Background
Manuel José Arce was born in San Salvador on 1 January, 1787.
Manuel José Arce was born in San Salvador on 1 January, 1787.
A native of El Salvador, he was involved in conspiracies of advocates of independence as early as 1811, when he was jailed for the first time. He was again imprisoned between 1814 and 1819. When Central America gained its independence in 1821, the Liberals supported him for the presidency of the new republic.
As president, however, Arce sided with the old nobility, arousing the opposition of the Liberals, and he was overthrown by forces led by Francisco Morazân. He was exiled, first to the United States and later to Mexico.
In 1831 Arce invaded El Salvador and for a short while won control of Guatemala, but he was soon defeated and fled again to Mexico. In 1833 he again invaded and again was unsuccessful. He returned to El Salvador in 1840, ran for president, but was defeated. In 1843 he issued a call for reestablishing the Central American Federation, which had been dissolved some years before, but he found little response. In the following years, he launched his last unsuccessful invasion of El Salvador. Subsequently, he was finally allowed to return peacefully to his native land, where he died.