page_title: Juan Martín Barrundia
section_title: Death
hierarchical_section_title: Juan Martín Barrundia / Death
caption_attribution_description: Español: Presidente Carlos Ezeta de El Salvador (1890-1894).
context_page_description: Juan Martín Barrundia Flores was a military officer and liberal politician from Guatemala. He was the son of the influential liberal leader José Francisco Barrundia. Barrundia was appointed as Secretary of War during the constitutional presidential term of general Justo Rufino Barrios, until the violent death of Barrios, on 2 April 1885. After the president's death, Barrundia was hoping to reach the presidency, but was outsmarted by general Manuel Lisandro Barillas, governor of Quetzaltenango who became president instead.
  After going into exile to México, Barrundia kept attacking Barilla's regime which was used against him as he was blamed as the culprit for all the mistakes and abuses that took place during the deceased president Justo Rufino Barrios. Barrundia died in August 1890 when the Guatemalan police attempted to capture him on board of the SS Acapulco, which was docked at Puerto San José.
context_section_description: After the coup led by Salvadorian general Carlos Ezeta against president Francisco Menéndez Valdivieso,  first presidential designate, Camilo Alvarez, and a number of enemies of the new government fled to Guatemala and asked president Barillas' help to stop Ezeta, claiming that he attempted to invade Guatemala; however, their real intention was to recover power in their country using the Guatemalan army to accomplish that. But Barillas, convinced by the rumors, moved his troops to the border and put some of them under the command of Álvarez.  After a few skirmishes the troops stopped advancing on either side and the war stopped altogether on 21 August 1890.  Sarcastically, Guatemalans called this the Totoposte War as it was only useful to move troops and corn supplies (Totoposte) to the Salvadorian border, with heavy impact for the country's economy.
  Nevertheless, during this war died general Barrundia, while trying to join the Ezetas in El Salvador.  He had boarded the American steamboat SS Acapulco in Acapulco, México; however, upon learning this, the Guatemalan Government, based on International Law, detained the ship in Puerto San José and demanded that the passengers be handed over. Barrundia resisted arrest, and was killed by the policemen that were supposed to capture him.
caption: Carlos Ezeta, president of El Salvador from 1890 to 1894.  Image from La Ilustración Española y Americana [6]
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