José Cecilio Díaz del Valle

José Cecilio Díaz del Valle

José Cecilio Díaz del Valle (born November 22, 1777 in Choluteca , †  March 2, 1834 near the Finca "El Corral de Piedra" Chiquimula (Guatemala) on the way to Guatemala City ) was President of the Central American Confederation .

Life

In his youth he moved to Guatemala City, where he studied philosophy, civil and canon law at the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala . On September 1, 1803, he was admitted to the bar . His well-founded reasoning earned him the nickname El Sabio (the wise). In 1806 Díaz del Valle was judge and in 1812 professor at the Universidad de San Carlos. He was an intellectual , a visionary economist, associated with the universal geniuses of his time, such as the British philosopher Jeremy Bentham . In 1805 he was delegate of the Commission for Charitable Affairs and censor of the newspaper of Guatemala City, in 1806 he was assessor at the Consul of Guatemala, official of the royal artillery and engineer of the kingdom, in 1809 he took the rank of delegate of the central junta of the province. He was the founder and thought leader of the newspaper El Amigo de la Patria .

Díaz del Valle was the author of the Central American Declaration of Independence, which was signed on September 15, 1821. Central America was annexed by Mexico under Agustín de Itúrbide soon after , and Díaz del Valle was imprisoned for some time.

From February 23 to March 19, 1823 he was Foreign Minister of the Mexican Empire . When Mexico became a republic, Díaz del Valle was instrumental in ensuring that Central America's independence was recognized by Mexico in June 1823. Valle was one of the drafters of the new constitution that abolished slavery . He was parliamentary chairman and first constitutional president of the Central American Confederation until April 1925. From 1822 to 1825 he figured at times as a member and at times as chairman of the government junta. As president, he edited the decree of July 4, 1829, which abolished the death penalty for the previous government.

The Honduran government awards a medal with his name, and the Universidad José Cecilio del Valle in Tegucigalpa is named after him.

predecessor	Office	successor
2. Government junta with Juan Vicente Villacorta Díaz	Presidents of Central America Chairman of the 3rd to 5th government juntas February 5, 1824 - April 29, 1825	Manuel José Arce y Fagoaga