Próspero Morales

Próspero Morales (31 December 1856 – 17 August 1898) was a Guatemalan lawyer who served as Secretary of Infrastructure, War and Public Instruction during José María Reina Barrios administration. Two year after being in office, Morales married the well known Guatemalan teacher Natalia Górriz. Morales resigned as Secretary on 5 March 1897 in order to run for president for the upcoming presidential elections; however, due to the failure of the Exposición Centroamericana and the severe economic crisis that Guatemala was undergoing at the time, due to the plummeting of coffee and silver international prices, general Reina Barrios suspended the elections and forcibly extended his tenure until 1902. Morales then joined the revolution that was brewing in Quetzaltenango, but the rebels were defeated on 14 September 1897. After Reina Barrios assassination on 8 February 1898, he unsuccessfully tried to overthrow interim president Manuel Estrada Cabrera–who also had served as Secretary under Reina Barrios–but was repelled by the forces of former president Manuel Lisandro Barillas.

Biography

In 1894, he married Natalia Górriz, who put her successful teaching and administrative career on hold to focus on her family. In January 1897, some rebellions started against Reina Barrios; after a mild battle, a group of invaders were defeated and their leaders were taken prisoners, judged and summarily executed on the same day. The opposition press was also critical of the president, accusing him of tyranny given that he had not allowed opposition political parties to prosper.