José María Orellana
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His Excellency General of Division José María Orellana Pinto |
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José María Orellana's portrait on a Q1 bill
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| President of the Republic of Guatemala | |
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In office 10 December 1921 – 26 September 1926 |
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| Preceded by | Carlos Herrera |
| Succeeded by | Lázaro Chacón González |
| 16th First Vice President of Guatemala | |
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In office December 8, 1921 – April 28, 1922 |
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| President | Carlos Herrera y Luna |
| Preceded by | José Ernesto Zelaya |
| Succeeded by | Jorge Ubico |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
July 11, 1872 El Jícaro, El Progreso  Guatemala
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| Died | September 26, 1926 (aged 54) Antigua Guatemala, Guatemala
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| Military service | |
| Nickname(s) |
Don Chema Rapadurero |
| Allegiance |
Guatemala
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| Rank | general |
José María Orellana Pinto (July 11, 1872 – September 26, 1926) was a political and military leader in Guatemala. He was chief of staff of President Manuel Estrada Cabrera and President of Guatemala between 1921 and 1926, after overthrowing Conservative Unionist President Carlos Herrera. During his rule the Quetzal was established as the currency of Guatemala. Orellana Pinto died under suspicious circumstances in 1926 at the age of fifty-four. He was buried in the Guatemalan capital with state honors.
José María Orellana Pinto was born in El Jícaro; he was the son of Esteban Orellana and Leonora Pinto. Orellana had a military career becoming General of the Guatemalan Army. He was elected to the Guatemalan legislature on several occasions, as a member of the Liberal Party, and was also Chief of Staff of the President Estrada Cabrera; when serving as such, on April 29, 1907, he was riding alongside the president's coach when the latter suffered a bomb attack -which had been planned by the brothers Avila Echeverría and some of their relatives and friends-. Miraculously, both the president and Orellana were unharmed by the assassination attempt and almost immediately initiated the prosecution of the perpetrators.
On December 5, 1921, general Orellana -sponsored by the United Fruit Company- lead a coup d'état against president Carlos Herrera who had resisted to approve the concessions granted to the United Fruit Company and its subsidiaries by his predecessor, Manuel Estrada Cabrera. Orellana had the help of several army officers, among them general Jorge Ubico.
On December 5, 1921, Orellana was appointed as Interim President, and eventually became Constitutional President after winning the elections the following year. During his term in office, he ratified concessions that the government of Estrada Cabrera had made to the United Fruit Company (UFCO) and that Herrera had refused to ratify. He also encouraged the creation of a tripartite republic formed by Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador, but this was unsuccessful. In 1923, in celebration of the birth centennial of liberal writer and ideologist Dr. Lorenzo Montúfar y Rivera, the government erected a monument to his memory in Avenida Reforma.
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