Letters from De Aycinena

José Rafael Carrera y Turcios was the president of Guatemala from 1844 to 1848 and from 1851 until his death in 1865, after being appointed president for life in 1854. He ruled during the establishment of new Central American nations and William Walker's invasions, liberal attempts to overthrow him, Mayan uprisings in the east, the Belize boundary dispute with the United Kingdom, and conflicts in Mexico under Benito Juárez. Carrera is seen as a caudillo, a term that refers to Latin American charismatic populist leaders of military background, sometimes among indigenous people.