Vicente Ramón Guerrero Saldaña -- Mexico

Vicente Ramón Guerrero Saldaña was one of the leading revolutionary generals of the Mexican War of Independence.  He fought against Spain for independence in the early 19th century, and later served briefly as the second President of Mexico.  He was also the grandfather of the Mexican politician and intellectual Vicente Riva Palacio.  Born in Tixtla, a town 100 kilometers inland from the port of Acapulco, in the Sierra Madre del Sur, the son of Juan Pedro Guerrero, an African Mexican and Guadalupe Saldana, an Indian.  Vicente’s father, Pedro, supported Spanish rule, but Vicente was opposed to the Spanish colonial government.  

When his father asked him for his sword in order to present it to the viceroy of New Spain as a sign of goodwill and surrender, Vicente refused, saying, "The will of my father is for me sacred, but my Motherland is first." the southern Mexican state of Guerrero, has the motto "My Motherland is first"

Guerrero joined the rebellion in November 1810 and enlisted in a division that independence leader José María Morelos had organised to fight in southern Mexico. Guerrero distinguished himself at the battle of Izúcar, in February 1812, and had achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel when Oaxaca was claimed by rebels in November 1812.  Following the capture and execution of Morelos in late 1815, Guerrero joined forces with Guadalupe Victoria and Isidoro Montes de Oca, taking command of the rebel troops.  He remained the only major rebel leader still at large, keeping the rebellion going through an extensive campaign of guerrilla warfare.  He won victories at Ajuchitán, Santa Fe, Tetela del Río, Huetamo, Tlalchapa and Cuautlotitlán, regions of southern Mexico.

Spain sent their best general Agustín de Iturbide who was unable to defeat him.  When Mexico achieved independence, he collaborated with Iturbide, who proposed that the two join forces under what he referred to as the Three Guarantees.  Iturbide was proclaimed Emperor of Mexico by Congress, however when, Iturbide did not uphold the Three Guarantees, Guerrero turned against him.  Then when the general Manuel Gómez Pedraza won the election to succeed Guadalupe Victoria as president, Guerrero, with the aid of general Antonio López de Santa Anna and politician Lorenzo de Zavala, staged a coup d'état and took the presidency on 1 April 1829.  During Guerrero's short term as president he ordered an immediate abolition of slavery and emancipation of all slaves.  In December 1829 Guerrero was deposed in a rebellion under Vice President Anastasio Bustamante. 

Guerrero had left the capital to fight the rebels, but was deposed by the Mexico City garrison in his absence on 17 December 1829.  General Bustamante bribed Picaluga to betray Guerrero and he was captured then executed. Following his death, Mexicans loyal to Guerrero drove Bustamante from power, fleeing the country.  Picaluga, the former friend of Guerrero, who had conspired with Bustamante, was executed.  Honours were conferred on surviving members of Guerrero's family, and a pension was paid to his widow.  In 1842, Vicente Guerrero's body was returned to Mexico City and interred there.

Vicente Guerrero is a Mexican national hero and the state of Guerrero is named in his honour and several towns including Vicente Guerrero and Guerrero Negro in Baja California, slavery was abolished in the republic, and those who have been slaves were freed