THE REPUBLIC OF GUATEMALA. 289 
On the death of Carrera, in 1865, Don Vincente Cerna 
succeeded to the Presidency; but he did not possess the 
power over the Indios that Carrera held, and before his 
term of office had half passed, disturbances broke out on 
the northern frontier, where a man named Barrios had 
collected a gang of outlaws. This insurrection was sup¬ 
pressed, and Barrios executed; he however left a successor 
in the person of Serapio Cruz, a very corpulent man, but 
for all that a typical brigand, who for some time waged 
a guerilla war from his mountain retreats, capturing the 
distilleries of aguardiente (then a Government monopoly), 
and destroying what he could not carry away. Joined 
to this enemy on the outskirts of the republic was a no- 
less disturbing element in the legislature in the person of 
Don Miguel Garcia Granados, who was most active in 
attacking the Government. As the Presidential term of 
Cerna ended, a rival in the political field, General Victor 
Zavala, seemed likely to be elected; but by a close vote 
Cerna was re-elected. In 1869 a loan was negotiated 
in London which enabled the Government to pay its most 
pressing debts, and quiet was apparently secured. All 
this time, however, the insurgent Cruz was strengthening 
his band in the mountains, where he was joined by a man 
destined to hold the chief place in Guatemala, General J. 
Rufino Barrios; and in December, 1869, the rebel army 
approached the capital. The city was in a most excited 
state, expecting pillage if not destruction, when the 
unexpected news came that the head of Cruz -would 
soon be in the city. It was true; a party of Indios had 
attacked and defeated the chief, and now brought his 
bleeding head to the President. This disagreeable trophy 
was photographed, and prints were sold in the shops for 
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