Francisco Severo Maldonado y Ocampo (1775 in Tepic, Nueva Galicia – May 8, 1832 in Guadalajara, Jalisco) was a philosopher, Catholic priest, professor and writer from New Spain.

He had the idea of publishing a newspaper in favor of the insurgent cause, after meeting with Miguel Hidalgo in Guadalajara he began to edit El Despertador Americano on December 20, 1810.

After the defeat of the insurgents in the battle of Calderón Bridge, the publication of the newspaper was suspended, the printing press was raided by the royalists on January 28, 1811.

He was forced to collaborate in the edition of the newspaper El Telégrafo de Guadalajara, which was totally against the independence cause.

[2] In 1822, he published the Fanal del Imperio Mexicano in which he included his philosophical and political thought through the works "El pacto social de los mexicanos o Miscelánea Política", "Nuevo pacto social propuesto a la Nación española" and the "Contrato de Asociación para la República de los Estados Unidos del Anáhuac".