Mariano Rivera Paz

Mariano Rivera Paz was a Guatemalan politician who served as head of state from 1838 to 1839 and again from 1842 to 1844.

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Federal Republic of Central America: A federation of five Central American states that existed from 1823 to 1841. Its collapse reshaped the political order in which Rivera Paz governed Guatemala.
Head of state: The person who holds a country’s highest representative or constitutional office. Rivera Paz held Guatemala’s highest office during two separate periods.
Central American independence: The 1821 end of Spanish rule over the provinces that became the nations of Central America. The independence-era political order gave way during Rivera Paz’s administrations.
Mariano Gálvez: A Guatemalan liberal politician who served as head of state from 1831 to 1838. Gálvez’s liberal government fell as Rivera Paz entered office amid conservative revolt.
Rafael Carrera: A Guatemalan military leader who became the country’s dominant political figure in the 1830s and 1840s. Carrera’s military and political influence underpinned Rivera Paz’s leadership.
Conservative Party (Guatemala): A Guatemalan political grouping associated with clerical influence and centralized authority in the nineteenth century. Rivera Paz governed within the conservative coalition strengthened by Carrera.
Dissolution of the Federal Republic of Central America: The breakdown of the Central American federation into separate sovereign states between 1838 and 1841. Rivera Paz governed Guatemala as the federation’s authority disintegrated.
José Francisco Barrundia: A Guatemalan liberal politician who held senior offices in the Federal Republic of Central America. Barrundia represented the federalist liberal political camp opposed by Carrera’s allies.
Francisco Morazán: A Central American liberal leader who served as president of the Federal Republic of Central America. Morazán’s federalist campaigns collided with the forces supporting Guatemala’s autonomy.
Guatemalan Civil War (1837–1839): An armed conflict in Guatemala that helped bring down the Federal Republic of Central America. The conflict shaped the circumstances of Rivera Paz’s first period in office.