elections were called for, to be made by the same
electoral bodies which had effected the last, and Mariano Galvez was
chosen jefe, assuming office in August 1831.[VIII-41] This chief of
the state endeavored to steer a middle course in the management of
public affairs, but he was only partially successful.[VIII-42] Several
important measures were adopted to relieve the burdens of the people,
and to advance their intellectual development.[VIII-43]
[Sidenote: RULE OF GALVEZ.]
Galvez was not content with encouraging science and literature; he
also directed his efforts to the advancement of arts and industries,
and the improvement of towns, public health, etc. Friars who had
become secularized were granted the rights enjoyed by other citizens,
and could, therefore, bequeath and accept inheritances.[VIII-44] At
Galvez' suggestion, the assembly passed the act of February 27, 1834,
to enable nuns to abandon their convents, if they so desired, taking
the dowries they brought with them. Later, marriage was declared to
be a civil contract that could be dissolved.[VIII-45] The measures
affecting the clergy in their privileges and revenues, the introduction
of the Livingston code with trial by jury, and the colonization by
an English company at Vera Paz, gave rise to displeasure among the
ignorant, which the clergy and the serviles did not fail to fan into a
flame that erelong became a conflagration.[VIII-46] Added to this was
the jealousy engendered by San Salvador having been made the national
capital.[VIII-47]
The first outbreak occurred in March 1837, when the Indians of San
Juan Ostuncalco rebelled. It was at once quelled, but the ravages of
cholera caused in June the uprising at Mita. It has been shown in
another place that here, at this juncture, Rafael Carrera made his
first appearance in the political field, inaugurating the war that
eventually dissolved the republic, and through its consequences brought
Guatemala to the verge of ruin. On the 16th of June, 1837, the assembly
met in extra session, but was unable to effect any favorable change
in the situation. There were two bitterly opposing parties striving
for control. To make matters worse, insurrections broke out in several
parts,[VIII-48] ending with the capture of the capital by Carrera on
the 31st of January, 1838, and the replacing of Galvez by Valenzuela on
the 2d of February. That same day the departments of Los Altos, namely,
Sololá, Totonicapan, and Quezaltenango, declared themselves detached
from Guatemala to constitute the sixth state of the federation, under
the name of Los Altos.[VIII-49] A constituent assembly was installed at
Quezaltenango on the 25th of December, and Marcelo Molina elected first
jefe of the state. He was inducted in office on the 28th.[VIII-50]
[Illustration: LOS ALTOS.]
[Sidenote: STATE OF LOS ALTOS.]
The constituent assembly adopted, May 26, 1839, a constitution which
was democratic and representative, with the Roman catholic as the
religion of the state.[VIII-51] Later, it passed instructions to guide
the executive in his relations with the other states. They were based
on equity and justice, and prompted by a spirit of fraternity.[VIII-52]
The state concluded with Salvador, on the 10th of August, a treaty
defensive and offensive, but it came to naught, for reasons that will
be explained.
The jefe, Molina, was an honest man and an able jurist. He loved Los
Altos, and considered it a necessary organization for the greater
lustre of the Central American republic; but he had little knowledge
of human nature, and was easily deceived. The government of Guatemala
pursued toward him, since April 13, 1839, a machiavelian policy, and
led him into the fatal belief that it really desired the prosperity
and happiness of the new state, which had become the residence of
the liberals who had left Guatemala, fleeing from Carrera,[VIII-53]
and constantly published severe strictures against Carrera and the
aristocratic clique which surrounded him. Molina had been persuaded
that the Guatemalan authorities were friendly toward the state of
Los Altos, though requiring that it should discourage the attacks of
the exiled liberals. However, Molina, abiding by the constitutional
clauses declaring freedom of the press to be inviolable, answered that
the government of Guatemala had the right of prosecuting the writers
before the courts of Los Altos for libel. This ill feeling was all
that Pavon, the Guatemalan machiavelian minister, desired for future
hostile proceedings. The opportunity was not wanting, and the state of
Los Altos was destroyed by Carrera on the 29th of January, 1840, and
reincorporated with Guatemala.[VIII-54] Molina, though credulous and
vacillating, at the last moment showed himself to be possessed of a
brave heart. He well knew that his administration had been a just one,
that all charges against his government, on the part of Guatemala,
by Pavon and his fellow-aristocrats, were false. He did not forsake
his post. Carrera grossly insulted him, and sent him as a prisoner to
Guatemala. General Guzman was reviled, forced to wear rags, beaten, and
his hair and beard pulled out. Other citizens were shamefully treated,
and their homes plundered.[VIII-55]
[Sidenote: RIVERA PAZ AS JEFE.]
Affairs in Guatemala had undergone a great change since the removal
of Galvez from the position of jefe. His successor, Valenzuela, was
deposed July 22, 1838, by a popular movement, and Mariano Rivera Paz
placed at the head of affairs.[VIII-56] His first official act was
one deserving of special commendation, as it exhibited a conciliatory
spirit which, unfortunately, had been a stranger in the country during
many years past. Three days after being installed, at his special
suggestion the state assembly nullified all acts of proscription,
and decreed a general amnesty for all persons implicated in political
offences since September 1821.[VIII-57]
From the moment Rivera Paz was made the provisional head of the state
government, reaction set in and went on with flying colors. Measures
in consonance with the wishes of the retrogressionists were adopted
one after another as fast as they could be drawn up.[VIII-58] These
decrees should have satisfied Carrera and his supporters; but it seems
that they did not; his faction became more and more recalcitrant. He
found himself closely pressed; but, unfortunately, General Guzman was
persuaded to enter into arrangements with him at El Rinconcito. This,
however, did not bring peace to the state for any length of time.
In the latter part of January 1839 Rivera Paz was deposed by Cárlos
Salazar, military commander of Guatemala,[VIII-59] but reinstalled by
Carrera on the 13th of April.[VIII-60] This disturbed condition lasted
some time longer. The state declared itself independent on the 17th of
April of the same year, and the only form of union maintained with the
other states was by special treaties of allowance,[VIII-61] in which
the states mutually acknowledged their independence and sovereignty,
and pledged themselves to reconstruct Central America. All efforts,
however, to reëstablish order were in vain, owing to the political
complications caused by Carrera's rebellion in March 1839. His capture
of Guatemala on the 19th of March, 1840, and the end of the struggle
between him and Morazan, which has been narrated, did not materially
change the state of affairs; at all events, resolutions subsequently
adopted by the assembly had little weight.[VIII-62] The only important
ones were the restoration of the fuero eclesiástico,[VIII-63] and the
creation of a medical faculty in the university. Thus, after sixteen
years of continual strife, Guatemala found herself again an independent
and impoverished state. Neither of the parties which had striven for
supremacy had gained anything. The commonwealth was practically under
the dictatorship of an Indian chieftain, whose will even those who had
helped him to attain his position dared not dispute.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: CARRERA'S TRIUMPH.]
From the moment that the plan of a Central American confederation was
contemplated, Honduras manifested her willingness to be one of its
members; and upon the federal constituent assembly fixing, on the 5th
of May, 1824, the basis of organization for each separate state, a
local assembly of eleven deputies was assigned to Honduras. The state
constituent assembly met at the Mineral de Cedros,[VIII-64] and on the
16th of September Dionisio Herrera was chosen jefe del estado, and
José Justo Milla vice-jefe. In July 1825, the territory was divided
into seven departments,[VIII-65] and on the 11th of December the state
constitution was promulgated. This ended the labors of the constituent
body, which four months later was replaced by the ordinary legislature,
the installation of which at Tegucigalpa was followed by that of the
representative council at Comayagua.
Honduras was not allowed to enjoy a long term of peace. The assembly
ordered new elections for chief of state, on the ground that Herrera's
tenure of office had been intended to be merely provisional;
but he held to a different opinion, and refused to surrender his
authority. Matters were made worse by the enmity existing between
Herrera and Irias, the governor of the diocese.[VIII-66] Anarchy
now prevailed, some of the departments, especially Gracias, refusing
Herrera recognition. This state of things was mainly instigated by
the president of the republic, Arce, who strove to overthrow the
liberal party in Honduras. Under the pretence that Santa Rosa, in
the department of Gracias, out of which the federal government drew
a revenue from tobacco, needed protection, Arce despatched there 200
men under Milla, the vice-jefe,[VIII-67] who, after a short encounter
with Herrera's force, marched upon Comayagua,[VIII-68] arriving
there early in April 1827. The town had been hastily fortified, and
energetically resisted thirty-six days; but not receiving timely
reënforcements, succumbed on the 9th of May, 1827.[VIII-69] Herrera
was sent as a prisoner to Guatemala, and new elections were ordered in
Honduras.[VIII-70] A new legislature on the 13th of September chose
Gerónimo Zelaya jefe, but he was recognized as such only in Santa
Bárbara. All liberals were dismissed from office. Francisco Morazan,
who had been imprisoned, notwithstanding the safe-conduct given him
after the fall of Comayagua, managed to escape, and subsequently
rendered efficient aid to defeat the federals at Trinidad.[VIII-71]
The government installed by Milla disappeared, Morazan temporarily
assuming the reins in November. The further interference of the federal
government in the internal affairs of Honduras has been fully narrated
elsewhere. The country was not exempt from internal troubles from
the close of 1829[VIII-72] to the beginning of 1833, requiring nearly
always the final intervention of the federal government to bring them
to an end.[VIII-73]
[Sidenote: LIBERAL IDEAS IN HONDURAS.]
Morazan's ascendency awakened in Honduras more liberal ideas than
had ever prevailed in the country, as was evidenced in the laws then
enacted.[VIII-74] During the following years Honduras was comparatively
tranquil, the political agitations of the republic scarcely affecting
her. There was a local sedition in December 1836, and the early part
of 1837, contributing to render much worse the financial condition of
the state, which had been bad enough before.[VIII-75] The friends of
the federation decreased from day to day. Honduras accepted the act of
the federal congress authorizing the states to constitute themselves as
they liked; and in June 1838 the legislature and executive called for
a constituent assembly to do so, which met at Comayagua on the 7th of
October.[VIII-76]
The declaration of independence was solemnly promulgated in a single
sentence on the 26th of October, 1838.[VIII-77] All further efforts on
the part of Morazan and his fellow-federalists to restore the disrupted
republic proved unavailing, as we have seen.[VIII-78] At the end of
January 1840, the secessionists were victorious, and federalism was
rooted out.
I append a list of Honduras rulers after Morazan's short provisional
administration in 1827-28.[VIII-79]