Anastasio Bustamante

Infobox_President
name = Anastasio Bustamante y Oseguera


order = 5th President of Mexico
term_start = 01 January 1830
term_end = 13 August 1832
predecessor = Pedro Vélez
successor = Melchor Múzquiz
term_start1 = 19 April 1837
term_end1 = 20 March 1839
predecessor1 = José Justo Corro
successor1 = Antonio López de Santa Anna
term_start2 = 19 July 1839
term_end2 = 22 September 1841
predecessor2 = Nicolás Bravo
successor2 = Francisco Javier Echeverría
birth_date = birth date|1780|07|27|df=y
birth_place = Jiquilpan, Mexico
death_date = death date and age|1853|02|06|1780|07|27|df=y
death_place = San Miguel de Allende, Mexico
party = Conservative

Anastasio Bustamante y Oseguera (Jiquilpan, Michoacán, July 27, 1780 – February 6, 1853 in San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato) was president of Mexico three times, from 1830 to 1832, from 1837 to 1839 and from 1839 to 1841. He was a Conservative. He first came to power by leading a coup against president Vicente Guerrero. Bustamante was deposed twice, and exiled to Europe each time.

Early life

Anastasio Bustamante's father, José María, worked hauling snow from the volcanos of Colima to Guadalajara, but was able to provide his son with a good education. At the age of 15 the younger Bustamante entered the Seminary of Guadalajara. When he finished the course there he went to Mexico City to study medicine. He passed his medical examinations and then went to San Luis Potosí as director of San Juan de Dios Hospital.

In 1808, he entered the royal army as a cavalry officer, under the command of Félix María Calleja. In 1810 General Calleja mobilized the army to fight the rebels under Miguel Hidalgo, and Bustamante participated on the royalist side in all the actions of the Army of the Center. During the War of Independence he rose to the rank of colonel.

The First Empire

On March 19, 1821, in support of Agustín de Iturbide (a personal friend), Bustamante proclaimed the independence of Mexico from Spain at Pantoja, Guanajuato. A few days later he removed the remains of the 1811 insurgent leaders from the Alhóndiga de Granaditas in Guanajuato and had them buried in San Sebastián cemetery.

Iturbide named him commander of the cavalry, second in command of the Army of the Center, and a member of the governing junta. The Regency named him field marshal and captain general of the Provincias Internas de Oriente y Occidente, effective September 28, 1821. He fought and defeated a Spanish expeditionary force at Xichú.

At the fall of the Empire in 1823, he joined the ranks of the federalists, for which he was arrested and confined at Acapulco, but President Guadalupe Victoria again put him in command of the Provincias Internas.

As president of the Republic

First term

In December 1828, under the Plan de Perote, Congress named him vice-president of the Republic under President Vicente Guerrero. He took possession of this office on April 1, 1829, but soon was at odds with Guerrero. On December 4, 1829, in accord with the Plan de Jalapa, he rose against Guerrero, driving him from the capital. On January 1, 1830 he assumed the presidency on an interim basis. Congress declared Guerrero "incapable of governing".

In office, Bustamante removed employees not having the confidence of "public opinion". He instituted a secret police force and took steps to suppress the press. He exiled some of his competitors and expelled U.S. Minister Joel Poinsett. He was involved in the kidnapping and execution of his predecessor, Guerrero. He supported industry and the clergy.

These and other policies stimulated opposition, especially in the states of Jalisco, Zacatecas and Texas. In 1832 a revolt broke out in Veracruz. The rebels asked Antonio López de Santa Anna to take command. When their immediate demands were met (the resignation of some of Bustamante's ministers), they also demanded the president's ouster. They intended to replace him with Manuel Gómez Pedraza, whose 1828 election had been annulled.

Bustamante turned over the presidency to Melchor Múzquiz on August 14, 1832 and left the capital to fight the rebels. He defeated them August 14 at Gallinero, Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato, and then returned to fight Santa Anna, who was nearing Puebla. After two more battles, the three candidates, Bustamante, Santa Anna and Gómez Pedraza, signed the conventions of Zavaleta (December 21-23), by which Gómez Pedraza was to assume the presidency and hold new elections. Bustamante was to go into exile, which he did in 1833.

econd term

While in exile in France he inspected military and medical facilities. He returned to Mexico in December 1836, called back by President José Justo Corro to fight in the War of Texas Independence. However, once he was back in the country, Congress declared him president (April 17, 1837).

With the treasury exhausted and the army depleted by a series of revolts, Bustamante was limited in his military response to crises. France issued an ultimatum on March 21, 1838, and on April 16 began blockading Mexico's Gulf ports. The French declared war on November 27, 1838 (the Pastry War), bombarded San Juan de Ulúa, and occupied Veracruz (December 5).

About the same time, Guatemalan general Miguel Gutiérrez invaded Chiapas. Bustamante temporarily left the presidency from March 20 to July 18, 1839 to campaign against rebel General José Urrea in Tamaulipas. Santa Anna and Nicolás Bravo served as president during this absence.

Third term

He became president again on July 9, 1839, serving until September 22, 1841. During this term, the first Spanish diplomatic representative to Mexico, Angel Calderón de la Barca, arrived. The boundary between Yucatán and Belize was established. Treaties were signed with Belgium and Bavaria, and relations with the United States were reestablished.

On July 15, 1840, General Urrea escaped from prison and led a force against Bustamante in the National Palace. Bustamante resisted, but on the 16th he was forced to flee, accompanied by 28 dragoons. During this siege artillery destroyed the southeast corner of the Palace. He did not relinquish the presidency, however.

About this time a revolt broke out in Yucatán.

In August 1841, Santa Anna and Paredes, military commanders of Veracruz and Jalisco, launched a new rebellion against Bustamante. He turned the government over to Francisco Javier Echeverría on September 2, 1841. Echeverría lasted only until October 10, when Santa Anna returned to the presidency.

Later career

Bustamante again went into exile in Europe, this time in Italy. He returned to Mexico in 1845 to offer his services in the crisis with the United States. In 1846 he was president of Congress. That year he was named general of an expedition to defend the Californias from the United States, but he was unable to reach California for lack of resources. In 1848 he suppressed rebellions in Guanajuato and Aguascalientes.

He lived the latter part of his life in San Miguel de Allende, where he died in 1853 at the age of 72. His heart was placed in the Mexico City chapel of San Felipe de Jesús, alongside the ashes of Emperor Iturbide.

References

*es icon "Bustamante, Anastasio," "Enciclopedia de México", vol. 2. Mexico City, 1996, ISBN 1-56409-016-7.
*es icon García Puron, Manuel, "México y sus gobernantes", v. 2. Mexico City: Joaquín Porrua, 1984.
*es icon Orozco Linares, Fernando, "Gobernantes de México". Mexico City: Panorama Editorial, 1985, ISBN 968-38-0260-5.