Manuel José Arce y Fagoaga (1 January 1787 – 14 December 1847) was a Salvadoran statesman and military officer who served as the first president of the Federal Republic of Central America from 1825 to 1829.

He strongly opposed the Mexican Empire of Agustín de Iturbide and its efforts to annex Central America.

In April 1822 Manuel Arzú, in command of Guatemalan troops supporting Mexico, occupied the cities of Santa Ana, El Salvador, and Sonsonate.

[citation needed] Also in October 1823 he was elected a member of the executive triumvirate of Central America.

Presidential elections were held in 1825, and José Cecilio del Valle won the most votes.

The Liberals, however, controlled the federal Congress, and they decided that Valle had not won an absolute majority.

On 1829 Arce called Vice President Mariano Beltranena y Llano to temporarily exercise the presidency, but when Arce wanted to resume it, Beltranena refused and remained in office until April 1829 when the liberals troops entered Guatemala City and overthrew his administration.

In 1832 he was in Soconusco in (then of Guatemala, now part of Mexico), where he organized a military expedition against the federal government of Francisco Morazán.

He left politics for a more private life in 1846, working on his book Brief Indications for the Reorganization of Central America.