Prudencio Alfaro

Prudencio Alfaro Menéndez was born in 1861 in Jutiapa, Guatemala.Zepeda Peña 2006, p. 141 His father was Manuel Alfaro and his mother was Andrea Menéndez. He attended the University of El Salvador where he completed his bachelor's degree and doctorate in the Faculty of Political and Social Sciences.

In 1885, he participated in a revolution which overthrew Salvadoran President Rafael Zaldívar, and after which, he was elected as a deputy to the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador from Ahuachapán. He opposed the government of President Carlos Ezeta, who deposed President Francisco Menéndez in 1890, and in 1894, he participated in the Revolution of the 44 which deposed Ezeta and installed Rafael Antonio Gutiérrez as president.White 2018, p. 86Linares Nogales 2008, p. 79

In the 1895 Salvadoran presidential election, Gutiérrez was the only candidate and won 61,080 votes.{{cite web|url=https://library.ucsd.edu/research-and-collections/collections/notable-collections/latin-american-elections-statistics/El%20Salvador/elections-and-events-1850-1899.html|title=Elections and Events 1850–1899|access-date=25 March 2021|publisher=The Library – UC San Diego|language=en|website=UC San Diego}} For Vice President, the race was between Alfaro, Carlos Meléndez, and four other politicians, and Alfaro won with 38,006 votes accounting for 62.51 percent of the vote. He assumed office on 1 March 1895.

Both Gutiérrez and Alfaro were deposed on 13 November 1898 by Tomás Regalado. Alfaro sought to regain power and fought Regalado at two battles in Ilobasco and Sensuntepeque, however, he lost both battles and fled for exile in Honduras.

Alfaro stood for election for the presidency in 1907 but only received one vote.{{cite web|url=http://abaco.uca.edu.sv/acervo/Diario_Oficial/1907/1907-02.pdf|title=Cuadro Demonstrativo de los Votos Emitidos para Presidente y Vice Presidente de la República en el Período de 1907 a 1911|trans-title=Demonstrative Table of the Votes Cast for President and Vice President of the Republic for the Period of 1907 to 1911|language=es|date=26 February 1907|work=Diario Oficial|access-date=4 February 2023|volume=62|number=48|page=354}}

On 11 June 1907, Alfaro was one of the leaders of a joint Honduran-Nicaraguan invasion of El Salvador against President Fernando Figueroa.Martin 1911, p. 61 During the invasion, another leader, Manuel Rivas, raided a bank in Acajutla for $20,000 in silver, which led to a personal disagreement between Alfaro and Rivas on how to continue the invasion.Martin 1911, pp. 63–64Zepeda Peña 2006, p. 142 Rivas proposed that the two split control of the country, with Rivas controlling the east from San Salvador and Alfaro controlling everything west of San Salvador, however, Alfaro rejected the proposal. After Figueroa personally led an army to engage with Alfaro and Rivas, the two ordered their armies to retreat, effectively ending the War of 1907.

Alfaro was allowed to return to El Salvador in 1911 when Manuel Enrique Araujo became president, however, he was accused of being involved in Araujo's assassination in 1913, and again left the country. He again returned to El Salvador in 1915 when Carlos Meléndez became president. Alfaro was executed in San Salvador on 23 December 1915 for his alleged role in Araujo's assassination.{{sfn|White|1973|p=110}}

He married Carmen Castellanos.

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• Rafael Antonio Gutiérrez

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• {{cite journal|last1=Linares Nogales|first1=Federico|date=2008|title=Primeros Periodos Presidenciales en El Salvador|trans-title=The First Presidential Periods of El Salvador|url=http://www.redicces.org.sv/jspui/bitstream/10972/3278/1/Primeros%20periodos%20presidenciales%20en%20El%20Salvador.pdf|access-date=24 March 2021|journal=Realidad y Refleción|type=Quarterly Journal|language=es|location=San Salvador, El Salvador|volume=7|issue=23|pages=78–100|issn=1992-6510}}
• {{cite book|title=Salvador of the Twentieth Century|url=https://archive.org/details/salvadortwentie00martgoog|first=Percy Falcke|last=Martin|publisher=Longmans, Green & Co|year=1911|language=en}}
• {{cite book|last1=White|first1=Alastair|date=1973|title=El Salvador|url=https://archive.org/details/elsalvador0000whit/mode/2up|language=en|series=Nations of the Modern World|publisher=Ernest Benn Limited|location=London and Tonbridge|isbn=0510395236|lccn=73175341|oclc=1391406624|access-date=26 September 2024}}
• {{cite book|title=El Salvador 1550–1973: Cuatro Siglos de Evolución Histórica y Geopolítica Salvadoreñas|trans-title=El Salvador 1550–1973: Four Centuries of Historic Evolution and Salvadoran Geopolitics|language=es|last=White|first=Alastair|publisher=Central American University|date=2018|isbn=9781987013306|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qtd8DwAAQBAJ&q=cien+años+de+actuaciones+presidenciales+1862-1962|access-date=24 March 2021}}
• {{cite web|url=https://www.asamblea.gob.sv/sites/default/files/2017-12/Tomo_II_Historia_AsambleaLegislativa.pdf|language=es|publisher=Legislative Assembly of El Salvador|date=2006|access-date=19 June 2021|title=Historia del Órgano Legislativo de la República de El Salvador|trans-title=History of the Legislative Organ of the Republic of El Salvador|author1-link=Ciro Cruz Zepeda|first=Ciro Cruz|last=Zepeda Peña}}

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{{succession box|title=Vice President of El Salvador|before=Antonio Ezeta|after=Francisco Antonio Reyes|years=1895–1898}}

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{{El Salvador Presidents}}

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Category:1861 births

Category:1915 deaths

Category:Vice presidents of El Salvador

Category:People from Jutiapa Department

Category:University of El Salvador alumni

Category:Guatemalan emigrants

Category:Immigrants to El Salvador

Category:Candidates for President of El Salvador