Vicente Cerna y Cerna (22 January 1815 – 27 June 1885) was
president of Guatemala
The president of Guatemala ( es, Presidente de Guatemala), officially known as the President of the Republic of Guatemala ( es, Presidente de la República de Guatemala), is the head of state and head of government of Guatemala, elected to a s ...
from 24 May 1865 to 29 June 1871.
Loyal friend and comrade of Rafael Carrera, was appointed army's Field Marshal after Carraera's victory against Salvadorian leader
Gerardo Barrios in 1863. He was appointed Carrera's successor after the caudillo's death in 1865 even though Guatemalan leaders would have preferred Field Marshal
José Víctor Zavala.
After the presidential elections of 1869, that Cerna won over liberal candidate Zavala, there were severe fraud accusations, and from then on Cerna's presidency was marred by constant uprising until he was eventually ousted by the liberal leaders
Miguel Garcia Granados and
Justo Rufino Barrios
Justo Rufino Barrios Auyón (19 July 1835 – 2 April 1885) was a Guatemalan politician and military general who served as President of Guatemala from 1873 to his death in 1885. He was known for his liberal reforms and his attempts to reuni ...
on 30 June 1871.
Biography
Cerna y Cerna was from
Ipala,
Chiquimula
Chiquimula is a city in Guatemala. It is the capital of the department of Chiquimula and the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name.
It is located some 174 km from Guatemala City and within Guatemala known as "La p ...
where he later served as major and "Corregidor". He was a loyal friend and camarade of
Rafael Carrera
José Rafael Carrera y Turcios (24 October 1814 – 14 April 1865) was the president of Guatemala from 1844 to 1848 and from 1851 until his death in 1865, after being appointed President for life in 1854. During his military career and presiden ...
and was a distinguished officer of the caudillo's army. He was one of the Guatemalan officers in the
Battle of La Arada as colonel, when he was Chiquimula in 1851. Later on, he was among those who signed the act that declared Carrera, "Guatemalan president for life" in 1854. His high army and government ranks allowed him to reach the presidency after Carrera's death in 1865.
Battle of La Arada
Salvadorian president
Doroteo Vasconcelos granted asylum to many Guatemalan liberals, among which was
José Francisco Barrundia
José Francisco Barrundia y Cepeda (May 12, 1787, Guatemala City – August 4, 1854, New York City) was a liberal Central American politician. From June 26, 1829 to September 16, 1830 he was interim president of the United Provinces of Centr ...
who started a newspaper to attack Carrera's conservative regime. Vasconcelos also supplied money and weapons and supported for a whole year the rebels of "La Montaña" in the east of Guatemala. By the en of 1850, Vasconcelos grew tired of the slow war against Guatemala and decided to act openly. Then, he started a liberal crusade against the conservative regime of Guatemala and invited Honduras and Nicaragua to join; however, only Honduran president
Juan Lindo
Juan Nepomuceno Fernández Lindo y Zelaya (generally known as Juan Lindo) (16 May 1790, Tegucigalpa, Honduras – 23 April 1857, Gracias, Honduras) was a Conservative Central American politician, provisional president of the Republic of El Sa ...
accepted to join the invasion.
Meanwhile, in Guatemala, where they well aware of Vasconcelos' plans, president Paredes made the necessary preparations for an invasion and archbishop Francisco de Paula García Peláez asked his archdioceses to pray for peace.
[
On 4 January 1851, in Ocotepeque met the presidents from Honduras and El Salvador, to seal the alliance against Guatemala. The Salvadorian forces were four thousand men well equipped and with artillery support, while the Honduras forces were two thousand men. The main force settled in Metapán, as this place was close to all three countries.][
The "Battle of La Arada", in which Cerna y Cerna had a brilliant role commanding one of the Guatemalan battalions, was fought on 2 February 1851 close to ]Chiquimula
Chiquimula is a city in Guatemala. It is the capital of the department of Chiquimula and the municipal seat for the surrounding municipality of the same name.
It is located some 174 km from Guatemala City and within Guatemala known as "La p ...
in Guatemala. The battle was the largest threat to Guatemala republican sovereignit;[ however, Guatemalan Commander in Chief Carrera's strategy resulted in a complete victory for his forces who only suffered 125 casualties between dead and wounded, while the enemy forces had more than 1500 casualties.][
After Battle of La Arada, on 22 October 1851 president Paredes resigned; the National Assembly then named Carrera his successor, being inaugurated on 6 de November 1851 after modifying the Constitution to suit his needs. Paredes went on to the army staff and was a loyal officer until his death in 1856.][
]
Campaign against Gerado Barrios
In 1863 Honduran general José María Medina, along his Army Staff -which included Florencio Xatruch
Florencio Xatruch (October 21, 1811 – February 15, 1893) was a general who led the Honduran expeditionary force against William Walker in Nicaragua in 1856.
Life
Florencio Xatruch was born in San Antonio de Oriente, Honduras. His father, ...
, and lieutenant colonel Juan Antonio Medina Orellana, were in talks with Rafael Carrera
José Rafael Carrera y Turcios (24 October 1814 – 14 April 1865) was the president of Guatemala from 1844 to 1848 and from 1851 until his death in 1865, after being appointed President for life in 1854. During his military career and presiden ...
, who formed an army of Hondurans, Salvadorians and Guatemalans who, led by brigadier general Vicente Cerna y Cerna invaded Honduras. Cerna forces took Cucuyagua on 10 June 1863 and then "Los Llanos" de Santa Rosa on 15 June, eventually occupying Gracias a Dios and declaring José María Medina as President of Honduras
The president of Honduras ( es, Presidente de Honduras) officially known as the President of the Republic of Honduras (Spanish: ''Presidente de la República de Honduras''), is the head of state and head of government of Honduras, and the Com ...
;. Finally, Cerna and his men marched over capital Comayagua to overthrow interim president José Francisco Montes Fonseca. Government forces set Comayagua in flames before fleeing given the superiority of Cerna's army.
Gobierno
Several liberal authors, like Alfonso Enrique Barrientos describe Marshal Cerna's government as this:
"A conservative and archaic government, badly organized and with worse intentions, was in charge of the country, centralizing all powers in Vicente Cerna, ambitious military man, who not happy with the general rank, had promoted himself to the Army Marshal rank, even though that rank did no exist and it does not exist in the Guatemalan military. The Marshal called himself President of the Republic, but in reality he was the foreman of oppressed and savaged people, cowardly enough that they had not dared to tell the dictator to leave threatening him with a revolution".
It is necessary to make the following observations about the liberal comments:
# By "conservative and archaic government, badly organized and with worse intentions", Barrientos means that State and Church were a single unit and that the conservative regime was strongly allied to the power of regular clergy of the Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, who then were among the largest landowners in Guatemala. The tight relationship between Church and State had been ratified by the Concordat of 1852, which was the law until Cerna was deposed in 1871.
# Oppressed and savaged people: Barrientos refers here to the liberal criollos, who had not dare to rise against Rafael Carrera
José Rafael Carrera y Turcios (24 October 1814 – 14 April 1865) was the president of Guatemala from 1844 to 1848 and from 1851 until his death in 1865, after being appointed President for life in 1854. During his military career and presiden ...
presidency (1840-1865). Even the liberal generals like Serapio Cruz had realized the undeniable Carrera's political and military presence who was practically invincible, and even fought under his command. Actually, the liberals waited for a long time until Carrera's death to begin their revolt against the more tamed Cerna.
# The Army Marshal rank did exist in the Conservative Guatemalan Army: after the invasion to El Salvador, officers Serapio Cruz -Tata Lapo- and José Víctor Zavala also were promoted to the Marshal rank, along Cerna. They all were of great importance to the military life of Guatemala during Carrera's presidency.
During his presidency liberal party members were prosecuted and sent into exile; among them, those who started the Liberal Revolution of 1871. Around that time, Honduran liberal intellectual Ramón Rosa lived in Guatemala and started publishing a newspaper called ''El Centroamericano'' (''The Central American''), a liberal pamphlet that strongly attacked the conservative regime.
Finally, the Mexican president Benito Juárez
Benito Pablo Juárez García (; 21 March 1806 – 18 July 1872) was a Mexican liberal politician and lawyer who served as the 26th president of Mexico from 1858 until his death in office in 1872. As a Zapotec, he was the first indigenous pre ...
sent reinforcement to the troops in Chiapas, commanded by Miguel García Granados and Justo Rufino Barrios
Justo Rufino Barrios Auyón (19 July 1835 – 2 April 1885) was a Guatemalan politician and military general who served as President of Guatemala from 1873 to his death in 1885. He was known for his liberal reforms and his attempts to reuni ...
. After two devastating defeats on 23 June in Totonicapán and on 28 June in San Lucas Sacatepequez, Cerna resigned on 28 June 1871.
Notes and references
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Cerna y Cerna, Vicente
Presidents of Guatemala
People from Jalapa Department
Conservative Party (Guatemala) politicians
1815 births
1885 deaths
19th-century Guatemalan people
Rafael Carrera