The Salvadoran military dictatorship was the period in Salvadoran history when the Armed Forces of El Salvador (FAES) governed the country for almost 48 years from 1931 to 1979. The military dictatorship governed in an authoritarian manner, limited political rights throughout, and maintained its governance through rigged elections.
The military came to power in El Salvador when the first democratically elected president, Arturo Araujo, was overthrown in a military coup d'état on 2 December 1931. The military appointed Araujo's vice president, General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez, as acting president on 4 December 1931. He remained in office until he was forced to resign on 9 May 1944 following strikes and protests by students in the capital of San Salvador. He was followed by three short-lived presidents, who were then succeeded by Óscar Osorio in 1950. His successor, José María Lemus, was overthrown in a military coup d'état in 1960 and was replaced by Julio Adalberto Rivera Carballo in 1962. From 1962 to 1979, the National Conciliation Party (PCN) ruled the country in a de facto one party state; opposition parties existed, but in practice held no real power. The military regime ended on 15 October 1979, when young military officers overthrew President Carlos Humberto Romero and established the Revolutionary Government Junta, a joint civilian-military government which ruled the country from 1979 until the presidential elections of 1982. The fall of the military government marked the beginning of the twelve-year-long Salvadoran Civil War which lasted until 1992.
Many atrocities and human rights violations were committed under the Salvadoran military government. Under Martínez, the Salvadoran Army massacred anywhere from 10,000 to 40,000 peasants and indigenous people in response to a communist uprising in 1932, in an event known in El Salvador as La Matanza. The Nationalist Democratic Organization was established by Rivera in 1965. It was a collection of far-right paramilitaries and death squads that tortured political opponents, intimidated voters, rigged elections, and killed peasants. President Fidel Sánchez Hernández initiated the Football War with Honduras in July 1969, claiming that the Honduran government had allowed violence targeting Salvadorans to go unchecked following El Salvador's victory over Honduras in the 1970 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. In March 1979, President Romero ordered soldiers to fire on a crowd of protestors using live ammunition. The military regime received support from the United States due to its anti-communist stance, which aligned with the United States' Cold War interests.
Background Meléndez–Quiñónez dynasty Manuel Enrique Araujo became President of El Salvador on 1 March 1911. He was president until his assassination on 9 February 1913 by farmers. He was succeeded by Carlos Meléndez who served as acting president until 29 August 1914 when he was succeeded by Alfonso Quiñónez Molina.
Carlos Meléndez and Quiñónez established a political dynasty under the National Democratic Party (PND) which lasted from 1913 until 1927. Carlos Meléndez was president from 1 March 1915 until his resignation on 21 December 1918. He later died on 8 October 1919 in New York City. Meléndez was succeeded by Quiñónez until his younger brother, Jorge Meléndez, was elected President. Jorge Meléndez was president from 1 March 1919 until 1 March 1923 when he was succeeded by Quiñónez who remained in power until 1 March 1927. Quiñónez's vice president, Pío Romero Bosque, succeeded him on 1 March 1927.
Unlike his predecessors, Romero Bosque did not appoint a successor and held El Salvador's first free election, ending the Meléndez–Quiñónez dynasty.Haggerty 1990, p. 14 In the election, Labor Party (PL) candidate Arturo Araujo, a relative of Araujo, won 46.65 percent of the vote and became president on 1 March 1931. Araujo's vice president was General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez of the National Republican Party.
Economic crisis Araujo became president during a severe economic crisis due to the effects of the Great Depression. From 1871 to 1927, El Salvador was called a "coffee republic" due to its heavy reliance on coffee exports to sustain its economy.Haggerty 1990, pp. 9–10 However, because of the Great Depression, coffee prices fell 54 percent and the Salvadoran economy was unable to sustain itself. Because of the economic crisis, wages fell, food supplies became limited, and living conditions worsened. The crisis caused peasant unrest across western El Salvador, and as a result, Araujo appointed Martínez to be the country's Minister of National Defense.Haggerty 1990, p. 200 Araujo attempted to implement a tax reform to combat the economic crisis, however, resistance from wealthy landowners caused the reforms to fail.
Araujo cut expenditures to the military and refused to pay its soldiers which caused anger within the military. The military moved to overthrow Araujo and on 2 December 1931, the Army overthrew his government at 10 pm local time.Astilla 1976, p. 5 The coup was a watershed moment in Salvadoran history since it began the nearly 48 year long military dictatorship of the country.Haggerty 1990, p. 15
The military established the Civic Directory, a junta composed of military officers, to govern the country on 2 December 1931. The directory was co-chaired by Colonels Osmín Aguirre y Salinas and Joaquín Valdés. The directory was dissolved on 4 December and power was transferred to Martínez who assumed dictatorial powers as acting president. Martínez promised to hold a legislative election in January 1932, but when the Communist Party won many municipalities, he canceled the election results. Further elections were also canceled. The elections did, however, give the government a list of communist party members. The list allowed the government to arrest prominent communist leaders on 18 January 1932.Haggerty 1990, p. 16
The communist party believed that democracy had failed them, and communists and peasants across the country, led by Farabundo Martí, Feliciano Ama, Mario Zapata, and Alfonso Luna. Peasants rose up on 22 January 1932 in Ahuachapán, Santa Tecla, and Sonsonate, killing at most 100 people in the uprising. Martínez responded by sending the military to crush the revolt. In Martínez's crackdown, around 10,000 to 40,000 peasants were killed. The event is known as La Matanza, "the Massacre," in El Salvador. The Constitutional Assembly issued Legislative Decree No. 121 on 11 July 1932, which granted unconditional amnesty to anyone who committed crimes of any nature during La Matanza in order to "restore order, repress, persecute, punish and capture those accused of the crime of rebellion of this year."
Because of the 1923 Central American Treaty of Peace and Amity, the United States refused to recognize Martínez's government's legitimacy.Astilla 1976, p. 50 The US only recognized his government after the events of La Matanza.Astilla 1976, p. 84 Martínez eventually denounced El Salvador's membership of the treaty on 26 December 1932.
Martínez helped El Salvador's financial situation improve during his presidency. On 23 February 1932, Martínez suspended payment on foreign debt, and again on 1 January 1938, but the debt was eventually paid off in 1938.Astilla 1976, pp. 118–123 The Central Reserve Bank of El Salvador was established during his administration on 19 June 1934 to help stabilize the colón, the national currency. He appointed Luis Alfaro Durán as president of the Central Bank. Martínez established Social Improvement, a welfare program to support poor peasants in July 1932.Haggerty 1990, p. 17
The Martínez regime sought to maintain the image of democratic legitimacy in the nation. Martínez won the 1935, 1939, and 1944 presidential elections under the banner of the National Pro Patria Party (PNPP). His party also won legislative elections in 1936, 1939, and 1944, however, for both the legislative and presidential elections, he was the only candidate, the PNPP was the only legal political party, and election results were sometimes not publicized.Williams 1997, p. 27
World War II
Martínez was personally sympathetic to Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy. He appointed Wehrmacht General Eberhardt Bohnstedt as the director of the Military School.Astilla 1976, p. 161 The Salvadoran Air Force purchased aircraft from Italy in 1938 for US$39,000 with some of the payment being made with coffee.Astilla 1976, pp. 155–157 Minister of National Defense Andrés Ignacio Menéndez attempted to purchase planes from the United States but North American Aviation refused to accept coffee as a percentage of the payment. El Salvador was one of the first nations to recognize the Nationalists under Francisco Franco as the legitimate government of Spain in 1936.Astilla 1976, p. 151Armstrong 1982, p. 31 El Salvador was also the first country after Japan to recognize the independence of Manchukuo.
Some Salvadorans supported the Axis as on 10 June 1940, the day Italy joined the Second World War, 300 men dressed like the Italian Blackshirts marched in the streets of San Salvador in support of Italy; however, the government suppressed the march.Astilla 1976, p. 167 Under pressure from the United States, the government fully supported the Allies on 8 December 1941 after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.Astilla 1976, p. 184Armstrong 1982, p. 34 El Salvador declared war on Japan on 8 December and then later Germany and Italy on 12 December. The government arrested German, Italian, and Japanese nationals and seized their land.Astilla 1976, p. 188 El Salvador never provided soldiers to directly fight in the war but it did send workers to maintain the Panama Canal.Astilla 1976, pp. 189–191 During the war, George Mantello and Colonel José Castellanos Contreras saved 40,000 Jews from Central Europe, mostly from Hungary, by providing them false Salvadoran passports and political asylum.
In 1944, Martínez held an election and elected himself to a third term as president. The move angered many politicians, military officers, bankers, and businessmen since it overtly violated the constitution.Haggerty 1990, p. 18 On 2 April 1944, Palm Sunday, pro-Axis military officers attempted a coup against Martínez. The 1st Infantry Regiment and the 2nd Artillery Regiment rose up in San Salvador and Santa Ana and seized the national radio station, took control of the Air Force, and captured the Santa Ana police station. Martínez was able to take control of the situation and ordered military units still loyal to put down the uprising which was accomplished by 3 April. Reprisals lasted for two weeks, martial law was declared, and a national curfew was established.