Timoteo Menéndez (born in
Ahuachapán
Ahuachapán () is a city, and municipality, and the capital of the Ahuachapán Department in western El Salvador. The municipality, including the city, covers an area of 244.84 km² and as of 2007 has a population of 110,511 people. Situat ...
) was a Salvadoran politician who served twice (1837 and 1838 to 1839) as head of state of El Salvador when it was a state within the
Federal Republic of Central America.
He first took over the office from
Diego Vigil Cocaña on 23 May 1837, serving for a little over two weeks until 7 June 1837. During these days he continued the fight against the
cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine by some strains of the bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea that lasts a few days. Vomiting and ...
epidemic that had struck the country. He also fought Indigenous insurgents at
Zacatecoluca and
Cojutepeque, who had attacked the garrison at
San Vicente. Because of the revolt he suspended constitutional guarantees in the departments of
Cuscatlán and
San Vicente. Vigil returned to office on 23 May.
Once again on 6 January 1838, Vigil turned over authority to Menéndez who governed this time for more than a year until 23 May 1839. On 24 February 1838, the Legislative Assembly merged the municipalities of Asunción and Dolores Izalco under the name of ''
Villa Izalco''.
On 28 October 1838, conservative General
Rafael Carrera, in command of 600 infantry and 200 cavalry from
Guatemala
Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...
, invaded the State of El Salvador. His forces took the cities of
Santa Ana and Ahuachapán and committed atrocities. Liberal General
Francisco Morazán defeated Carrera at
Chiquimula, taking prisoners and capturing military equipment.
On 23 February 1839, forces from
Honduras
Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...
and
Nicaragua invaded El Salvador. Menéndez named Morazán General-in-Chief of the
Salvadoran Army. On 6 April 1839, Morazán defeated the invading force in the battle of
Espiritu Santo.
In accordance with a legislative decree of 22 April 1839, Menéndez prohibited the circulation of coins named ''maquiquinas'' and ''morlacos''.
On 23 May 1839 he turned over power to Colonel
Antonio José Cañas
Antonio José Cañas Quintanilla (26 October 1785 – 24 February 1844) was a Salvadoran military officer, diplomat, and politician. For two brief periods he was head of state of the State of El Salvador, within the Federal Republic of Central ...
.
External links
Short biography from the Salvadoran government web site (archive)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Menendez, Timoteo
Presidents of El Salvador
Date of birth missing
Date of death missing