Joaquín Eufrasio Guzmán (

Cartago, Costa Rica Cartago () is the head city of Cartago canton of the Cartago Province, and is composed of the Oriental and Occidental districts as stated in the administrative divisions of Costa Rica. It was the capital of Costa Rica from 1574 to 1824. History ...

, 15 February 1801 –

San Miguel, El Salvador San Miguel () is a city in eastern El Salvador. It is the country's third most populous city. It is located 138 km east of the capital, San Salvador. It is also the capital of the department of San Miguel and a municipality. The population ...

, 1875) was a Central American politician and military general who served as acting

President of El Salvador The president of El Salvador ( es, Presidente de El Salvador), officially known as the President of the Republic of El Salvador ( es, Presidente de la República de El Salvador), is the head of state and head of government of El Salvador. He i ...

on three occasions: from 25 October 1844 to 16 February 1845, from 25 April 1845 to 1 February 1846, and from 19 January 1859 to 15 February 1859, after conducting a coup against General

Francisco Malespín Francisco Malespín Herrera (1806 – 25 November 1846) was a Salvadoran military officer and politician, elected as the president of El Salvador in 1844. He served from 7 February 1844 to 15 February 1845, when he was deposed by his vice pres ...

after the '' Guerra de Malespín'', an invasion into Nicaragua which he solely started to loot the Nicaraguan metropolis of León.

Early life and family

Guzmán was born in Cartago, Costa Rica, in 1801 into a landowning family. In the dissensions between the Federal and Centralist parties, Guzmán joined the former. A landowner, he was commissioned as a lieutenant-colonel. He had married and had a family. His son

David Joaquín Guzmán David Joaquín Guzmán (1843–1927) was a El Salvador, Salvadoran polymath, making contributions in science, and archeology, and as a museum curator and educator. He essentially founded and was first director of what is now known as the ''Museo ...

was a politician and doctor, founding director of the National Museum of El Salvador and a museum of anthropology in Nicaragua.

Political career

Coup d'etat

He was elected

Vice President of El Salvador The vice president of El Salvador ( es, Vicepresidente de El Salvador) is a political position in El Salvador which is elected concurrently with the position of President of El Salvador. A list of the office holders follows. The list may not be ...

in 1844 with General Francisco Malespin as president. That year Malespin invaded

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...

and left the capital to command the army in person and handed over power to Guzmán. Guzmán conducted a coup against Malespin on 2 February 1845 and was joined by the greater part of the inhabitants of the capital, and a portion of the general's small army. They deposed Malespin and Guzmán assumed the executive office till the end of the presidential term.

Malespín's Invasion

Backed by a force from Honduras, Malespin invaded El Salvador but was defeated and assassinated. Guzmán was rewarded by the Assembly with the rank of

general of division Divisional general is a general officer rank who commands an army division. The rank originates from the French (Revolutionary) System, and is used by a number of countries. The rank is above a brigade general, and normally below an army co ...

. He favored free elections and in 1848 delivered the office to his successor, Aguilar.

Later political career

Guzmán was several times elected to the legislative assembly, the council of state, and the prefecture of the department where he resided. He was later elected as

alongside President Miguel Santín del Castillo, and served from February 1858 to February 1859.

Death

He died in 1875,

References

Presidents of El Salvador 1801 births 1875 deaths People from Cartago Province Vice presidents of El Salvador Members of the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador Leaders who took power by coup Salvadoran military personnel Date of birth missing Date of death missing {{ElSalvador-politician-stub