José María Bocanegra

Who was José María Bocanegra?

José María Bocanegra was a Mexican lawyer and politician who was briefly interim president of Mexico in 1829.

Bocanegra graduated from the Colegio de San Ildefonso in Mexico City, becoming a lawyer. During the colonial period he was a lawyer for the Audiencia and a member of the College of Attorneys. He was vice-president of the Committee of Charity of the Hospice for the Poor. He became a deputy to the first Mexican Constituent Congress in 1824. He supported Agustín de Iturbide's ascent to the imperial throne, but opposed his exercise of arbitrary power.

Bocanegra entered the Chamber of Deputies in 1827, and on 26 January 1829, President Guadalupe Victoria named him Minister of Internal and External Relations. He continued to hold this position with the change of administration to Vicente Guerrero, until 1 April 1829.

On 4 December 1829, Vice-President Anastasio Bustamante rose in revolt against Guerrero. Guerrero received permission from Congress to take the field to combat the rebels. On 16 December 1829, Bocanegra was appointed interim president by Congress during Guerrero's absence, by virtue of his position as president of the Supreme Court.