Anastasio Aquino

Anastasio Mártir Aquino (April 15, 1792, Santiago Nonualco, El Salvador – July 24, 1833, San Vicente, El Salvador) was a Salvadoran indigenous leader who led the Insurrection of the Nonualcos, a campesino uprising in El Salvador during the time it belonged to the Federal Republic of Central America.

Aquino was born into a family belonging to the Taytes (chiefs) of the Nonualco, an Indigenous tribe of the Pipil nation that occupied the territory of the current Department of La Paz.

After the independence of Central America from Spain, it was briefly united with the Mexican Empire of Agustín de Iturbide (1821–23). In 1823, with the fall of Emperor Iturbide, it declared independence from Mexico together with the states of Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. The five states formed a short-lived federal republic that lasted until 1840, but it was a difficult existence. The confrontations between Liberals and Conservatives, the local caudillos, the government's lack of resources and its precarious organization, among other things, made the federation unstable.

The need to raise money for the support of the federation lead to a series of economic measures that were unpopular with the majority of the population. Among these were tributes and expropriations of uncultivated land. The latter especially was a blow to the Indigenous, who during colonial times had retained the right to practice slash-and-burn agriculture in lands not occupied by haciendas. Now the haciendas expanded and the land available for subsistence agriculture by the Indigenous shrank. Forced labor in mines and fields also continued. Thus this group, already at a disadvantage socially since the arrival of the Spaniards, became more disadvantaged with the arrival of independence.

The government of El Salvador had to implement unpopular measures in 1832, including a direct tax on real estate and on rents. This led to discontent and to popular uprisings. A major revolt occurred at San Miguel, but others occurred at Chalatenango, Izalco and Sonsonate. These were suppressed.

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