José Mariano Epifanio Paredes y Arrillaga ( 7 January 1797 – 7 September 1849) was a Mexican conservative general who served as president of Mexico between December 1845 and July 1846.

Historian Michael Costeloe described Paredes as "strongly proclerical, he believed that a liberal democracy and federal structure were inappropriate for Mexico in its then state of development, and that the country could be governed only by the army in alliance with the educated and affluent elite.

"[2] Mariano Paredes y Arrillaga was born in Mexico in the year 1797 and began his military career as a cadet on 6 January 1812, during the Mexican War of Independence, initially fighting on the side of the Spanish loyalists.

In the action at Arroyo Hondo, he formed part of the reconnoitering party made up thirty men and a few horses under the command of Epitacio Sanchez and they were able to hold off a superior Spanish force until Iturbide arrived with reinforcements and the Spaniards were repulsed.

He was present at San Luis de la Paz where seven hundred prisoners of war were taken and he took part in the siege and capture of Querétaro and Mexico City for which he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel.

His superiors viewed him as quarrelsome and Paredes found himself sent to the distant western provinces, embarking from San Blas, but a storm obliged him to return to port and continue the journey on land.

[5] In the same month, due to President Anastasio Bustamante's inability to deal with the various political and financial crises afflicting the nation, Paredes published a manifesto to his fellow commander generals, calling for the formation of a new government.

A military junta was formed which wrote the Bases of Tacubaya, a plan which swept away the entire structure of government, except the judiciary, and also called for elections for a new constituent congress meant to write a new constitution.

[6] Despite the key role he had played in establishing the new Bases of Tacubaya, Paredes was not invited to accept any position within it, as he was perceived to lack the talents for political administration.

The plan gained enough support to work and on 6 January 1843, a body of eighty prominent centralists known as the Junta Nacional instituyente was appointed by the government to write a new constitution.

In the Barracks of the Celaya Battalion, he began to speak candidly against the government and Paredes found himself arrested in his own home, but subsequently absolved of any wrongdoing.

He was once again assigned to a post in the north, but found a new pretext for opposing the government as Herrera attempted to negotiate with the United States over the matter of Texas.

[16] The Plan of San Luis Potosí had contained a clause declaring that the constitutional congress it called for should have no restrictions in its abilities to reconstitute the nation.

During the interval between Paredes' assumption of power and the meeting of the constituent congress, a propaganda war was waged between supporters of a monarchy and of a republic, the former through the newspaper El Tiempo, edited by leading conservative intellectual Lucas Alamán.

[18] In response to El Tiempo and Paredes' perceived monarchism, many Liberal Party newspapers changed their names to reflect their pro-republican stances.

"With powerful arguments they maintained that the idea of a monarchy in Mexico was not only contrary to the wishes of the Mexican people, but also one that was not at all feasible, there being no such thing as a nobility in the country.

"[20] Such arguments about the non-existence of a Mexican nobility were echoed by the Conservative statesman, Antonio de Haro y Tamariz, who sarcastically suggested that the government start granting titles to generals.

[21] The perception that his administration was attempting to set up a monarchy led to strong opposition at a time when war threatened to break out with the United States at any moment.

On 24 April, after the American invasion had already begun, Paredes issued a manifesto that he supported the republican form of government until the nation shall resolve upon a change.

[24] On 3 August, the garrisons of Veracruz and San Juan de Ulúa revolted, proclaiming the plan of Guadalajara, and in the upheaval, the ex-president was captured and imprisoned.