Ayutla

Ignacio Comonfort , 1812-63, Mexican general and president (1855-58). He was one of the leaders in the Revolution of Ayutla , which in 1855 overthrew Santa Anna and installed Juan Álvarez in the presidency. Comonfort became acting president upon the resignation of Álvarez; with his cabinet, particularly Benito Juárez and Miguel Lerdo de Tejada , he continued the anticlerical liberal program and embodied it in the constitution of 1857. In Dec., 1857, Comonfort, elected under the new constitution, took office as president. The reform program created a furor and awoke rebellion. Comonfort, a half-hearted liberal, attempted to make his position more moderate and was deserted by the liberals. He allowed the conservatives to seize power, then turned against them. Unsupported by either party and opposed by public opinion, he resigned and fled (Jan., 1858) to the United States. He returned to fight against the French invaders and was killed in battle.

Ayutla , town (1990 pop. 6,214), Guerrero state, S Mexico. Its full name is Ayutla de los Libres [Ayutla of the free]. It is the commercial center for an agricultural, cattle-raising, and lumbering area. The Plan of Ayutla, drawn up in 1854, was a reform program directed toward removing the dictator Santa Anna and convening a constituent assembly to frame a federal constitution. Preparing the way for the War of Reform (1856-61), the plan and the subsequent Revolution of Ayutla (which exiled Santa Anna and established a liberal government) was initially supported by Juan Álvarez, Ignacio Comonfort, Miguel and Sebastián Lerdo de Tejada, and Benito Juárez.

Santa Anna, Antonio López de (1794–1876) Mexican military adventurer and statesman. He entered the Spanish colonial army and served as one of the Creole supporters of the Spanish government until 1821, when ITURBIDE made him governor of Vera Cruz. At first a supporter of the Federal Party, he subsequently overthrew (1822) Iturbide and himself became (1833) President of Mexico. His policies led to the uprising at ALAMO, to his defeat and capture in the battle of SAN JACINTO (1836), and to the secession of TEXAS. He was released, and returned to Vera Cruz, where he defended the city against the French (1836–39). In his next presidential tenure during the early 1840s, he discarded the liberal constitution of 1824 and ruled as a dictator. Subsequently, despite defeat in the MEXICAN–AMERICAN WAR and the loss of half of Mexico's territory to the USA, Santa Anna was recalled to the presidency in 1853 by Mexican conservatives. In 1855 the liberal revolution of Ayutla deposed him.