Maximiliano Hernández Martínez
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Maximiliano Hernández Martínez ( October 20, 1882 - May 15, 1966) was a soldier and President of El Salvador from 1931 until 1934 and again from 1935 until 1944.
Biography edit
After completing his military studies in Guatemala, he rose through the military ranks to brigadier general. In 1931, the Pro Patria party nominated him for vice presidency, the which one won. Nine months later, he participated in the coup d'état against President Arturo Araujo after which he appointed himself president, being ratified the following year by the Legislative Assembly. He prolonged his mandate for thirteen years through elections in which he was the only candidate, and also through legislative decrees
In his mandate (known colloquially as Martinato) they highlighted the peasant uprising of 1932 who rose against his government in 1932, his policies attached to his theosophy beliefs, the diplomatic movements during the Second World War, the significant decrease in crime through the use of force, the consolidation of public finances, the creation of a state currency-issuing bank, the sale of low-cost housing for peasants, the significant reduction of debt for people on the verge of bankruptcy, the construction of the Pan-American Highway and the cancellation of foreign debt.
In 1944, a group of soldiers rose up against the president, which was put down by force in a couple of days. A month later, a general strike of civil society took place, which forced the general to resign from the position of the first magistracy. Hernández Martínez was murdered 22 years later in Honduras, at the hands of his motorcyclist.
Family life
His parents were Raymundo Hernández and Petronila Martínez. He married 'Concepción Monteagudo' , with whom he had nine children: Alberto, Carmen, Esperanza, Marina, Eduardo, Rosa, Gloria, Maximiliano and Luis. Added to his theosophical habits were his vegetarianism, obsession with the occult sciences, and his fondness for the study of reincarnation. He was absolutely abstemious, a habit that he strictly instilled to their children.
Studies and military career edit
he studied at the National Institute of El Salvador. After finishing his High school studies, he entered the Escuela Politécnica de Guatemala, where he obtained the rank of Second Lieutenant. He returned to El Salvador during the presidency of General Tomas Regaldo. Upon his return, he studied at the Faculty of Jurisprudence and Social Sciences of the University of El Salvador at the University of El Salvador , leaving the degree in the second year of studies .
He was promoted to effective lieutenant on November 17 of 1903; to captain, on August 27 of 1906; to captain major, the same year (during the war with Guatemala, where he was under the command of General Tomás Regalado); to lieutenant colonel, on May 6 of 1909 and to colonel, on June 15 of 1914. In the 14 July of 1919, the National Legislative Assembly promoted him to the rank of Brigadier General, the legislative decree was sanctioned by President Jorge Meléndez on September 17. In 1921 he was appointed Minister of War and Navy.
Foray into politics edit
In 1931, the Pro Patria party included him as a vice-presidential candidate. After winning the elections, he held the position of vice president, as well as that of Minister of War, at the services of President Arturo Araujo. On December 2 of the year of his election, he participated in a coup d'état, being elected President of the Republic, following the design of the provisionally established Civic Directory.
In the coup d'état he was accompanied by a civilian minority and by a good number of soldiers with low and medium ranks, who were known as "Military Youth". The military were incited mainly due to non-compliance with the executive's salary and unfavorable conditions for carrying out their work. After a day of deliberation, Hernández was named interim president for having abandoned the outgoing president before the uprising began.
In 1935, the year in which the regular elections were to be held, Hernández Martínez resigned from the presidency, leaving the post for six months in the hands of General Andrés Ignacio Menéndez, serving during that time solely as Minister of War. He registered as the sole candidate for the presidency, which obviously extended his term for one more term. In 1939 he was ratified by the legislative power in office. In 1944, it was the legislative power that once again extended Hernández Martínez's mandate.
Government of Maximiliano Hernández Martínez edit
Peasant uprising of 1932 edit
In January 1932, Agustín Farabundo Martí (leader of student groups and left-wing politician) were shot for having found pamphlets in support of the Salvadoran Communist Party. The political situation became tense for President Hernández and, days later, the peasant uprising broke out.
The peasant uprising of 1932 was an insurrection that ended in the death of approximately 25,000 indigenous people. The causes were diverse, among them the strong discontent of the peasants with the policies of the government of General Hernández Martínez. In a short time, under presidential orders, the Salvadoran army put down the revolt and a state of siege was established. The indigenous leader Feliciano Ama was lynched and hanged by military forces, encouraging the participation of Ama's countrymen in the uprising. After the massacre, the shallowly buried corpses served as a source of contamination, spreading disease hotspots among the insurgents' waste. In addition, pigs and other animals dug up the bodies and fed on them, which brought an immediate government reaction, since it affected the economy by contaminating farmyard animals.
Once the insurrection was put down, the president refused to receive foreign military aid, referring a telegram to the admiral of the warships that the United States and Great Britain had sent. The telegram noted that:
| “ | The Chief of Operations for the Western Zone of the Republic, Division General José Tomás Calderón, sincerely greets, on behalf of General Martínez's government and his own, Admiral Smith and Commander Brandeur, of the ships of Rochester, Skeena and Wancouver war, and we are pleased to inform you that we declare a situation absolutely dominated by El Salvador government forces. Guaranteed lives properties foreign citizens welcomed and respectful laws of the Republic. Peace is established in El Salvador. Communist offensive scrapped its formidable dispersed nuclei. As of today, the fourth day of operations, four thousand eight hundred Bolsheviks have been liquidated. | „ |
| ~ General José Tomás Calederón |
After the massacre, Hernández Martínez took it upon himself to take various theatrical works to the entire country, such as "But the Indians also have a heart" and "Pájaros sin nido", whose content was intended to qualify the made to placate the rumors and claims of some sectors. He had all newspapers, articles or pamphlets that were contrary to him on the subject destroyed; the main objective was to convince public opinion that the indigenous people were mistaken for the communists and that the insurrection had been financed by the Soviet Union,
Government Policies edit
His government policies had various effects on the cultural l, political and economic life of the country. Without establishing a centralized government, he participated in almost all the decisions that had to be made, directing almost personally each of the activities of his government. However, he always preferred to be close to military protection, which is why he moved the presidential office and his family residence to the then Escuela Normal de Varones , next to the El Zapote Barracks.
He promoted economic growth based on the expansion of large coffee plantations, thus benefiting landowners and initiating links between the military and the oligarchy. During his presidency, the Central Reserve Bank and the Mortgage Bank were created, the Salvadoran Coffee Company, the Rural Credit Fund, the Cotton Cooperative, the General Directorate of Public Works, Social Improvement, carried out commendable work within its functions. The first in the big finance and in the case of social improvement, subdividing some farms to settle peasant families. Highways were built throughout the country (the Pan-American Highway) and the Flor Blanca National Stadium (today the Jorge “Mágico” González Stadium) where the third Central American sports games were held at that time. Buildings were built such as the telegraph building, the castle of the old National Police, current headquarters of the general directorate of the National Civil Police, and large bridges, such as the Cuscatlán bridge over the Lempa River in 1942.
On February 23 of 1932 the Salvadoran State was declared in default, specifying to the creditors of the external debt that it would not pay the loans if the interest and the term was lengthened. The net debt, that is, without interest, was paid in full in 1938, although the interest ended up being paid until 1960. Once the debt was paid, he proposed, through a commemorative plaque placed in the Legislative Assembly, the policy of not acquiring international loans in the future. Despite this initiative, it also acquired loans for the construction of the Pan-American Highway. On the other hand, on March 12 of 1932 it decreed the [ [Moratorium Law]], through which it reduced the interest of debtors who were about to fall into bankruptcy. In addition, with the aim of stabilizing the value of the colón, he created the Banco Central de Reserva de El Salvador in 1934, compensating private banks to stop issuing money .
As for policies referring directly to the population, their theosophical customs always predominated. For example, when a smallpox plague broke out, it was treated by the president by lining the lamps in the squares with blue paper, hoping that the invisible doctors would save those who were destined to live. Among other things, it established that anyone who asked for education should be considered communist, especially denying access to education to the workers and salarieds because, in his words, there would soon no longer be people willing to work on cleaning tasks.
In July 1932, it established the Social Improvement Fund, and in October, the National Board for Social Improvement, whose main activity was to acquire housings and provide soft loans to peasants to buy them; Although it was described as an agrarian reform, this was not, since the lands were not expropriated, but bought at market price and sold at a lower price, using national funds that would never be repaid and that would pass into the hands of the landowners of the time. Homes were also built to be sold under the same conditions, although this was on a smaller scale.
It modified the Police Law of 1879, prohibiting civilians from carrying firearms, knives, machete their slingshots, elevating to a [[crime] quality ] evasion of said ordinance. On the other hand, it established that those who did not have lawful trades or an honest way of life would be prosecuted and punished as vagrants. sentence was the wall of execution. He established strong alliances with the Catholic Church, obtaining the benefit of the two monsignores of the Monsignor Belloso and Monsignor Chávez y González, who were always present at political executions and who, after the 1932 uprising, offered masses in gratitude for the military victory.
In military matters, he strengthened the professionalization of officers through scholarships for military study, especially to Italy. He financed the construction of a war tank, armed with six heavy machine guns.
In 1939 he convened the Constituent Assembly to draw up a new constitution, whose main novelty was the inclusion of the female vote under certain conditions of social origin and level of education.
In 1943, Hernández Martínez tried to increase the tributary rates on exports to obtain more income for the State, and that broke the relationship he had with the oligarchy groups.
His policies in the face of World War II edit
The advent of the Second World War meant an increase in exports to the United States and the improvement of the Salvadoran economy. This allowed Hernández Martínez to carry out some social reforms and a slight redistribution of the land through an agrarian program.
The general was very attracted by the successes of Fascists European governments, especially by Hitler and Benito Mussolini. In fact, in 1938 he appointed Eberhardt Bohnstedt, general of the Wehrmacht of the German army, director of the Military School. In addition, he opened diplomatic relations with the dictator Spanish Francisco Franco; however, being under pressure from the United States (the main buyer of coffee from the country Central American), he had to forget his sympathies and agreed to side with the Allies.
In addition, he gave diplomatic recognition to the puppet state of Manchukuo, and removed from office its officials who had German and Italian descent. Likewise, German and Italian residents in El Salvador expropriated their lands and sent them to concentration camps, which was enough to obtain diplomatic recognition from the United States.
That change in his foreign policy, as well as the repression against the communists and opponents of his government, allowed him to obtain greater support from Washington. However, the situation changed when Hernández Martínez refused to receive 3,000 US soldiers to protect the Panama Canal. The United States placed troops in the countries near the Canal, except in El Salvador, given the presidential refusal. The reason that Hernández Martínez gave for rejecting the Americans' request was that, given that the troops that would arrive would have a percentage of black race soldiers, there was an imminent risk that they would reproduce in El Salvador and fill the of colored children to the country.
Death and Military Legacy edit
After his resignation from the first magistracy, he fled by land to Guatemala, where he was received by his brother Guadalupe, then he moved to the United States, to finally move to Honduras. There he was murdered by Cipriano Morales, his motorcyclist, who dealt him 17 daggers. The murder took place in the dining room of his residence in Honduras, on May 15, 1966, the motive was a salary not paid by Martínez since apparently he spent it all on alcoholic beverages, something that the general abhorred.Legacy After the dictator's death, an anticommunist extermination brigade was given his name, which functioned as Death squad