Prudencio Alfaro

Prudencio Alfaro
Prudencio Alfaro
13th Vice President of El Salvador
	In office; 1 March 1895 – 13 November 1898
President	Rafael Antonio Gutiérrez
Preceded by	Antonio Ezeta
Succeeded by	Francisco Antonio Reyes
Personal details
Born	1861; Jutiapa, Guatemala
Died	23 December 1915 (aged 53–54); San Salvador, El Salvador
Nationality	Salvadoran
Political party	Liberal
Spouse	Carmen Castellanos
Occupation	Politician

Prudencio Alfaro Menéndez (1861 – 23 December 1915) was a Salvadoran politician who served as Vice President of El Salvador from 1895 until 1898. He later led a joint Honduran-Nicaraguan invasion of El Salvador in 1907.

Early life[edit]

Prudencio Alfaro Menéndez was born in 1861 in Jutiapa, Guatemala.^[1] His father was Manuel Alfaro and his mother was Andrea Menéndez.^[1] He attended the University of El Salvador where he completed his bachelor's degree and doctorate in the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences.^[1]

Political career[edit]

In 1885, he participated in a revolution which overthrew Salvadoran President Rafael Zaldívar, and after which, he was elected as a deputy to the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador from Ahuachapán.^[1] He opposed the government of President Carlos Ezeta, who deposed President Francisco Menéndez in 1890, and in 1894, he participated in the Revolution of the 44 which deposed Ezeta and installed Rafael Antonio Gutiérrez as president.^[1]^[2]^[3]

In the 1895 Salvadoran presidential election, Gutiérrez was the only candidate and won 61,080 votes.^[4] For Vice President, the race was between Alfaro, Carlos Meléndez, and four other politicians, and Alfaro won with 38,006 votes accounting for 62.51 percent of the vote.^[4] He assumed office on 1 March 1895.^[1]

Both Gutiérrez and Alfaro were deposed on 13 November 1898 by Tomás Regalado.^[2] Alfaro sought to regain power and fought Regalado at two battles in Ilobasco and Sensuntepeque, however, he lost both battles and fled for exile in Honduras.^[1]

Alfaro stood for election for the presidency in 1907 but only received one vote.^[5]

1907 invasion of El Salvador[edit]

On 11 June 1907, Alfaro was one of the leaders of a joint Honduran-Nicaraguan invasion of El Salvador against President Fernando Figueroa.^[1]^[6] During the invasion, another leader, Manuel Rivas, raided a bank in Acajutla for $20,000 in silver, which led to a personal disagreement between Alfaro and Rivas on how to continue the invasion.^[7]^[8] Rivas proposed that the two split control of the country, with Rivas controlling the east from San Salvador and Alfaro controlling everything west of San Salvador, however, Alfaro rejected the proposal.^[7] After Figueroa personally led an army to engage with Alfaro and Rivas, the two ordered their armies to retreat, effectively ending the War of 1907.^[7]

Later years and death[edit]

Alfaro was allowed to return to El Salvador in 1911 when Manuel Enrique Araujo became president, however, he was accused of being involved in Araujo's assassination in 1913, and again left the country.^[8] He again returned to El Salvador in 1915 when Carlos Meléndez became president.^[8]

Alfaro died in San Salvador on 23 December 1915.^[8]

Personal life[edit]

He married Carmen Castellanos.^[1]

Electoral history[edit]

Year	Office	Type	Party		Main opponent	Party		Votes for Alfaro				Result	Swing
Year	Office	Type	Party		Main opponent	Party		Total	%	P.	±%	Result	Swing
1895	Vice President of El Salvador	General		Liberal	Carlos Meléndez		Ind.	38,006	62.51	1st	N/A	Won		Hold
1907	President of El Salvador	General		Liberal	Fernando Figueroa		Liberal	1	0.00	9th	N/A	Lost		Gain

References[edit]

Citations[edit]

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Zepeda Peña 2006, p. 141
^ ^a ^b White 2018, p. 86
^ Linares Nogales 2008, p. 79
^ ^a ^b "Elections and Events 1850–1899". UC San Diego. The Library – UC San Diego. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
^ "Cuadro Demonstrativo de los Votos Emitidos para Presidente y Vice Presidente de la República en el Período de 1907 a 1911" [Demonstrative Table of the Votes Cast for President and Vice President of the Republic for the Period of 1907 to 1911] (PDF). Diario Oficial (in Spanish). 26 February 1907. p. 354. Retrieved 4 February 2023.
^ Martin 1911, p. 61
^ ^a ^b ^c Martin 1911, pp. 63–64
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Zepeda Peña 2006, p. 142

Bibliography[edit]

Linares Nogales, Federico (2008). "Primeros Periodos Presidenciales en El Salvador" [The First Presidential Periods of El Salvador] (PDF). Realidad y Refleción (Quarterly Journal) (in Spanish). 7 (23). San Salvador, El Salvador: 78–100. ISSN 1992-6510. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
Martin, Percy Falcke (1911). Salvador of the Twentieth Century. Longmans, Green & Co.
White, Alastair (2018). El Salvador 1550–1973: Cuatro Siglos de Evolución Histórica y Geopolítica Salvadoreñas [El Salvador 1550–1973: Four Centuries of Historic Evolution and Salvadoran Geopolitics] (in Spanish). Central American University. ISBN 9781987013306. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
Zepeda Peña, Ciro Cruz (2006). "Historia del Órgano Legislativo de la República de El Salvador" [History of the Legislative Organ of the Republic of El Salvador] (PDF) (in Spanish). Legislative Assembly of El Salvador. Retrieved 19 June 2021.

Political offices
Preceded by Antonio Ezeta	Vice President of El Salvador 1895–1898	Succeeded by Francisco Antonio Reyes

[Zepeda_Peña_141-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ Zepeda Peña 2006, p. 141

[W86-2] White 2018, p. 86

[LNF79-3] Linares Nogales 2008, p. 79

[elections-4] "Elections and Events 1850–1899". UC San Diego. The Library – UC San Diego. Retrieved 25 March 2021.

[5] "Cuadro Demonstrativo de los Votos Emitidos para Presidente y Vice Presidente de la República en el Período de 1907 a 1911" [Demonstrative Table of the Votes Cast for President and Vice President of the Republic for the Period of 1907 to 1911] (PDF). Diario Oficial (in Spanish). 26 February 1907. p. 354. Retrieved 4 February 2023.

[Martin61-6] Martin 1911, p. 61

[Martin6364-7] Martin 1911, pp. 63–64

[Zepeda_Peña_142-8] Zepeda Peña 2006, p. 142

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v t e Heads of state of El Salvador
Post-independence (1821–1823)	Barriere Delgado Filísola Codallos Consultive Junta^‡ Prado^†
Federal Republic of Central America (1823–1841)	J. Rodríguez Prado J. V. Villacorta Prado Cornejo J. D. Villacorta Cornejo Morazán^† J. San Martín Prado J. San Martín C. Salazar^† G. Salazar^† Escolán^† Silva Espinoza F. Gómez Vigil T. Menéndez Vigil T. Menéndez Cañas^† Morazán Silva^† Cañas^† Ramírez^† Lindo^†
Republic of El Salvador (1841–1931)	Lindo^† Arce^† Marín^† J. J. Guzmán D. Villacorta^† Marín^† J. J. Guzmán C. Molina^† Arce^† C. Molina^† Arce^† Palacios^† Malespín Palacios^† J. E. Guzmán Palacios^† Aguilar Palacios^† Aguilar Medina^† Quirós^† Vasconcelos R. Rodríguez^† Vasconcelos Dueñas^† Quirós^† Dueñas J. M. San Martín^† Dueñas V. Gómez^† J. M. San Martín Dueñas^† Campo Dueñas^† Campo Zepeda^† Santín Barrios^† Santín J. E. Guzmán^† Peralta^† Barrios Dueñas González Méndez^† González del Valle Zaldívar Guirola^† Zaldívar Figueroa^† Rosales^† F. Menéndez C. Ezeta A. Ezeta^† Gutiérrez Regalado Escalón Figueroa M. Araujo C. Meléndez^† Quiñónez^† C. Meléndez Quiñónez^† J. Meléndez Quiñónez P. Romero A. Araujo
Military presidents (1931–1979)	Civic Directory^‡ Hernández Martínez^† A. Menéndez^† Hernández Martínez A. Menéndez^† Aguirre^† Castaneda Revolutionary Council of Government^‡ Osorio Lemus Junta of Government^‡ Civic-Military Directory^‡ Cordón^† Rivera F. Sánchez A. Molina C. Romero
Salvadoran Civil War (1979–1992)	Revolutionary Government Junta^‡ Magaña Duarte Cristiani
Post-Civil War (since 1992)	Cristiani Calderón Flores Saca Funes S. Sánchez Bukele C. Rodríguez^†
^† – Acting or provisional president ^‡ – Military junta