Chilean painter Luis Vergara Ahumada, depicting the signing of the Act by Father José Matías Delgado General Manuel José Arce; decorated Salvadoran General and president of the Federal Republic of Central America from 1825 to 1829.                             In 1821 in light of unrest in Guatemala, Spanish authorities capitulated and signed the Act of Independence of Central America, which released all of the Captaincy of Guatemala (comprising current territories of Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica and the Mexican state of Chiapas) from Spanish rule and declared its independence. In 1821, El Salvador joined Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua in a union named the Federal Republic of Central America.