Guerrero, Vicente

Guerrero, Vicente (vēsān'tā gār-rā'rō) [key], 1782–1831, Mexican revolutionist and president (Apr.–Dec., 1829). He fought under the command of Morelos y Pavón, spreading the revolution in the south. Guerrero won victory after victory. When Morelos was defeated and executed, Guerrero continued to wage guerrilla warfare, harassing the royalists. He fought on when most of the revolutionary leaders had been defeated or had given up the struggle for freedom. When Agustín de Iturbide was sent out in 1820 to defeat him, Guerrero won minor victories over Iturbide's troops but was later persuaded to adhere to the Plan of Iguala (1821) and to accept Iturbide's leadership. Thus the revolution lost its popular cast and passed into the hands of the landowning creoles and the clergy. Guerrero accepted Iturbide's empire in 1822 but later joined the revolution begun by Santa Anna. The flimsy structure of Iturbide's government fell, and Guerrero was elected a member of the provisional government. He became a liberal party leader in opposition to the conservative Nicolás Bravo, and helped to put down Bravo's revolution against President Guadalupe Victoria (1828). Defeated in the election of 1828, Guerrero charged fraud and, with the help of Santa Anna, led a successful revolution and was made president (1829). In his administration the Spanish invaders of Mexico were driven back by Santa Anna. In Dec., 1829, Anastasio Bustamante, the vice president, led a revolt against Guerrero, who retired to the south, where he conducted sporadic warfare throughout 1830. He was finally captured and shot.

The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2007, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.

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