FRANCISCO MORAZAN

Francisco Morazan was born in 1972, and died in 1842. He was the last Honduran president of the United Provinces of Central America from 1830 to 1840. He was also a champion of Central American federalism. He was self-educated as a child in Tegucigalpa, Honduras.

When Central America became independent from Spain in 1821, he joined, and lost the fight against the annexation of Honduras to Mexico. He became a part of the state government of Honduras, which became known as the United Provinces of Central America in 1823. In 1825, he became the president of the Honduras state legislature. In 1829, he led the liberal army in a civil war to defeat the conservatives.

In the next year, he became president of the United Provinces. In his term, he suggested many reforms to try to restrict the powers of the Roman Catholic Church.

A civil war broke out again in 1838, and the United Provinces started to fall apart. The conservatives following a Guatemalan leader named Rafael Carrera exiled Francisco Morazan in 1840. He came back a couple years later to restore the federation to Honduras, but was killed by one of his own troops.

*Source: Permanent Mission of Honduras to the OAS

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Updated: 25 April 2008