Editing History of Guatemala (section)

==== Invasion by General Morazán in 1829 ====
{{Main|Francisco Morazán}}
[[Francisco Morazán]] and his liberal forces were fighting around San Miguel in [[El Salvador]], defeating any conservative federal forces sent by Guatemalan general Manuel Arzú from [[San Salvador]].<ref name="Historia de Honduras">{{cite web|url=http://www.honduras.com/history/morazan.html|title=Francisco Morazán|website=honduras.com|year=2008|access-date=1 April 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120805195708/http://www.honduras.com/history/morazan.html|archive-date=5 August 2012|url-status=live|df=dmy-all}}</ref> Arzú decided to take matters into his own hands, leaving Colonel Montúfar in charge of San Salvador and pursuing Morazán. Realising Arzú was pursuing him, Morazán retreated to Honduras to seek more volunteers for his army. On 20 September, Manuel Arzú was near the [[Lempa River]] with 500 men when he learned that the rest of his army had surrendered in [[San Salvador]]. Morazán then returned to [[El Salvador]] with a significant force, and General Arzú, feigning illness, fled to [[Guatemala]], leaving Lieutenant Colonel Antonio de Aycinena in command. Aycinena and his 500 troops were en route to Honduras when they were intercepted by Morazán's forces in San Antonio, resulting in Aycinena's defeat on 9 October.{{sfn|Morazán|1942|p=23}} With Aycinena's defeat, there were no more conservative federal troops in [[El Salvador]]. On 23 October, General Morazán triumphantly marched into [[San Salvador]]. A few days later, he went to [[Ahuachapán]] to organise an army to confront the conservative aristocrats led by Mariano Aycinena y Piñol in Guatemala and to establish a regime favourable to the [[Central American Federation]], the vision of the liberal [[criollo people|criollos]].{{sfn|González Davison|2008|pp=4–24}}

Upon learning this, Aycinena y Piñol attempted to negotiate with Morazán but was unsuccessful; Morazán was determined to defeat the aristocrats at all costs.

[[File:Map of Journey.jpg|thumb|Map of Guatemala in 1829. Note that borders with Mexico, Yucatán, and Chiapas are not defined.{{sfn|Stephens|Catherwood|1854|p=1}}]]
[[File:Plate 33- ANTIGUA GUATIMALA.jpg|thumb|Plaza Central of [[Antigua Guatemala]] in 1829. The old "Palacio de la Capitanía General" remained in ruins following the 1773 earthquake.]]

After his victory in San Miguelito, Morazán's army grew as many volunteers from Guatemala joined him. On 15 March, while Morazán and his army were en route to reclaim their former positions, they were intercepted by federal troops at Las Charcas. Despite being outnumbered, Morazán held a superior position and decisively defeated the federal forces. The battlefield was littered with corpses, and the allies captured numerous prisoners and weapons. They continued to reclaim their previous positions in [[San José Pinula]] and Aceituno and laid siege to [[Guatemala City]] once again.{{sfn|Morazán|1942|pp=4–55}} General Verveer, the ambassador from the King of the Netherlands and Belgium, who was in Guatemala to negotiate the construction of a transoceanic canal in Nicaragua, attempted to mediate between the State of Guatemala and Morazán but was unsuccessful. Military operations continued with significant success for the allies.

To prepare for the siege by Morazán's troops, on 18 March 1829, Aycinena declared martial law, but he was ultimately defeated. On 12 April 1829, Aycinena conceded defeat, and he and Morazán signed an armistice pact. Aycinena and his cabinet members were imprisoned, and the Aycinena family was confined to their mansion. However, Morazán annulled the pact on 20 April, as his true objective was to strip power from the conservatives and the [[regular clergy]] of the [[Catholic Church]] in Guatemala, whom Central American leaders resented for their control over commerce and power during the Spanish colonial period.{{sfn|González Davison|2008|pp=4–26}}