Rafael Carrera

José Rafael Carrera y Turcios (24 October 1814 – 14 April 1865) was the president of Guatemala from 1844 to 1848 and from 1851 until his death in 1865, after being appointed president for life in 1854. He ruled during the establishment of new Central American nations and William Walker's invasions, liberal attempts to overthrow him, Mayan uprisings in the east, the Belize boundary dispute with the United Kingdom, and conflicts in Mexico under Benito Juárez. Carrera is seen as a caudillo, a term that refers to Latin American charismatic populist leaders of military background, sometimes among indigenous people. Carrera became a dominant figure in Guatemala for three decades. He led a major revolt against the liberal government of Mariano Gálvez that marked the dissolution of Federal Republic of Central America. After the liberals came back to power in Guatemala in 1871, Carrera's character and regime were dismissed and demonized, making him look as an illiterate who could not even write his own name manipulated by the anti-liberal faction. Over the years, even Marxist writers who wanted to show how the native Guatemalans have been exploited by elites completely ignored Carrera's support of them and accused him of racism and being a "little king".