Guadalupe, Convenio de

Convenio de Guadalupe (11 March 1844). Early in March 1844 José Rafael Carrera forced the resignation of a Guatemalan government dominated by the conservative elite of the capital. An army uprising followed, undoubtedly engineered by Carrera himself. Carrera and the army quickly agreed to the Convenio of Guadalupe, which barred the clergy from political office and dissolved the assembly, its authority to be replaced by a popularly elected council of state with one native representative from each department—a sharp break with earlier legislatures, which had been dominated by Guatemala City members. It also provided for clear executive authority over the legislative branch and expanded the authority of the military.

While the Convenio de Guadalupe immediately favored the liberals by checking the conservative elite of Guatemala City, its real significance was the increase of military power over civil government and the reduction of legislative and judicial power. The assembly obediently ratified the convenio on 13 March and dissolved itself on the next day, thus laying the foundation for Rafael Carrera to take over the presidency in December 1844 and reinforcing a pattern of military superiority over the civil government that has characterized Guatemalan government ever since.

See alsoGuatemalaxml .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Gaceta oficial (Guatemala City), 18 March 1844.

Ralph Lee Woodward, Jr., Rafael Carrera and the Emergence of the Republic of Guatemala, 1821–1871 (1993).

Additional Bibliography

Pompejano, Daniele. La crisis del antiguo régimen en Guatemala (1839–1871). Guatemala: Editorial Universitaria, Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala, 1997.

                                 Ralph Lee Woodward Jr.