Manuel Barillas
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His Excellency General of Division Manuel Lisandro Barillas Bercián |
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| 14th President of Guatemala | |
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In office March 16, 1886 – March 15, 1892 |
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| Preceded by | Alejandro M. Sinibaldi |
| Succeeded by | José María Reina Barrios |
| Mayor of Quetzaltenango | |
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In office 1892–1893 |
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| President | José María Reyna Barrios |
| Preceded by | Manuel Estrada Cabrera |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
17 January 1845 Quetzaltenango, Guatemala |
| Died | 15 March 1907 (aged 62) Ciudad de México |
| Parents | José Onofre Barillas y Ponciana Bercián |
| Occupation | Military |
| Nickname(s) | "Man of tragic sevens" (because he died on April 7, 1907.) |
Manuel Lisandro Barillas Bercián (Quetzaltenango, 17 January 1845–Mexico City, 15 March 1907) was a Guatemalan general and acting president of Guatemala from 6 April 1885 to 15 March 1886 and President from 16 March 1886 to 15 March 1892. He was born in Quetzaltenango, and assassinated (at the behest of his enemy Manuel Estrada Cabrera, President of Guatemala at the time) in Mexico City in 1907.
Barillas Bercián was able to become interim president of Guatemala after the death of President Justo Rufino Barrios in the Batalla of Chalchuapa in El Salvador in April 1885, by means of a clever scam: he went to the General Cemetery when Barrios was being laid to rest and told the Congress president: "please prepare room and board for the 5,000 troops that I have waiting for my orders in Mixco". The congress president was scared of this, and declared Barillas interim president on the spot. By the time he realized that it was all a lie, it was too late to change anything.
Instead of calling for elections, as he should have, Barillas Bercián was able to be declared President on 16 March 1886 and remained in office until 1892.
In 1852, Juan Matheu and Manuel Francisco Pavón Aycinena presented Rafael Carrera with a plan to build a majestic National Theater, that would be called Carrera Theater in his honor.. Once approved, Carrera commissioned Matheu himself and Miguel Ruiz de Santisteban to build the theater. Initially it was in charge of engineer Miguel Rivera Maestre, but he quit after a few months and was replaced by German expert José Beckers, who built the Greek façades and added a lobby. This was the first monumental building ever built in the Republican era of Guatemala, given that in the 1850s the country finally was enjoying some peace and prosperity.
Appleton's Guide to México and Guatemala of 1884 describes the theater as follows: «In the middle of the square is the Theater, similar in size and elegance to any of the rest of Spanish America. Lines of orange trees and other nice trees of brilliant flowers and delicious fragances surround the bilduing while the statues and fountains placed at certain intervals enhance even more the beauty of the place.
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Wikipedia