Presidential elections were held in El Salvador on 5 March 1967. Voters elected a president and vice president to serve a five year term from 1967 to 1972. It was the second presidential election held after the 1961 coup d'état that brought the military-backed National Conciliation Party (PCN) to power.

There were four presidential candidates: Colonel Fidel Sánchez Hernández of the PCN, of the Christian Democratic Party (PDC), Fabio Castillo Figueroa of the Renovating Action Party (PAR), and Álvaro Magaña of the Salvadoran Popular Party (PPS). Two other parties were eligible to nominate candidates but did not, and three more parties were banned from participation due to alleged communist sympathies. Land reform, communism, and military involvement in politics were major campaign topics prior to the election. Sánchez Hernández won the election with 54.37 percent of the vote.

Background

Since 1931, El Salvador was ruled by military dictatorship, but the government continued to hold elections. In October 1960, the Armed Forces of El Salvador (FAES) overthrew Lieutenant Colonel José María Lemus, the president of El Salvador. FAES established the social democratic Junta of Government, but this junta was itself overthrown in January 1961 by conservative officers who established the Civic-Military Directory. The Civic-Military Directory was led by Colonel Julio Adalberto Rivera and he won the 1962 presidential election unopposed as a member of the National Conciliation Party (PCN).

Electoral system

Election procedure

All Salvadoran citizens over the age of 18 were eligible to vote with the exception of those who were imprisoned, who were declared mentally incompetent, or who attempted to subvert election integrity. Citizens had to be registered with the Registry of Voters managed by the Central Electoral Council (CEC) to be eligible to vote. There were 1,266,587 registered voters in 1967. Some departments had laws requiring compulsory voting, but these laws were not applied.

Political parties

Political parties had to be registered with the CEC to be eligible to participate in the election. Political parties that promoted communism, anarchism, or anti-democratic policies were banned from participation. Parties had until 5 November 1966 to be registered with the CEC. Nine parties existed during the 1967 presidential election campaign period; six were able to present presidential candidates, of which, four nominated candidates. The remaining three parties were banned by the government for alleged communist sympathies.

Party Participated? PRAM April and May Revolutionary Party PUCA Central American Unionist Party PDC Christian Democratic Party PCES Communist Party of El Salvador PCN National Conciliation Party PRN National Reformist Party PAR Renovating Action Party PREN National Evolution Republican Party PPS Salvadoran Popular Party

Candidates

The 1967 presidential election had four presidential candidates. Colonel Fidel Sánchez Hernández, the Minister of the Interior during Rivera's presidency, was the PCN's presidential candidate; Minister of Justice Humberto Guillermo Cuestas was his running-mate. The Christian Democratic Party (PDC) selected former party leader and former culture vice minister Mario Pacheco as its presidential and vice presidential candidates. The Renovating Action Party (PAR) chose Fabio Castillo Figueroa, a former member of the Junta of Government, and lawyer Jesús Gómez Castro as its candidates, while the Salvadoran Popular Party (PPS) chose economist Álvaro Magaña and party founder Agustín Alvarenga as its candidates.

Party Candidate Running-mate Renovating Action Party Fabio Castillo Figueroa Jesús Gómez Castro Salvadoran Popular Party Álvaro Magaña Agustín Alvarenga Christian Democratic Party Mario Pacheco National Conciliation Party Fidel Sánchez Hernández Humberto Guillermo Cuestas

Election campaign

During the election campaign, Castillo and PAR faced accusations of holding communist sympathies. Critics also accused the party of having close connections to the Soviet Union, China, and Cuba. Castillo denied these accusations. Some PAR members wanted to extend diplomatic recognition of the Cuban government and forge closer relations with Warsaw Pact members. It also accused the United States of imperialism, straying from the other parties which all favored close relations with the US. Like PAR, the PDC faced accusations of holding communist sympathies, largely made by PCN members. Conversely, PAR accused the PDC of being subservient to the pope. The PDC denied both accusations. The PDC attacked PCN party officials by publishing a list of members who allegedly were involved in radical movements in their early careers. The PPS faced criticism of being a tool of the country's oligarchy.

The PCN was controlled by FAES which received criticism from both the PDC and PAR. The PDC criticized the armed forces' involvement in politics and called for the institution to remain apolitical, while PAR called for a revolution and the complete reorganization of the armed forces. The PDC and PCN both campaign on moderate land reform promises. Meanwhile, PAR campaigned on the implementation of the "1967–1972 Plan of Government", a broader land reform program that would distribute lands owned by 1,799 wealthy landowners (who held half of the country's land) to El Salvador's landless peasants and limit landowners to owning up to of land. The PPS had no position on land reform but affirmed its commitment to "respect[ing] and protect[ing] property".

Results

The election was held on 5 March 1967. The election resulted in a victory for Sánchez Hernández who won 267,447 votes (54.37%). Rodríguez finished in second place with 106,358 votes (21.62%), Castillo in third with 70,978 votes (14.43%), and Magaña in fourth with 47,111 votes (9.58%).

Results by department

The following table displays the number of votes and seats each candidate received from each of the country's 14 departments. The candidate with the most votes in a department is highlighted in its party color and the candidate with the second most votes and seats in a department is in .

Department Sánchez Rodríguez Castillo Magaña Total % % % % Ahuachapán 14,932 72.17 1,724 8.33 2,096 10.13 1,938 9.37 20,690 Cabañas 9,277 63.32 961 6.56 194 1.32 4,219 28.80 14,651 Chalatenango 10,823 51.34 6,528 30.97 482 2.29 3,247 15.40 21,080 Cuscatlán 9,599 49.25 7,397 37.95 662 3.40 1,834 9.41 19,492 La Libertad 19,911 49.64 13,488 33.63 3,638 9.07 3,072 7.66 40,109 La Paz 10,529 49.27 6,832 31.97 2,024 9.47 1,987 9.30 21,372 La Unión 15,314 69.36 3,106 14.07 886 4.01 2,773 12.56 22,079 Morazán 18,447 80.95 3,245 14.24 266 1.17 829 3.64 22,787 San Miguel 38,561 76.33 5,962 11.80 3,175 6.28 2,822 5.59 50,520 San Salvador 53,802 40.98 32,267 24.58 37,939 28.90 7,273 5.54 131,281 San Vicente 10,201 60.14 4,744 27.97 756 4.46 1,260 7.43 16,961 Santa Ana 24,190 47.18 9,103 17.75 13,078 25.50 4,906 9.57 51,277 Sonsonate 14,665 53.37 6,267 22.81 2,056 7.48 4,490 16.34 27,478 Usulután 17,196 53.54 4,734 14.74 3,726 11.60 6,461 20.12 32,117 Total 267,447 54.37 106,358 21.62 70,978 14.43 47,111 9.58 491,894 Source: Mejía Marroquín 2017, p. 197

Aftermath

Sánchez Hernández was inaugurated on 1 July 1967. During his presidency, Sánchez Hernández implemented education and land reforms, led El Salvador during the 1969 Football War, and repressed workers' strikes with El Salvador's security forces. Although the PCN's Colonel Arturo Armando Molina won the 1972 presidential election, political scientist Michael Krennerich described it as having experienced "massive electoral fraud". Reformist elements in the armed forces attempted a coup against Sánchez Hernández to overturn the results of the election and install the PDC candidate José Napoleón Duarte as president, but the coup failed and Molina was inaugurated on 1 July 1972 when Sánchez Hernández's term expired. The military dictatorship eventually ended following the 1979 coup d'état led by reformists against the PCN government.

See also

Elections in El Salvador

References

Citations

Bibliography