Villacorta, Juan Vicente

Born in 1764 in the city of Zacatecoluca . On January 5, 1822, Mexico was annexed by Central America . However, the ruling junta of the province of San Salvador did not agree with this decision, and on January 11, 1822, proclaimed the independence of the province of San Salvador. The war with Mexico began , during which Villacorta took part in the defense of the city of San Vicente .

In March 1823, the Mexican Empire fell. On July 1, 1823, the Constitutional Assembly of Central America reaffirmed its independence and elected the triumvirate of Pedro Molina Masaryegos , Manuel José Arce and Juan Vicente Villacorta to rule Central America. On August 3, 1823, Vicente Filisola evacuated with troops from Guatemala to Mexico, leaving the Triumvirate the only executive in Central America. The First Triumvirate exercised power until October 4, 1823, after which it was replaced by the Second Triumvirate, in which Villacorta was no longer included.

On March 14, 1824, the first Constitution of the Federal Republic of Central America entered into force, according to which the province of San Salvador was transformed into the state of El Salvador. In May, the State Constitutional Assembly promulgated the Constitution of El Salvador. In accordance with this Constitution, elections were held for the supreme ruler of the state and his deputy, which became Juan Vicente Villacorta and Mariano Prado . On October 1, 1824, Juan Manuel Rodriguez transferred executive power to the state of Mariano Prado, who served as head of state until the official inauguration of Villacorta on December 13.

At this time, a rebellion began in Nicaragua , and Villacorta sent Manuel Jose Arce and 500 soldiers to help crush him. Arce was able to achieve peace in January 1825, after which he returned with troops to El Salvador. On April 20, 1825, Villacorta approved the use of seals on official documents, such as contracts, court orders, etc .; and a fee was introduced for the stamping. In the same month, censorship was introduced for the writings of the archbishop of Guatemala, Fra Ramon Cazaus y Torres, who spoke out against the recognition of Padre José Matias Delgado as Archbishop of San Salvador. As a result, Federal President Arce warned Cazaus, who suspended his attacks on Delgado.

In 1826, Villacorta issued a decree according to which, upon admission to the Military Academy, the scholarship was mainly given to the children of those who died defending their homeland in 1811, 1814, 1822 and 1823. In October 1826, he sent 300 soldiers to Guatemala to help federal President Arce.

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