JOAQUÍN MIGUEL GUTIÉRREZ: BIOGRAPHY - GEOGRAFÍA - 2025

Joaquín Miguel Gutiérrez Canales (1796–1838) was a Mexican politician and military man who fought for the independence of his country, specifically the independence of Chiapas. In addition, he was in favor of fighting for the annexation of Chiapas to the Mexican Federation.

Since the Independence of Mexico, Joaquín Gutiérrez made sure that the territory of Chiapas was incorporated into Mexico. Although Guatemala did everything possible to take over Chiapas, Gutiérrez's strategies achieved the definitive annexation of the territory to Mexico.

Sarumo74, from Wikimedia Commons In 1848, the governor of Chiapas changed the name of the state capital from San Marcos Tuxtla to Tuxtla Gutiérrez in his honor. Currently Gutiérrez is known for being one of the symbols for Chiapas, due to his achievements for the annexation of Chiapas to Mexico.

When he finally came to take the governorship of Chiapas, he only lasted a few months in office (even twice) due to internal tensions within the state.

Biography

Early life and studies

In 1821 he participated in the signing of the Treaties of Córdoba and that same year he participated in the signing of the Act of Independence of Mexico.

From that moment on, the already constituted Mexican Constituent Congress sent the terms of the Cadiz Constitution and the Córdoba Treaties to the already formed Mexican provinces. Part of the information they sent was an invitation to join the new nation called the Mexican Empire.

The First Empire was created in the form of a federation, headed by the Mexican Emperor Agustín de Iturbide. It was made up of Nueva Granada (Mexico) and other parts of Central America. With the establishment of this empire, a series of political and military movements took place with the intention of separating the provinces of the Mexican Empire.

This new rebellion was led by Vicente Filísola as captain general, in addition to serving as political head of Guatemala.

Fall of the First Empire

In 1823 there was the Casemate Plan, a conflict between the republican revolutionaries and the imperialists. With a strategic plan headed by liberal politician Antonio López de Santa Anna, the Republicans were victorious. The Republicans had had the support of foreign countries, both European and Latin American countries.

After the conflict and the results, Santa Anna became the head of the provincial government. From that moment on, he created the so-called Mexican Constituent Congress with a completely republican and federalist character. Gutiérrez as a liberal sympathizer, remained in support of the new leader.

The empire of Agustín de Iturbide had been annulled with the coup, finally dissolving. Santa Anna sent the respective invitations to the state governments to elect their local representatives.

After the end of the First Mexican Empire, Central America became independent from Mexico and the Central American provinces decided to emancipate themselves from Mexico and create their own federation.

Conflicts for Chiapas

The territory of Chiapas was characterized by requiring the incorporation of its territory as part of Mexico, even at the time of the Empire. For that reason, they decided to create a provisional board to defend the interests of the people of Chiapas.

However, Guatemala demanded that Chiapas be annexed to its territories. Chiapas had made it clear that, by gaining independence from Spain, it would also do so from Guatemala. A group of rebels concentrated in the territory of Chiapas with the intention of dissolving the provisional junta that had been created.

A group of Chiapas -among them Gutiérrez Canales- decided to create the Free Chiapas Plan, which declared the Independence of the Mexican province. This plan had been seconded by other Mexican cities.

Despite the strategies of the plan, the coastal zone of Chiapas requested its incorporation into Central America so that it could be annexed to Guatemala. These actions upset the rest of Chiapas, causing a strong polarization.

The provisional board, with an initiative from Gutiérrez, thought of applying a plebiscite to define once and for all the political and international situation of the province of Chiapas. After arduous participation in the elections, the act of incorporation of Chiapas into Mexico was signed.

Governor of Chiapas

When the centralist system was installed in Mexico, in the hands of Anastasio Bustamante, Gutiérrez placed himself on the side of the Federalists. The struggle between the centralists and the federalists lasted for several years and there were even strong armed struggles.

Gutiérrez was in charge of directing several forces, achieving several victories against the centralists. The centralist government had made the decision to give the death penalty to enemies who conspired against the established powers.

From such decisions, the entire country rose up in violence. The situation worsened when Santa Anna regained power in favor of centralism. From there, Gutiérrez decided to enter Guatemala and later move back to Chiapas.

In 1838, Gutiérrez managed to reach the capital of Chiapas; Despite this, during one of the battles he was cornered and riddled behind the Church of San Marcos. His body was found in an alley behind the temple called "The sacrifice."

References

1. "The Chiapaneca Bell". Life, works and contributions of General Joaquín Miguel Gutiérrez, Marco Antonio Pérez de los Reyes, (nd). Taken from Derecho.unam.mx
2. Joaquín Miguel Gutiérrez, Wikipedia in Spanish, (nd). Taken from wikipedia.org
3. Joaquín Miguel Gutiérrez Canales, Portal Geneamet, (nd). Taken from gw.geneanet.org
4. They pay tribute to Joaquín Miguel Gutiérrez, Cuarto Poder de Chiapas Website, (nd). Taken from Cuartopoder.mx
5. CCXXII Anniversary of the birth of Joaquín Miguel Gutiérrez, Cuarto Poder de Chiapas Website, (nd). Taken from Cuartopoder.mx