Francisco Morazán

Francisco Morazán (1792-1842), Honduran president of the United Provinces of Central America (1830-1840) and champion of Central American federalism. He was born in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and was mainly self-educated. After Central America declared its independence from Spain in 1821, he joined the unsuccessful fight against annexation of Honduras by Mexico. Morazán later joined the state government of Honduras, which in 1823 became a member of the federation known as the United Provinces of Central America. In 1825 Morazán became president of the Honduras state legislature. When civil war broke out within the federation between liberal and conservative forces, Morazán led the liberal army and defeated the conservatives in 1829. The following year he was elected president of the United Provinces.

During his term of office he introduced numerous educational, judicial, and economic reforms and tried to restrict the powers of the Roman Catholic Church. But local power struggles and divisions within the federation brought renewed civil war, and by 1838 the United Provinces began to collapse. Morazán was finally defeated and forced into exile in 1840 by the conservative forces of Guatemalan leader Rafael Carrera. Morazán returned two years later in an attempt to restore the federation but was betrayed by his own troops and killed.