Miguel García Granados

Miguel García Granados

Miguel García-Granados Zavala (September 29, 1809 – September 8, 1878) was President of Guatemala from 29 June 1871 to 4 June 1873. He was an influential figure in the broad sweep of 19th century Guatemalan history.

García-Granados was born in Puerto de Santa María, Spain, and, as a young adolescent, was brought to Central America. He was a member of a very wealthy family who had a profession of weapons. He visited several places at the age of twenty-three. The places included South America, the European continent, and the cities of New York and Philadelphia in the USA. García Granados completed his schooling in London.

To Guatemalans, García Granados was known as a moderate liberal. He had compromised with Rafael Carrera, and always wanted to get along with Vicente Cerna Sandoval, his successor. Failing to get along and known to be sympathetic with the revolt against the government, García Granados fled to exile and was supported by Guatemalan liberals. After going back to Guatemala, García Granados became the leader of the revolution against General Vicente Cerna, eventually becoming known as its philosopher. García Granados played a key part in the regime of Justo Rufino Barrios, the founder of "the army of 45 men". He served as a provisional president from 1871 to 1873 after the liberal victory of Guatemala City. Despite many difficulties, García Granados wanted to regularize the government by constructing a lawful regime. Following in 1872, the president invaded Honduras, where he decreed freedom of the press and expelled the Jesuits.

It seemed the complete aim of García Granados and his successor, Barrios, was to have as many liberal revolts as possible. During his presidency, García Granados created, by decree, the Guatemalan flag which remains almost identical to his version, produced in 1871.^[1] After García Granados stepped down, Barrios served as president until the mid-1870s.

Sources

1. ^ Amerlinck, Teodoro. "Histoires des insignes du Guatemala". Flags and South Africa and the World. Proceedings of the XVIIth International Congress of Vexillology. http://flagspot.net/flags/gt.html. Retrieved 13 September 2011. 

• Jones, Christopher L. Guatemala: Past and Present. Russell & Russell, 1966
• Rosenthal, Mario. Guatemala: The story of an emergent Latin American Democracy. Twayne, 1962

Preceded by Vicente Cerna

President of Guatemala 1871–1873

Succeeded by Justo Rufino Barrios

Persondata
Name	Garcia Granados Zavala
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	September 29, 1809
Place of birth
Date of death	September 8, 1878
Place of death