Coronado Chávez (8 November 1807–22 June 1881) was

President of Honduras The president of Honduras (), officially known as the President of the Republic of Honduras (), is the head of state and head of government of Honduras, and the Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces. According to the 1982 Constitution of H ...

from 8 January 1845 to 1 January 1847. He was appointed by Francisco Ferrera as

Vice President of Honduras The vice presidents of Honduras, officially the Designates to the Presidency (), is the second highest political position in Honduras. According to the current constitution, the president and vice-presidents are elected in the same ticket. From ...

from 1841 to 1843, and for the week prior to his taking office he had been a member of the council of ministers that was running Honduras along with Casto Alvarado. He was succeeded by Juan Lindo.

Early life

Coronado Chávez was born to María Mercedes Chavez in 1807. He was a

carpenter Carpentry is a skilled trade and a craft in which the primary work performed is the cutting, shaping and installation of building materials during the construction of buildings, ships, timber bridges, concrete formwork, etc. Carpenter ...

by trade. He would return to this job after an exile in

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

with Ferrera. He died in 1881 at the age of 73.

Career

Chávez and Santos Guardiola, Francisco Ferrera, and

Felipe Jáuregui Felipe is the Spanish variant of the name Philip, which derives from the Greek adjective ''Philippos'' "friend of horses". Felipe is also widely used in Portuguese-speaking Brazil alongside Filipe, the form commonly used in Portugal. Noteworthy ...

formed a "clique" and operated in each other's interests. He worked in politics as

Minister of Finance A ministry of finance is a ministry or other government agency in charge of government finance, fiscal policy, and financial regulation. It is headed by a finance minister, an executive or cabinet position . A ministry of finance's portfolio ...

and both Minister of Exterior and Minister of War in 1843. In 1846, after Malespín's War, he took the title of ''Padre Conscripto'', after the Roman title Pater Patriae. For this, he was ridiculed by some.

Presidency

His presidency began in 8 January 1845 after Francisco Ferrera's second term ended, being elected by the legislature. In that vote, he ran against José Santos Guardiola. Honduras' Constitution did not allow for a third term. However, Chávez is said to have acted as the puppet of Ferrera, who remained the effective leader. He defended himself, saying "not a single instance could be cited in which he allowed himself to be dictated to by any military leader or had acted subject to any such leader's will or caprice." As president, he encouraged the growing of

coffee Coffee is a beverage brewed from roasted, ground coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content, but decaffeinated coffee is also commercially a ...

and hat manufacturing. He exempted military veterans from paying their first fruits and

tithes A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Modern tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash, cheques or via onli ...

. He created the Literary Society of Honduras in 1846, which became the state university in 1850 under Juan Lindo. It was also renamed the Literary Academy of Tegucigalpa.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chavez, Coronado 1807 births 1881 deaths Presidents of Honduras Vice presidents of Honduras Finance ministers of Honduras 19th-century Honduran people