Joaquin Miguel Gutierrez Channels (1796-1838) was a Mexican politician and military man who fought for the independence of his country, specifically the independence of Chiapas. In addition, he was a supporter of fighting for the annexation of Chiapas to the Mexican Federation.
Since the Independence of Mexico, Joaquín Gutiérrez made sure that the territory of Chiapas was incorporated into Mexico. Although Guatemala did everything possible to take over Chiapas, Gutiérrez's strategies achieved the definitive annexation of the territory to Mexico..
When he finally came to take the governorship of Chiapas, he only lasted a few months in office (even on two occasions) due to internal tensions within the state..
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Joaquín Miguel Gutiérrez Canales was born on August 21, 1796 in San Marcos Tuxtla, Mexico. His parents were Miguel Antonio Gutiérrez del Arroyo and Rita Quiteria Canales Espinoza. He did his first studies in his hometown.
Upon completing his basic studies, he entered the Seminary of the diocese, where he studied ecclesiastical law. He stood out for his perseverance and his good grades. However, he remained in the institution for only four years, from 1810 to 1814. He left the church to join the army..
At first, he began as potters (one of the official bodies of the armed forces), but his merits led him to take the positions of captain and general. In 1819 he had a son with María Antonia Moguel Palacios, and in 1821 he married Manuela Palacios in Tuxtla, with whom he had four more children..
In 1821 he participated in the signing of the Treaties of Córdoba and that same year he participated in the signing of the Act of Independence of Mexico.
From that moment, the already constituted Mexican Constituent Congress sent the terms of the Constitution of Cádiz and the Treaties of Córdoba to the already formed Mexican provinces. Part of the information they sent was an invitation to join the new nation called the Mexican Empire..
The First Empire was created in the form of a federation, headed by the Mexican Emperor Agustín de Iturbide. It was formed by Nueva Granada (Mexico) and other parts of Central America. With the establishment of this empire, a series of political and military movements occurred with the intention of separating the provinces of the Mexican Empire..
This new rebellion was led by Vicente Filísola as captain general, in addition to serving as political head of Guatemala.
In 1823 there was the Casemate Plan, a conflict between the republican revolutionaries and the imperialists. With a strategic plan headed by the liberal politician Antonio López de Santa Anna, the Republicans were victorious. Republicans had had the support of foreign countries, both European and Latin American countries.
After the conflict and the results, Santa Anna became the head of the government of the provinces. From that moment on, he created the so-called Mexican Constituent Congress with a completely republican and federalist character. Gutiérrez as a liberal sympathizer, remained in support of the new leader.
The empire of Agustín de Iturbide had been annulled with the coup, finally dissolving. Santa Anna sent the respective invitations to state governments to elect their local representatives.
After the end of the First Mexican Empire, Central America became independent from Mexico and the Central American provinces decided to emancipate themselves from Mexico and create their own federation..
The territory of Chiapas was characterized by requiring the incorporation of its territory as part of Mexico, even at the time of the Empire. For that reason, they decided to create a provisional board to defend the interests of the people of Chiapas..
However, Guatemala demanded that Chiapas be annexed to its territories. Chiapas had made it clear that, by gaining independence from Spain, it would also do so from Guatemala. A group of rebels concentrated in the territory of Chiapas with the intention of dissolving the provisional junta that had been created.
A group of Chiapas -among them Gutiérrez Canales- decided to create the Free Chiapas Plan, which declared the Independence of the Mexican province. This plan had been supported by other Mexican cities.
Despite the strategies of the plan, the coastal zone of Chiapas requested its incorporation into Central America so that it could be annexed to Guatemala. These actions upset the rest of Chiapas, causing a strong polarization.
The provisional board, with an initiative from Gutiérrez, thought of applying a plebiscite to define once and for all the political and international situation of the province of Chiapas. After arduous participation in the elections, the act of incorporation of Chiapas into Mexico was signed.
In 1827 Gutiérrez Canales founded the first newspaper in the state of Chiapas, called Campana Chiapaneca, and a few months later the newspaper El Para-rayo de la Capital de Chiapa. Three years later, he was elected governor of Chiapas to serve a four-year term.
However, the struggles between certain political sectors within the state failed to fully consolidate. Unlike; it lasted only a few months to leave the position in the hands of Emeterio Pineda, appointed by Mexican President Anastasio Bustamante.
In 1833 he was again elected constitutional governor of the state to include a period from 1834 to 1838. However, he only served from 1833 to 1835 after deciding to fight against the governments of Santa Anna and Valentín Gómez Farías..
When the centralist system was installed in Mexico, in the hands of Anastasio Bustamante, Gutiérrez placed himself on the side of the Federalists. The struggle between the centralists and the federalists lasted several years and there were even strong armed struggles.
Gutiérrez was commissioned to direct several forces, achieving several victories against the centralists. The centralist government had made the decision to give the death penalty to enemies who conspired against the established powers..
From such decisions, the entire country rose up in violence. The situation worsened when Santa Anna regained power in favor of centralism. From there, Gutiérrez decided to enter Guatemala and later move back to Chiapas..
In 1838, Gutiérrez managed to reach the capital of Chiapas; Despite this, during one of the battles he was cornered and riddled behind the Church of San Marcos. His body was found in an alley behind the temple called "The sacrifice.".
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