Vicente Guerrero

Gen. Vicente Guerrero President of Mexico
Term of office	1829
-Preceded by	Guadalupe Victoria
-Succeeded by	José María Bocanegra
Date of birth	10 August 1782
Place of birth	Tixtla, Guerrero
Date of death	14 February 1831
Place of death	Cuilapa, Oaxaca
First Lady	Guadalupe Hernández de Guerrero
Occupation	Army General
Party	Popular (Yorkino)

Vicente Ramón Guerrero Saldaña (10 August 1782 – 14 February 1831) was one of the leaders of Mexico's struggle for independence from Spain and an early President of Mexico. He was born in the small village of Tixtla, not far from the city of Acapulco, now in the Mexican state of Guerrero, then part of New Spain. He was from a poor mestizo family.

He joined in the early revolt against Spain in 1810, first fighting alongside José María Morelos and then taking command over those troops after Morelos's death. The valiant resistance he displayed against the Spanish armies made him a hero among the Mexicans.

Once Mexico achieved independence he at first collaborated with Agustín de Iturbide (he even accepted his Grand Cross of the Order of Guadalupe and the rank of General in his Imperial Army). However, soon after Iturbide was prolaimed himself Emperor Guerrero came out in favor of a Republic with the Plan of Casa Mata.

When the conservative Manuel Gómez Pedraza seemed set to succeed Guadalupe Victoria as president of Mexico, Guerrero, with the aid of General Antonio López de Santa Anna, staged a coup and took the presidency on 1 April 1829. (The violent nature of the coup displeased some Latin American liberals of the time who otherwise sympathised with Guerrero's goals, and his actions were condemned by Simón Bolívar.) The most notable achievement of Guerrero's short term as president was ordering an immediate abolition of slavery and emancipation of all slaves.

Guerrero was deposed in a counter-coup on 4 December 1829. He hoped to come back to power, but conservative General Anastasio Bustamente captured him through bribery and had him killed.

The Mexican state of Guerrero is named after him.

See also

• History of Mexico
• List of Presidents of Mexico

External links

• Vicente Guerrero: An Inventory of His Collection at the Benson Latin American Collection
• Alfredo Ávila: Vicente Guerrero, un presidente republicano (PDF document in Spanish)
• Vicente Guerrero on Mexconnect.com
• Guerrero on gob.mex/kids
• Guerrero on Creole Culture site

Referenced By