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Miguel García Granados Zavala (29 September 1809 – 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 Maria, 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. Granados completed his schooling in London.
To Guatemalans, 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, Granados fled to exile and was successful. He had money that was given to him by Guatemalan liberals. After going back to Guatemala, Granados became the leader of the revolution; after a while he was called the philosopher. Granados played a key part in the Barrios regime along with 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. Amongst political annoyance, Granados wanted to regularize the government by constructing a lawful regime. He called upon local towns of all sanctions. Also in 1871, Granados was the leader of a revolution against General Vicente Cerna. Following in 1872, the president invaded Honduras, decreed liberty of the press, expelled the Jesuits, and fulfilled religious orders.
Overall the main purpose of Granados later succeeded by Barrios was to revolt and make a change in the country as much as they could. It seemed the complete aim of Granados and Barrios was to have as many liberal revolts as possible. After Granados stepped down, Barrios served as president until the mid-1870s.
Sources
- Jones, Christopher L. Guatemala: Past and Present. Russell & Russell, 1966
- Rosenthal, Mario. Guatemala: The story of an emergent Latin American Democracy. Twayne, 1962