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El Salvador EL SALVADOR AND THE UNITED PROVINCES OF CENTRAL AMERICA
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Figure 2. Middle America, 1988
The colonies comprising the Captaincy General of Guatemala
declared their independence from Spain on September 15, 1821. It
was not long before the new states, particularly El Salvador, had
to contend with attempted annexation by another large power in
the form of an independent Mexico under self-proclaimed Emperor
Agustin de Iturbide. A Mexican force dispatched by Iturbide
succeeded in bringing to heel the uncooperative Salvadorans, but
only briefly. When the emperor himself fell from power in 1823,
his dream of a Central American empire died with him. The five
states of El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa
Rica went on to establish themselves as the United Provinces of
Central America on July 1, 1823.
The United Provinces, unworkable though they proved to be,
constituted the only successful political union of the Central
American states in the postcolonial era. Many optimistic
residents of the region no doubt held high hopes for this new
nation at its inception. Their sentiments were expressed
elegantly, though ironically--given the subsequent course of
events--by the liberator of South America, Simon Bolivar, who
expounded in 1815 on the prospects for such a federation:
This magnificent location between the two great oceans could
in time become the emporium of the world. Its canals will shorten
the distances throughout the world, strengthen commercial ties
with Europe, America, and Asia, and bring that happy region
tribute from the four quarters of the globe. Perhaps some day the
capital of the world may be located there, just as Constantine
claimed Byzantium was the capital of the ancient world.
Unfortunately for those of Bolivar's idealistic inclinations,
the Central American Federation was not immune to the conflict
between liberals and conservatives that afflicted nineteenthcentury Latin America as a whole. Generally speaking, the
liberals were more open to foreign ideas (particularly from the
United States, France, and Britain); they welcomed foreign
investment and participation in a laissez-faire process of
economic development; and they sought to limit the influence of
the Roman Catholic Church over the lives of the people. The
conservatives' inclinations were almost diametrically opposed to
those of the liberals. Conservatives were generally more
xenophobic; they advocated more protectionist economic policies;
and they championed the traditional role of the church as the
predominant moral arbiter and preserver of the social and
political status quo.
Split by the dichotomy between liberals and conservatives,
the United Provinces never functioned as the unified national
unit envisioned by its founders. Control of the federal
government passed from liberal to conservative hands in 1826,
only to be restored to the liberal faction under the leadership
of the Honduran Francisco Morazan in 1829. Neither faction,
however, was able to assert federal control over all five Central
American states. Therefore, although the liberal governments
enacted political, economic, and social reforms, they were never
able to implement them effectively. The period of the United
Provinces was thus one of Central American polarization impelled
by deep divisions among the populace, not the unification
originally anticipated by idealists.
El Salvador was a stronghold of liberal sentiment. Most
Salvadorans, therefore, supported the rule of Morazan, who served
as president of the federation from 1829 to 1840 when he was not
leading forces in the field against the conservative followers of
Rafael Carrera of Guatemala. In the waning days of liberal rule,
San Salvador served as Morazan's last bastion. Unable to stem the
tide of conservative backlash, the liberal forces fell to those
of Carrera in March 1840. Morazan died before a firing squad in
September 1842.
The almost unceasing violence that attended the effort to
unite Central America into one federated nation led the leaders
of the five states to abandon that effort and declare their
independence as separate political entities. El Salvador did so
in January 1841. Although their destinies would remain
intertwined and they would intervene in each other's affairs
routinely in the years to come, the countries of Central America
would from that time function as fragmented and competitive
ministates readily exploitable by foreign powers.
Data as of November 1988
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