Fondo Gerardo Barrios of the National Archive of El Salvador

The collected correspondence of El Salvador’s president Gerardo Barrios.

The documents, bound into large leather covered volumes, contain the letters sent and received by Barrios‘ correspondents during four important years. The years covered in the collection, between 1860 and 1863, were the most important in Barrios‘ long political and military career when he held the presidency. In October 1863 Barrios was overthrown by a coalition of Salvadoran military officers, peasant militias, and the Guatemalan army. His years in power were highly conflicted, as cross-border civil wars continued. This collection provides critical and unique insights into an important transitional period in the history of El Salvador.