Military dictatorship in El Salvador
Republic of El Salvador República de El Salvador | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1931–1979 | |||||||||
| Motto: "Dios, Unión, Libertad" (Spanish) English: "God, Unity, Freedom" | |||||||||
| Anthem: Himno Nacional de El Salvador English: "National Anthem of El Salvador" | |||||||||
| Capital | San Salvador | ||||||||
| Common languages | Spanish | ||||||||
| Demonym(s) | Salvadoran | ||||||||
| Government | Unitary presidential republic under a military dictatorship | ||||||||
| President | |||||||||
• 1931–1934, 1935–1944 | Maximiliano Hernández Martínez | ||||||||
• 1934–1935, 1944 | Andrés Ignacio Menéndez | ||||||||
• 1944–1945 | Osmín Aguirre y Salinas | ||||||||
• 1945–1948 | Salvador Castaneda Castro | ||||||||
• 1950–1956 | Óscar Osorio | ||||||||
• 1956–1960 | José María Lemus | ||||||||
• 1962 | Eusebio Cordón Cea | ||||||||
• 1962–1967 | Julio Aldaberto Rivera | ||||||||
• 1967–1972 | Fidel Sánchez Hernández | ||||||||
• 1972–1977 | Arturo Armando Molina | ||||||||
• 1977–1979 | Carlos Humberto Romero | ||||||||
| Vice President | |||||||||
• 1931 | Maximiliano Hernández Martínez | ||||||||
• 1945–1948 | Manuel Adriano Vilanova | ||||||||
• 1950–1956 | José María Peralta Salazar | ||||||||
• 1956–1960 | Humberto Costa | ||||||||
• 1962 | Francisco José Guerrero and Salvador Ramírez Siliézar | ||||||||
• 1962–1967 | Francisco Roberto Lima | ||||||||
• 1967–1972 | Humberto Guillermo Cuestas | ||||||||
• 1972–1977 | Enrique Mayorga Rivas | ||||||||
• 1977–1979 | Julio Ernesto Astacio | ||||||||
| Legislature | Constitutional Assembly | ||||||||
| Historical era | World War II, Cold War | ||||||||
| 2 December 1931 | |||||||||
| 22–25 January 1932 | |||||||||
| 7–11 May 1944 | |||||||||
| 14–18 July 1969 | |||||||||
| 15 October 1979 | |||||||||
| 1979–1992 | |||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
• 1950 | 2,200,000 | ||||||||
• 1970 | 3,736,000 | ||||||||
| Currency | Salvadoran colón | ||||||||
| ISO 3166 code | SV | ||||||||
| |||||||||
| Today part of | El Salvador | ||||||||
The Salvadoran military dictatorship was the period of time in Salvadoran history where the Salvadoran Armed Forces governed the country for almost 48 years from 2 December 1931 until 15 October 1979. The authoritarian military dictatorship limited political rights throughout the country 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.