Mariano Paredes

José Mariano Epifanio Paredes y Arrillaga (7 January 1797 – 7 September 1849) was a Mexican conservative general who served as president of Mexico between December 1845 and July 1846. He assumed office through a coup against the liberal administration led by José Joaquín de Herrera. He was the grandfather of 38th Mexican President Pedro Lascuráin Paredes.

During the Centralist Republic of Mexico, he led three successful coups against the Mexican government. In 1842, he led a movement to overthrow the presidency of Anastasio Bustamante over a financial crisis, which led to the drafting of a new constitution known as the Bases Orgánicas, promulgated on 14 June 1843. In 1844, he proclaimed a coup against Antonio López de Santa Anna which was joined by Congress in protest against Santa Anna's unconstitutional acts. In 1845, he led a coup against President José Joaquín de Herrera over his intention to recognize Texan independence, and he assumed the presidency.

His administration dealt with the start of the Mexican–American War in April 1846. Before the conflict started, Paredes had expressed interest in establishing a monarchy in Mexico before abandoning the idea to focus on the war. Due to a series of military losses, Paredes faced the prospect of being overthrown and resigned on 28 July 1846. Historian Michael Costeloe described Paredes as "strongly proclerical, he believed that a liberal democracy and federal structure were inappropriate for Mexico in its then state of development, and that the country could be governed only by the army in alliance with the educated and affluent elite."

Early life Mariano Paredes y Arrillaga was born in Mexico in the year 1797 and began his military career as a cadet on 6 January 1812, during the Mexican War of Independence, initially fighting on the side of the Spanish loyalists. He was promoted to second lieutenant standard bearer in 1816 and in 1818 joined a company of grenadiers. He saw action twenty times when, in March 1821, his regiment switched sides and joined Agustín de Iturbide's Plan of Iguala. He joined in the battles that occurred prior to the Trigarantine Army's entrance into Mexico City. At Acámbaro Iturbide promoted him to captain of chasseurs. In the action at Arroyo Hondo, he formed part of the reconnoitring party made up of thirty men and a few horses under the command of Epitacio Sanchez, and they were able to hold off a superior Spanish force until Iturbide arrived with reinforcements and the Spaniards were repulsed. For his services at this battle, Iturbide granted Paredes a coat of arms. He was present at San Luis de la Paz where seven hundred prisoners of war were taken, and he took part in the siege and capture of Querétaro and Mexico City, for which he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel.

After independence, he continued to serve in the military. His superiors viewed him as quarrelsome, and Paredes found himself sent to the distant western provinces, embarking from San Blas, but a storm obliged him to return to port and continue the journey on land. In 1831, he was granted the rank of general. The Junta produced a new constitution known as the Bases Orgánicas on June 12, 1843.

Role in Santa Anna's overthrow of 1844

Paredes had been invited by Santa Anna to join the junta which he did so, but left to accept the post of commandant general of the state of Mexico. In the Barracks of the Celaya Battalion, he began to speak candidly against the government and Paredes found himself arrested in his own home, but subsequently absolved of any wrongdoing. The government sought to send him off to Yucatán where he would be less of a danger, but Paredes refused and the government responded by sending him away to Toluca. Paredes found himself feeling exasperated and unappreciated, especially given his key role in having established the entire political order. He became a senator but resigned in July, 1844 after only a month of service in the senate. There were rising tensions with the United States at this time, over the matter of Texas, and a series of forced loans had resulted in much disaffection. Paredes was considering that he could lead a potential revolution.

On 3 January Mariano Paredes finally ascended to the presidency. Paredes formed a new cabinet and proceeded to pass decrees against highwaymen and for reducing the number of public offices.

On 26 January 1846, an official government convocation was decreed summoning an extraordinary congress with the power to make constitutional changes. The congress was designed to be corporatist. It was to be made up of 160 deputies, representing not geographical areas, but nine classes: land owners, merchants, miners, manufacturers, literary men, magistrates, public functionaries, clergy, and army, elected by the members of those classes.

Monarchical intrigues

The Plan of San Luis Potosí had contained a clause declaring that the constitutional congress it called for should have no restrictions in its abilities to reconstitute the nation. This was widely perceived as opening the path to abolishing the republic and establishing a monarchy. Paredes had expressed monarchist sentiments since 1832, opining that only a monarchy could prevent anarchy and protect the country against American ambitions.

Hence, with Paredes as president and an approaching constitutional convention, monarchists saw an opportunity to establish a Mexican throne. During the interval between Paredes' assumption of power and the meeting of the constituent congress, a propaganda war was waged between supporters of a monarchy and of a republic, the former through the newspaper El Tiempo, edited by leading conservative intellectual Lucas Alamán.

In response to El Tiempo and Paredes' perceived monarchism, many Liberal Party newspapers changed their names to reflect their pro-republican stances. El Monitor Constitucional (The Constitutional Monitor) changed its name to El Monitor Republicano (The Republican Monitor). El Siglo XIX (The Nineteenth Century) changed its name to El Republicano (The Republican). Carlos Maria Bustamante began to publish a newsletter titled Mexico no quiere rey y menos a un extranjero (Mexico doesn't want a king, let alone a foreign one).

Republican critics also pointed out that monarchy was unsuitable to the country because Mexico had no nobility to support such an institution. "With powerful arguments they maintained that the idea of a monarchy in Mexico was not only contrary to the wishes of the Mexican people, but also one that was not at all feasible, there being no such thing as a nobility in the country."

The perception that his administration was attempting to set up a monarchy led to strong opposition at a time when war threatened to break out with the United States at any moment. On 24 April, after the American invasion had already begun, Paredes issued a manifesto that he supported the republican form of government until the nation shall resolve upon a change.

Mexican–American War

In the first few months of the Mexican–American War, the Paredes administration was confronted with a series of catastrophic defeats. U.S. troops under Zachary Taylor had crossed the Rio Grande, and undefeated through a series of battles made it as far south as Saltillo. Meanwhile, American forces were in the process of taking California.

The constituent congress assembled on 6 June. Paredes appeared before it and proclaimed his loyalty to the republican form of government. Six days later, the congress ratified Paredes as president, and chose Nicolás Bravo as vice president, with the latter being given command of Mexico's land forces in the ongoing war against the United States. The government was given emergency powers to seek funds for the war effort, stopping at the nationalisation of property.

The course of the war inflamed opposition against the government, and facing revolution, Paredes resigned on 28 July, choosing to return to the military to help with the war effort.

On 3 August, the garrisons of Veracruz and San Juan de Ulúa revolted, proclaiming the plan of Guadalajara, and in the upheaval, the ex-president was captured and imprisoned. President Bravo was also deposed, and José Mariano Salas, the provisional president, on 22 August restored the Federal System which Paredes had played a role in overthrowing eleven years earlier.

Paredes was exiled on 2 October 1846 and headed for France. He returned before the end of the war, but never participated in the conflict, and found himself living in Tulancingo. He was invited to serve in the government, but declined for health reasons. A general amnesty absolved him of all previous charges in April 1849, and he died in September of that year.