Juan Álvarez (1780-1867) was a Mexican soldier and statesman. A hero of the independence movement and the Mexican Liberal party, he is considered to be the most important liberal military leader before the 1850s.

Juan Álvarez was born in a small town in Guerrero on Jan. 27, 1780. His family, a prosperous one with Indian and Negro blood, moved to Mexico City but returned to Guerrero in 1807. In 1810 Álvarez became a soldier in the guerrilla army of the priest José Maria Morelos y Pavón in the fight for Mexican independence from Spain. Álvarez rose rapidly to commander of the Regiment of Guadalupe. During the long and unsuccessful rebel struggle he lost much of his inherited wealth.

After Morelos's death Álvarez raised troops from his own ranches; he kept fighting in the mountains around Acapulco at a time when most rebels had surrendered...