Carlos Ezeta

Brigadier General
Carlos Ezeta
Brigadier General Carlos Ezeta
18th President of El Salvador
	In office; 22 June 1890 – 10 June 1894; Provisional: 22 June 1890 – 1 March 1891
Vice President	Antonio Ezeta (1891–1894)
Preceded by	Francisco Menéndez
Succeeded by	Rafael Antonio Gutiérrez
Personal details
Born	14 June 1852; San Salvador, El Salvador
Died	21 March 1903 (aged 50); Mazatlán, Mexico
Political party	Liberal
Spouse	Josefa Marroquín
Children	4
Relatives	Antonio Ezeta (brother)
Profession	Military
Military service
Allegiance	El Salvador
Branch/service	Salvadoran Army
Years of service	1872–1894
Rank	Brigadier General
Battles/wars	Barrios' War of Reunification; First Totoposte War; Revolution of the 44

Carlos Basilio Ezeta y León (14 June 1852 – 21 March 1903) was President of El Salvador from 22 June 1890 to 9 June 1894, when he was overthrown in the Revolution of the 44. He was a military ruler. He died on 21 March 1903, aged 50.

Early life

Carlos Ezeta was born in San Salvador, El Salvador, on 14 June 1852.^[1] His father was General Eligió Ezeta and his mother was Asunción de León Corleto, and he had a younger brother, Antonio Ezeta.^[1] He married Josefa Marroquín and had four children: Carlota, Matilde, Emilia, and Asunción.^[1]

Military service

Ezeta served in the Salvadoran Army during Santiago González Portillo's and Fernando Figueroa's invasions of Honduras in 1872 and 1873.^[1] During his service, he was injured in battle in Santa Bárbara.^[1] He lived in Costa Rica in 1875, returned to El Salvador in 1876, and later visited the United States and Guatemala.^[1] He returned to El Salvador in 1885 to fight against Guatemala in Barrios' War of Reunification and fought in the Battle of Chalchuapa.^[1]

Presidency

On 22 June 1890, Ezeta travelled to the White House of the incumbent President, General Francisco Menéndez, and started an uprising that overthrew Menéndez during which he died.^[1] On 1 March 1891, Ezeta formally took office as the President of El Salvador after winning the 1891 Salvadoran presidential election.^[1]^[2]

Ezeta oversaw El Salvador's relative political stability at a time when the neighboring republics of Honduras and Guatemala were at war, but he soon lost favor with the landowners and was overthrown in the Revolution of the 44 on 9 June 1894 by Rafael Antonio Gutiérrez with assistance from Nicaragua, Guatemala and Honduras.^[3]

Later life and death

He fled to Panama, and then travelled to Europe as there was a warrant for his death; he then returned to Central America and then settled in Mazatlán, Mexico, where he died on 21 March 1903, aged 50.^[1] His remains are buried at Angela Peralta Cemetery in Mazatlán.

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j "Presidentes de El Salvador – General Carlos Ezeta" [Presidents of El Salvador – General Carlos Ezeta] (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2 March 2009. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
^ "Elections and Events 1850–1899". UC San Diego. The Library – UC San Diego. Archived from the original on 23 March 2021. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
^ "Presidentes de El Salvador – General Rafael Antonio Gutiérrez" [Presidents of El Salvador – General Rafael Antonio Gutiérrez] (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2 March 2009. Retrieved 1 September 2020.