1846 Salvadoran coup attempt

1846 Salvadoran coup attempt
Date12–21 July 1846
Location
El Salvador
Result

Coup failure

Belligerents
Commanders and leaders

The 1846 Salvadoran coup attempt occurred in July 1846 when senator Fermín Palacios and bishop Jorge de Viteri y Ungo attempted to depose Salvadoran president Eugenio Aguilar. Palacios became acting president for 10 days after overthrowing Aguilar, but he ceded power back to him when Aguilar and his allies organized a counter-coup.

Background

General Francisco Malespín, the president of El Salvador, waged a war against Nicaragua from 1844 to 1845. The war was unpopular in El Salvador. In February 1845, after Malespín returned from Nicaragua, Generals Joaquín Eufrasio Guzmán and Gerardo Barrios led a coup d'état that deposed Malespín and exiled him to Honduras.[1] Guzmán became acting president after the coup and completed Malespín's two-year presidential term in 1846.[2]

On 1 February 1846, Fermín Palacios, a senator, became acting president while the Legislative Assembly elected El Salvador's next president. After three weeks, the legislature elected liberal Eugenio Aguilar for a two-year term and he assumed office on 21 February.[2] During Aguilar's presidency, he feuded with Jorge de Viteri y Ungo, the bishop of San Salvador. Viteri, an ally of Malespín, called on the Salvadoran people to rebel against Aguilar.[3][4] Aguilar asked Pope Gregory XVI to reassign Viteri to a bishopric in Nicaragua.[5]

Coup

"Our President was forced to surrender power to Senator Fermín Palacios, it is urgent that we oppose these fatal and sad results [...] we must openly support the legitimate President."

Governor of San Vicente Doroteo Vasconcelos, July 1846[2]

On 12 July 1846, military officers who opposed Aguilar led a coup against him and installed Palacios as acing president.[6] Palacios declared a state of siege.[7] Aguilar, surprised by the coup, organized with his allies to regain power. José María San Martín, a prominent politician in San Salvador (El Salvador's capital city), contacted Doroteo Vasconcelos, the governor of San Vicente, to send letters to allies in Cuscatlán and San Miguel to rally soldiers to retake power.[2]

After a few days, those who received Vasconcelos' letters affirmed their allegiance to Aguilar and confirmed they were prepared to restore him as president. On 21 July, Aguilar launched a counter-coup. Palacios surrendered power back to Aguilar, restoring him as president. Viteri fled El Salvador to Honduras after the counter-coup,[8] and on 29 July, Aguilar issued a decree that prohibited Viteri from returning.[9] Aguilar's restoration led to Malespín's launching an invasion of El Salvador from Honduras in November, but Barrios repelled the invasion and Malespín was killed in action.[8][10]

Aftermath

Aguilar served out the rest of his two-year term after being restored to the presidency. In 1848, he was succeeded as president by Vasconcelos who served until his overthrow in 1851 by Guatemalan president Rafael Carrera.[8][11]

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ Bernal Ramírez & Quijano de Batres 2009, pp. 171–172.
  2. ^ a b c d Ching 1997, p. 185.
  3. ^ Leistenschneider & Leistenschneider 1980, pp. 77 & 79.
  4. ^ Bernal Ramírez & Quijano de Batres 2009, p. 218.
  5. ^ Bernal Ramírez & Quijano de Batres 2009, p. 260.
  6. ^ Leistenschneider & Leistenschneider 1980, p. 79.
  7. ^ Leistenschneider & Leistenschneider 1980, p. 77.
  8. ^ a b c Ching 1997, p. 186.
  9. ^ Leistenschneider & Leistenschneider 1980, p. 80.
  10. ^ Cañas Dinarte & Scarlett Cortez 2006, p. 101.
  11. ^ Leistenschneider & Leistenschneider 1980, p. 89.

Bibliography

  • Bernal Ramírez, Luis Guillermo & Quijano de Batres, Ana Elia, eds. (2009). Historia 1 El Salvador [History 1 El Salvador] (PDF). Historia El Salvador (in Spanish). El Salvador: Ministry of Education. ISBN 9789992363683. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 February 2023. Retrieved 9 October 2025.
  • Cañas Dinarte, Carlos & Scarlett Cortez, Violeta (2006). Aguilar Avilés, Gilberto & De Aguilar, Lilian (eds.). Historia del Órgano Legislativo de la República de El Salvador: 1824–2006 [History of the Legislative Organ of the Republic of El Salvador: 1826–2006] (PDF) (in Spanish) (I ed.). San Salvador, El Salvador: Albacrome. OCLC 319689765. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 December 2018. Retrieved 9 October 2025.
  • Ching, Erik K. (1997). From Clientelism to Militarism: The State, Politics and Authoritarianism in El Salvador, 1840–1940 (PhD thesis). Santa Barbara, California: University of California, Santa Barbara. OCLC 39326756. ProQuest 304330235. Retrieved 9 October 2025.
  • Leistenschneider, María & Leistenschneider, Freddy (1980). Gobernantes de El Salvador: Biografías [Governors of El Salvador: Biographies] (in Spanish). Ministry of the Interior. OCLC 7876291. Retrieved 9 October 2025.
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