Timoteo Menéndez (born in

Ahuachapán Ahuachapán () is a city, district, and the capital of the Ahuachapán Department in western El Salvador. The district, including the city, covers an area of 244.84 km2 and as of 2007 has a population of 110,511 people. Situated near the ...

) 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 The Federal Republic of Central America (), initially known as the United Provinces of Central America (), was a sovereign state in Central America that existed between 1823 and 1839/1841. The republic was composed of five states (Costa Rica ...

. He first took over the office from

Diego Vigil Cocaña Diego is a Spanish masculine given name. The Portuguese equivalent is Diogo. The etymology of Diego is disputed, with two major origin hypotheses: ''Tiago'' and ''Didacus''. The name also has several patronymic derivations, listed below. ...

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 Strain (biology), strains of the Bacteria, bacterium ''Vibrio cholerae''. Symptoms may range from none, to mild, to severe. The classic symptom is large amounts of watery diarrhea last ...

epidemic that had struck the country. He also fought Indigenous insurgents at

Zacatecoluca Zacatecoluca () is the capital municipality of the La Paz Department of El Salvador. Located in Southern El Salvador, in the Rio Lempa valley, at the foot of San Vicente (Chinchotepec) Volcano. A commercial center for the surrounding agricultu ...

and

Cojutepeque Cojutepeque () is the capital city of El Salvador's Cuscatlán department. It also served as the capital of San Salvador during several years. It also serves as the administrative centre for the surrounding municipality of Cojutepeque. Its popu ...

, 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 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. He ruled during the establishment of ne ...

, in command of 600 infantry and 200 cavalry from

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

, invaded the State of El Salvador. His forces took the cities of Santa Ana and Ahuachapán and committed atrocities. Liberal General

Francisco Morazán José Francisco Morazán Quesada (; born October 3, 1792 – September 15, 1842) was a liberal Central American politician and general who served as president of the Federal Republic of Central America from 1830 to 1839. Before he was president ...

defeated Carrera at

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 ...

, 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. It is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Ocean at the Gulf of Fonseca, ...

and

Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

invaded El Salvador. Menéndez named Morazán General-in-Chief of the

Salvadoran Army The Salvadoran Army (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Ejército Salvadoreño'') is the land branch and largest of the Armed Forces of El Salvador. History The Football War The Football War (also called The Soccer War or 100-hours War) was a ter ...

. On 6 April 1839, Morazán defeated the invading force in the battle of

Espiritu Santo Espiritu Santo (, ; ) is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, with an area of and a population of around 40,000 according to the 2009 census. Geography The island belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region ...

. 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.

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