La Matanza
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''La Matanza'' (
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
for "The Massacre") refers to a
communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
-
indigenous Indigenous may refer to: *Indigenous peoples *Indigenous (ecology), presence in a region as the result of only natural processes, with no human intervention *Indigenous (band), an American blues-rock band *Indigenous (horse), a Hong Kong racehorse ...
rebellion in
El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...
that took place between 22 and 25 January 1932. It was succeeded by large-scale government killings in western El Salvador, which resulted in the deaths of 10,000 to 40,000 people. On 22 January 1932, members of the
Communist Party of El Salvador The Communist Party of El Salvador ( es, Partido Comunista de El Salvador) is a communist party in El Salvador. The Communist Party was founded by Miguel Mármol on 10 March 1930. History In the mid-1960s the U.S. State Department estimat ...
(PCES) and
Pipil Pipil may refer to: *Nahua people of western El Salvador *Pipil language Nawat (academically Pipil, also known as Nicarao) is a Nahuan language native to Central America. It is the southernmost extant member of the Uto-Aztecan family. It was spo ...
peasants launched a rebellion against the Salvadoran military government due to widespread social unrest and the suppression of democratic political freedoms, especially after the cancellation of the results of the 1932 legislative election. During the rebellion, the communist and indigenous rebels, led by
Farabundo Martí Agustín Farabundo Martí Rodríguez (; 5 May 1893 – 1 February 1932) was a Marxist-Leninist activist and a revolutionary leader in El Salvador during ''La Matanza''. Early life Martí was born in Teotepeque, a farming community loca ...
and
Feliciano Ama José Feliciano de Jesús Ama Trampa (1881 – 28 January 1932) was an indigenous peasant leader, a Pipil from Izalco in El Salvador, who participated and died during La Matanza. Ama had his lands taken by the wealthy coffee planting family, ...
, respectively, captured several towns and cities across western El Salvador, killing an estimated 2,000 people and inflicting over
USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
$100,000 in property damage in the process. The Salvadoran government, led by General
Maximiliano Hernández Martínez Maximiliano Hernández Martínez (20 October 1882 – 15 May 1966) was a Salvadoran military officer and politician who served as the president of El Salvador from 4 December 1931 to 28 August 1934 in an acting capacity and again in an officia ...
, who assumed power following the 1931 Salvadoran coup d'état, declared
martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...
, and ordered the suppression of the revolt. Most of the people who were killed during ''La Matanza'', which has been described as an
ethnocide Ethnocide is the extermination of cultures. Reviewing the legal and the academic history of the usage of the terms genocide and ethnocide, Bartolomé Clavero differentiates them by stating that "Genocide kills people while ethnocide kills social ...
, were Pipil peasants and non-combatants. Many of the rebellion's leaders, including Martí and Ama, were executed by the military. The government's atrocities also forced several communist leaders to flee the country and go into exile.


Background


Social unrest

Social unrest Civil disorder, also known as civil disturbance, civil unrest, or social unrest is a situation arising from a mass act of civil disobedience (such as a demonstration, riot, strike, or unlawful assembly) in which law enforcement has difficulty m ...
in
El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...
began to grow in the 1920s. El Salvador had three distinct
social class A social class is a grouping of people into a set of Dominance hierarchy, hierarchical social categories, the most common being the Upper class, upper, Middle class, middle and Working class, lower classes. Membership in a social class can for ...
es: the upper class, made up of wealthy landowners, the middle class, composed of politicians and soldiers, and the lower class, which was composed of mostly
peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants ...
s and workers. In 1920, a group of
communist Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a s ...
and
socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...
students, teachers, and artisans, established the
Regional Federation of Salvadoran Workers In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
(FRTS), El Salvador's first
trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...
to organize rural and urban workers. One of the rural leaders of the FRTS was
Farabundo Martí Agustín Farabundo Martí Rodríguez (; 5 May 1893 – 1 February 1932) was a Marxist-Leninist activist and a revolutionary leader in El Salvador during ''La Matanza''. Early life Martí was born in Teotepeque, a farming community loca ...
, who, together with Miguel Mármol, founded the
Communist Party of El Salvador The Communist Party of El Salvador ( es, Partido Comunista de El Salvador) is a communist party in El Salvador. The Communist Party was founded by Miguel Mármol on 10 March 1930. History In the mid-1960s the U.S. State Department estimat ...
(PCES) in 1930. Between 1928 and 1932, Martí fought alongside
Augusto César Sandino Augusto C. Sandino (; May 18, 1895 February 21, 1934), full name Augusto Nicolás Calderón de Sandino y José de María Sandino, was a Nicaraguan revolutionary and leader of a rebellion between 1927 and 1933 against the United States occupati ...
in
Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the cou ...
against the United States' occupation of the country.


Economic problems

In the late-19th and early-20th centuries, the Salvadoran economy was heavily dependent on exporting
coffee Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulant, stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world. S ...
and
coffee bean A coffee bean is a seed of the ''Coffea'' plant and the source for coffee. It is the pip inside the red or purple fruit often referred to as a coffee cherry. Just like ordinary cherries, the coffee fruit is also a so-called stone fruit. Even thou ...
s, which accounted for 75 to 95 percent of all of El Salvador's exports by 1929. Most of the coffee plantations, and the profits made by the plantations, were owned by the so-called "
Fourteen Families The Fourteen Families (Spanish: ) was a term used to label and refer to the oligarchy of El Salvador during the country's period known as the "Coffee Republic" from 1871 to 1927.Haggerty 1990, p. 10 The families controlled most of the land in t ...
." Due to the collapse of coffee prices worldwide as a result of the
Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
in 1929, coffee producers were unable to cover the cost of producing coffee or pay their workers, leading to various coffee plantations failing and many workers to go
unemployed Unemployment, according to the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), is people above a specified age (usually 15) not being in paid employment or self-employment but currently available for work during the referen ...
. As a result of the reduced exports, national income fell 50 percent from the year prior, decreasing from USD¢40–50 per day to only USD¢20 per day.


Political situation


Meléndez–Quiñónez dynasty and the 1931 election

On 9 February 1913, Salvadoran President
Manuel Enrique Araujo Doctor Manuel Enrique Araujo (12 October 1865 – 9 February 1913) was a Salvadoran doctor and politician who served as the President of El Salvador from 1 March 1911 until his assassination on 9 February 1913. He was the first civilian pres ...
died to his wounds after being attacked by three farmers with
machete Older machete from Latin America Gerber machete/saw combo Agustín Cruz Tinoco of San Agustín de las Juntas, Oaxaca">San_Agustín_de_las_Juntas.html" ;"title="Agustín Cruz Tinoco of San Agustín de las Juntas">Agustín Cruz Tinoco of San ...
s in
San Salvador San Salvador (; ) is the capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its eponymous department. It is the country's political, cultural, educational and financial center. The Metropolitan Area of San Salvador, which comprises the capital i ...
during an
assassination Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...
attempt. After Araujo's death, he was succeeded by a
political dynasty A political family (also referred to as political dynasty) is a family in which multiple members are involved in politics — particularly electoral politics. Members may be related by blood or marriage; often several generations or multiple sibli ...
; Araujo's
vice president A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on t ...
, Carlos Meléndez Ramírez, his younger brother, Jorge Meléndez Ramírez, and their brother-in-law,
Alfonso Quiñónez Molina Alfonso Quiñónez Molina (January 11, 1874 – May 22, 1950) was the President of El Salvador from 21st of December 1918 to the 28th of February 1919 and from the 1st of March 1923 to 28th ofFebruary 1927. He served as the Vice President ...
, held the
presidency A presidency is an administration or the executive, the collective administrative and governmental entity that exists around an office of president of a state or nation. Although often the executive branch of government, and often personified by a ...
of El Salvador from 1913 until 1927 in the so-called "Meléndez–Quiñónez dynasty." The political dynasty ended when Quiñónez Molina chose
Pío Romero Bosque Pío Romero Bosque (1860 – 10 December 1935) was a Salvadoran politician who served as president of El Salvador from 1 March 1927 until 1 March 1931. He also served as the vice president of Alfonso Quiñónez Molina from 1 March 1923 to 1 Mar ...
as his successor, as there were no other family members who were willing to assume the presidency. During his term, Romero Bosque lifted restrictions on the existence of political parties in opposition to the ruling National Democratic Party (PDN). In 1931, a
general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...
was held in the country, which is considered by historians to be the first free and fair election in Salvadoran history. The three primary candidates in the election were Alberto Gómez Zárate, the
minister of national defense A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...
during Romero Bosque's presidency,
Arturo Araujo Arturo Araujo Fajardo (1878 – December 1, 1967) was the president of El Salvador from March 1, 1931, to December 2, 1931. He was overthrown in a military coup led by junior officers, and was forced to flee the country for Guatemala. An agricul ...
, an engineer and coffee planter who was a distant relative of Manuel Enrique Araujo, and
Maximiliano Hernández Martínez Maximiliano Hernández Martínez (20 October 1882 – 15 May 1966) was a Salvadoran military officer and politician who served as the president of El Salvador from 4 December 1931 to 28 August 1934 in an acting capacity and again in an officia ...
, a military officer. Araujo and Hernández Martínez eventually ran together on a joint ticket and defeated Gómez Zárate, although they did not attain a majority of the vote. Despite the
military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
's support for Gómez Zárate and belief that the they would reject the result of the election, the armed forces remained loyal to the results of the election. Additionally, the Communist Party of El Salvador won several municipal elections.


Military coup and the canceled 1932 election

During Araujo's administration, El Salvador was still struggling economically as a result of the Great Depression leading to social unrest across the country. In an attempt to improve the economy, Araujo reduced the military's budget and ordered some military officials to retire. His efforts were strongly opposed by the military, which staged a coup on 2 December 1931, deposing Araujo and establishing the
Civic Directory The Civic Directory ( es, Directorio Cívico) was a military junta which governed El Salvador from 2 to 4 December 1931. The junta was composed of twelve members of the Armed Forces of El Salvador from the Salvadoran Army, army, Salvadoran Air ...
. The military government was dissolved two days later when Hernández Martínez was declared as the country's acting president, however, his government was not recognized by the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. The December 1931 coup began a period of forty-eight years of military rule in the country. In the few days after the coup, the Communist Party of El Salvador was "cautiously optimistic" about the coup, writing an
open letter An open letter is a Letter (message), letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally. Open letters usually take the form of a letter (mess ...
to Hernández Martínez's government through its ''Estrella Roja'' newspaper, stating that the coup was "heroic and necessary" while also believing that his government would reimpose an exploitative capitalist system. Before Araujo was deposed, municipal and legislative elections were scheduled for 15 December 1931, but after his government was overthrown, the military rescheduled the municipal elections for 3–5 January 1932 and the legislative elections for 10–12 January 1932. When the communist party began to win several municipal elections in western El Salvador, the government canceled the results of all of the municipal elections. The legislative elections proceeded on 10 January, and despite early polling returns indicating a communist victory in
San Salvador San Salvador (; ) is the capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its eponymous department. It is the country's political, cultural, educational and financial center. The Metropolitan Area of San Salvador, which comprises the capital i ...
, a delayed official result announced that three non-communists won the three seats of the San Salvador department. Violence occurred throughout the electoral process, and at least thirty communists were killed in
Ahuachapán Ahuachapán () is a city, and municipality, and the capital of the Ahuachapán Department in western El Salvador. The municipality, including the city, covers an area of 244.84 km² and as of 2007 has a population of 110,511 people. Situat ...
.


Preparations for revolt


Planning and attempt for compromise

Due to the result of the elections, communist party leaders believed that they could no longer come to power through legal means, as Hernández Martínez's government effectively canceled the elections. The Communist Party of El Salvador was led by Martí and Mármol. Other communist leaders included Mario Zapata, Alfonso Luna, Rafael Bondanza, and Ismael Hernández. Hernández, who was a member of the
International Red Aid International Red Aid (also commonly known by its Russian acronym MOPR ( ru , МОПР, for: ''Междунаро́дная организа́ция по́мощи борца́м револю́ции'' - Mezhdunarodnaya organizatsiya pomoshchi bor ...
, believed that the United States would support the rebels and mistake it as a pro-Araujo counterrevolution. The communists' primary inspiration for revolution was the
Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...
' 1917
October Revolution The October Revolution,. officially known as the Great October Socialist Revolution. in the Soviet Union, also known as the Bolshevik Revolution, was a revolution in Russia led by the Bolshevik Party of Vladimir Lenin that was a key moment ...
. According to Abel Cuenca, a Salvadoran communist and participant in the rebellion, the rebellion was not planned until after the municipal election results were canceled, with actual planning beginning on 9 or 10 January 1932. Conversely, according to Jorge Schlesinger, a Salvadoran writer, Martí began planning the rebellion in mid-December 1931 while in
Puerto Cortés Puerto Cortés, originally known as Puerto de Caballos, is a port city and municipality on the north Caribbean coast of Honduras, right on the Laguna de Alvarado, north of San Pedro Sula and east of Omoa, with a natural bay. The present city ...
,
Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...
. His claim, however, has been essentially discredited as his piece of evidence for his claim, a letter allegedly written by Martí discussing the rebellion, was dated to 16 December 1932, rather than 1931. In a final attempt to avoid a violent rebellion, the communist party sent a political commission consisting of Zapata, Luna, Clemente Abel Estrada, Rubén Darío Fernández, and Joaquín Rivas to the
National Palace Buildings called National Palace include: * National Palace (Dominican Republic), in Santo Domingo *National Palace (El Salvador), in San Salvador *National Palace (Ethiopia), in Addis Ababa; also known as the Jubilee Palace * National Palace (Guate ...
to enter into negotiations with the government. The commission was not allowed to meet directly with Hernández Martínez, instead being directed to Colonel
Joaquín Valdés Joaquín Valdés (22 September 1906 – 30 August 1957) was a Salvadoran military officer who served as the Minister of National Defense from 1931 to 1935 and as Co-chairman of the Civic Directory in December 1931. Biography Joaquín Vald ...
, the minister of national defense, where the commission demanded "substantial contributions to the welfare of the peasants" in exchange for a cessation of illegal activities, threatening to revolt if the demands were not met. Reportedly, Luna told Valdés, "the peasants will win with their machetes the
rights Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical the ...
you are denying them," to which Valdés responded, "you have machetes; we have
machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...
s." The meeting ended with no
compromise To compromise is to make a deal between different parties where each party gives up part of their demand. In arguments, compromise is a concept of finding agreement through communication, through a mutual acceptance of terms—often involving var ...
being met.


Government knowledge of the rebellion

Just before the rebellion, Juan Pablo Wainwright was arrested in
Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...
. He was a communist party member who was rallying support from communists in Guatemala to invade El Salvador to overthrow Hernández Martínez's government, and his arrest ended the possibility of a foreign invasion force from aiding rebels in El Salvador. Additionally, on 18 January, Martí, Luna, and Zapata were arrested by the Salvadoran government, but the arrests were not made public until 20 January, and plans to attack the barracks in San Salvador were captured by the army. On 21 January, the government instructed newspapers in the country to report that a rebellion was planned to occur the following day. Cuenca theorized that Hernández Martínez intentionally allowed the revolt to happen by preventing the opportunity for social and political reform to occur. The theory asserts that the intention of letting revolution occur was to crush it forcefully, as he believed the movement was doomed to fail, and that the suppression of the communist uprising would help him gain support and recognition from the United States. Dr. Alejandro D. Marroquín argued that Hernández Martínez actually feared a potential attack from Araujo's Labor Party from Guatemala, rather than the communist rebellion itself. He argued that, to prevent Araujo from mobilizing the people to bring him back to power, Hernández Martínez allowed the rebellion to occur and crushed it by force, depriving Araujo of an armed movement to help bring him back to power.


Rebellion

In the late hours of 22 January 1932, thousands of peasants in the western part of the country, armed with sticks, machetes, and "poor-quality"
shotgun A shotgun (also known as a scattergun, or historically as a fowling piece) is a long gun, long-barreled firearm designed to shoot a straight-walled cartridge (firearms), cartridge known as a shotshell, which usually discharges numerous small p ...
s, rose up in rebellion against Hernández Martínez's regime. According to General José Tomás Calderón, an estimated 70,000 to 80,000 rebels were involved in the uprising. Rebels led by Francisco Sánchez ( es) attacked telegraph offices, their primary target, in
Juayúa Juayúa is a city and municipality in the Sonsonate department of El Salvador. It is a small town up in the mountains, founded in 1577. Juayua is located in the western part of El Salvador, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from San Salvador. H ...
at 11:00 p.m. and eventually took control of the city due to a lack of a military presence. The rebels attacked the home of Emilio Radaelli, a coffee merchant referred to as the "richest man in town," and assassinated him, along with his son and wife, who was also raped. Radaelli's house and two of his stores were burned, with many more stores being looted. Colonel Mateo Vaquero was also killed by the rebels and several civilians were tortured and murdered. Miguel Call, the mayor of
Izalco Izalco (in Nawat: ''Itzalku'') is a municipality in the Sonsonate department of El Salvador. Volcan Izalco is an icon of the country of El Salvador, a very young Volcano on the flank of Santa Ana volcano. From when it was born in 1770 until 1 ...
, Rafael Castro Cármaco, a politician from
Chalchuapa Chalchuapa is a town and a municipality located in the Santa Ana department of El Salvador. The city of Chalchuapa is in a wide valley at 650 meters above sea level, and watered by the Pampe River. Overview It is situated 15 kilometers west ...
, and General Rafael Rivas, the military commander of
Tacuba Tacuba is a municipality in the Ahuachapán department of El Salvador. Church Of Tacuba It is located in Villa of Tacuba. It is head of the municipality of the same name in the department of Ahuachapán, at about 14 Kilometers of the city of Ahu ...
, were also killed by the rebels. Businesses and homes were destroyed by rebels, with the total property damage inflicted being estimated at around SVC₡300,000 (approximately
USD The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
$120,000 in 1932). Much of the damage was inflicted against property owned by wealthy individuals and families. Eventually, the rebels captured the towns of Colón, Juayúa, Nahuizalco, Salcoatitán,
Sonzacate Sonzacate is a municipality in the Sonsonate department of El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on th ...
, and Tacuba. Additionally,
Pipil Pipil may refer to: *Nahua people of western El Salvador *Pipil language Nawat (academically Pipil, also known as Nicarao) is a Nahuan language native to Central America. It is the southernmost extant member of the Uto-Aztecan family. It was spo ...
rebels led by
Feliciano Ama José Feliciano de Jesús Ama Trampa (1881 – 28 January 1932) was an indigenous peasant leader, a Pipil from Izalco in El Salvador, who participated and died during La Matanza. Ama had his lands taken by the wealthy coffee planting family, ...
supported the communist rebels and captured the town of Izalco on 23 January. Ama was an influential indigenous leader in Izalco, and believed that joining the rebellion would help him gain political office. Meanwhile, the majority of the Pipil rebels were sympathetic to the communists' ideals, and believed that they possessed a "secret weapon or magic" which would assure victory. Despite efforts to prevent communication with the military garrisons in
Ahuachapán Ahuachapán () is a city, and municipality, and the capital of the Ahuachapán Department in western El Salvador. The municipality, including the city, covers an area of 244.84 km² and as of 2007 has a population of 110,511 people. Situat ...
,
Sonsonate Sonsonate () is a city and municipality of El Salvador. It is the capital of the department of Sonsonate; on the Sensunapan River and the Pan-American Highway from San Salvador to the Pacific port of Acajutla, south. Pop. (2007), about 71,541. E ...
, and Santa Ana, Izalco managed to send a telegram to Sonsonate warning the military garrison there of the rebel attacks before the telegraph office was destroyed. The warning was received by the military garrison in Sonsonate, and in response, Colonel Ernesto Bará sent an expeditionary force under the command of Major Mariano Molina to crush the rebellion on 23 January. Molina's soldiers first clashed with the rebels outside of Sonzacate, and after engaging in hand-to-hand combat, the rebels retreated to the city proper. Casualties from the battle included fifty to seventy dead rebels, five dead soldiers, and half a dozen more soldiers wounded. The Canadian warships HMCS ''Skeena'' and HMCS ''Vancouver'' were docked at the Port of
Acajutla Acajutla is a seaport city in Sonsonate Department, El Salvador. The city is located at on the Pacific coast of Central America and is El Salvador's principal seaport from which a large portion of the nation's exports of coffee, sugar, and Bals ...
, and the ships were requested by the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
to protect any British citizens in the country. Ships from the United States arrived shortly after and the ships offered to assist the Salvadoran government in quelling the rebellion, however, Calderón turned down the offer, stating: Quickly after the uprising in 24 January 1932, the government declared
martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Marti ...
and mobilized the military to crush the rebellion by force. Soldiers under the command of Colonel Marcelino Galdámez marched into the departments of
Sonsonate Sonsonate () is a city and municipality of El Salvador. It is the capital of the department of Sonsonate; on the Sensunapan River and the Pan-American Highway from San Salvador to the Pacific port of Acajutla, south. Pop. (2007), about 71,541. E ...
and
Ahuachapán Ahuachapán () is a city, and municipality, and the capital of the Ahuachapán Department in western El Salvador. The municipality, including the city, covers an area of 244.84 km² and as of 2007 has a population of 110,511 people. Situat ...
and captured Izalco that same day. Nahuizalco, Salcoatitán, Juayúa were all captured the next day, and the rebellion was fully crushed by the afternoon of 25 January 1932.


Subsequent government killings

On 25 January 1932, reinforcements under Calderón arrived in Sonsonate and began
reprisal A reprisal is a limited and deliberate violation of international law to punish another sovereign state that has already broken them. Since the 1977 Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions (AP 1), reprisals in the laws of war are extremel ...
s against peasants, especially against ethnic Pipils, in western El Salvador, indiscriminately killing thousands of civilians in the process. In several towns, the entire male population was gathered in the town's center and killed by machine gun fire. The killings persisted for two weeks until February 1932 when the government decided that the region had been sufficiently "pacified". René Padilla Velasco, Martí's
lawyer A lawyer is a person who practices law. The role of a lawyer varies greatly across different legal jurisdictions. A lawyer can be classified as an advocate, attorney, barrister, canon lawyer, civil law notary, counsel, counselor, solic ...
during his
show trial A show trial is a public trial in which the judicial authorities have already determined the guilt or innocence of the defendant. The actual trial has as its only goal the presentation of both the accusation and the verdict to the public so th ...
, argued that Hernández Martínez forced Martí to launch the rebellion as a final "desperate" effort to prevent him from consolidating dictatorial control of the country. Martí, Luna, and Zapata were executed by a firing squad on 1 February 1932. Ama and Sánchez were captured by the army in Izalco on 25 January 1932; Sánchez was executed by a firing squad that same day, while Ama was
lynched Lynching is an extrajudicial killing by a group. It is most often used to characterize informal public executions by a mob in order to punish an alleged transgressor, punish a convicted transgressor, or intimidate people. It can also be an ex ...
in a plaza in the city on 28 January 1932. Many refugees attempted to flee the country to Guatemala to escape the government's repression, however, Guatemalan President
Jorge Ubico Jorge Ubico Castañeda (10 November 1878 – 14 June 1946), nicknamed Number Five or also Central America's Napoleon, was a Guatemalan dictator. A general in the Guatemalan army, he was elected to the presidency in 1931, in an election where ...
closed the
border Borders are usually defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders c ...
and handed over those who tried to flee back to the Salvadoran Army. On 11 July 1932, the Legislative Assembly passed Directive 121 which officially declared an end to the rebellion. It also granted unconditional amnesty to anyone who committed crimes of any nature to "restore order, repress, persecute, punish and capture those accused of the crime of rebellion of this year".


Aftermath


Death toll

Estimates of the exact death toll of the rebellion and subsequent government killings vary greatly; the figures most commonly estimated are between 10,000 and 40,000 dead. According to a Sonsonate resident interviewed by journalist Joaquín Méndez, the rebels killed approximately 2,000 people. Colonel
Osmín Aguirre y Salinas Osmín Aguirre y Salinas (25 December 1889 – 17 July 1977) was a Salvadoran military officer and politician who served as the provisional president of El Salvador from 21 October 1944 until 1 March 1945. A Colonel in the Salvadoran Army, Ag ...
, the chief of the
National Police National Police may refer to the national police forces of several countries: *Afghanistan: Afghan National Police *Haiti: Haitian National Police *Colombia: National Police of Colombia *Cuba: Cuban National Police *East Timor: National Police of ...
, stated that no more than 6,000 to 7,000 people were "executed". According to John Beverly, around 30,000 people, or four percent of the population, were killed by the government. As a result of the large scale of the killings, the event has since been referred to as ''La Matanza'' (
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Cana ...
for " The Massacre").


Political effects

Following the mass killings, Hernández Martínez solidified his rule when the legislature confirmed his presidency in 1932. He also sought to legitimize his rule via presidential elections in
1935 Events January * January 7 – Italian premier Benito Mussolini and French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval conclude Franco-Italian Agreement of 1935, an agreement, in which each power agrees not to oppose the other's colonial claims. * ...
,
1939 This year also marks the start of the Second World War, the largest and deadliest conflict in human history. Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 1 ** Third Reich *** Jews are forbidden to ...
, and
1944 Events Below, the events of World War II have the "WWII" prefix. January * January 2 – WWII: ** Free French General Jean de Lattre de Tassigny is appointed to command French Army B, part of the Sixth United States Army Group in Nor ...
, in which he was the only candidate. He exercised control of the country through force via the army and through friendly relations with the country's landowners and elites. Hernández Martínez was the country's longest serving president, serving from 1931 to 1944 when he resigned following an attempted coup and a series of mass protests against his government. Hernández Martínez's government was not recognized by the United States after it came to power in 1931 due to the 1923 Central American Treaty of Peace and Amity which mandates its signatories shall not recognize any government which came to power via a coup d'état. Mauricio de la Selva, a Salvadoran poet and communist writer, theorized that Hernández Martínez crushed the rebellion with such violence as to appear to the United States as a "champion of
anti-communism Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when the United States and the ...
". The United States did eventually recognize Hernández Martínez's regime on 26 January 1934, not because of his government's anti-communist ideology, but because the United States perceived his government as bringing stability to the country. Most of the surviving leaders of the Communist Party of El Salvador fled the country, primarily to
Honduras Honduras, officially the Republic of Honduras, is a country in Central America. The republic of Honduras is bordered to the west by Guatemala, to the southwest by El Salvador, to the southeast by Nicaragua, to the south by the Pacific Oce ...
and
Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...
. The communist party itself was not banned, and it remained active in El Salvador throughout Hernández Martínez's presidency. The party even supported the mass protests which led to Hernández Martínez's resignation in 1944. In 1980, various left-wing militia groups of the
Salvadoran Civil War The Salvadoran Civil War ( es, guerra civil de El Salvador) was a twelve year period of civil war in El Salvador that was fought between the government of El Salvador and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), a coalition or ...
joined forces and formed the
Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front The Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front ( es, Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional, FMLN) is a left-wing political party in El Salvador. The FMLN was formed as an umbrella group on 10 October 1980, from five leftist gu ...
(FMLN), named after Martí. The FMLN continues to exist as one of El Salvador's major political parties.


Effect on indigenous communities

Some scholars label the mass killings of Pipil as an
ethnocide Ethnocide is the extermination of cultures. Reviewing the legal and the academic history of the usage of the terms genocide and ethnocide, Bartolomé Clavero differentiates them by stating that "Genocide kills people while ethnocide kills social ...
, since the army used indigenous appearance, dress, and language to help designate who should be targeted. As a result, in the decades that followed, Salvadoran indigenous peoples increasingly abandoned their native dress and traditional languages for fear of further reprisals. The events brought about the extermination of the majority of the Pipil-speaking population, which led to a near total loss of the spoken language in El Salvador. Many of the indigenous people who did not participate in the uprising stated that they did not understand the motivation of the government's persecution. Over the years since ''La Matanza'', the recorded population willing to self-identify as indigenous has fallen to about 10 percent in the 21st century. In the decade following the uprising, military presence in the area was persistent with the objective of keeping the peasants under control so that the events did not recur. After the dictatorship of Hernández Martínez, the method of preventing peasant discontent changed from repression to social reforms which benefitted them.


Commemoration

In the town of Izalco, the uprising is commemorated annually on 22 January. Media coverage is moderate, but the commemoration is supported by municipal authorities who pay tribute to all who were killed during the event. Speakers include people who lived through the event, and relatives of Ama. In 2010, President
Mauricio Funes Carlos Mauricio Funes Cartagena (born 18 October 1959) is a Salvadoran politician and former journalist who served as President of El Salvador from 2009 to 2014. Funes won the 2009 Salvadoran presidential election, 2009 presidential election as ...
apologized to the indigenous communities of El Salvador for the brutal acts of persecution and extermination carried out by previous governments. In a statement made during the inauguration of the First Congress of Indigenous Peoples, he stated, "In this context and this spirit, my government wishes to be the first government to, on behalf of the State of El Salvador, of the people of El Salvador, and of the families of El Salvador, make an act of contrition and apologize to the indigenous communities for the persecution and extermination of which they were victims during so many years". The Jeffrey Gould directed 2002 film ''1932: Scars of Memory'' describes the events of the uprising and subsequent massacre.


See also

*
Anti-communist mass killings Anti-communist mass killings are the politically motivated mass killings of communists, alleged communists, or their alleged supporters which were committed by anti-communists and political organizations or governments which opposed communism. Th ...
*
Guatemalan genocide The Guatemalan genocide, also referred to as the Maya genocide, or the Silent Holocaust ( es, Genocidio guatemalteco, , or ), was the massacre of Maya civilians during the Guatemalan Civil War (1960–1996) by the Guatemalan military government ...
*
History of El Salvador The history of El Salvador begins with several Mesoamerican nations, especially the Cuzcatlecs, as well as the Lenca and Maya. In the early 16th century, the Spanish Empire conquered the territory, incorporating it into the Viceroyalty of Ne ...
*
List of massacres in El Salvador The following are lists of massacres that have occurred in El Salvador (numbers may be approximate). There were some 27 separate documented civilian massacres in the Salvadoran Civil War era alone (1979–1989), in total the war directly claimed ...
*
List of peasant revolts This is a chronological list of conflicts in which peasants played a significant role. Background The history of peasant wars spans over two thousand years. A variety of factors fueled the emergence of the peasant revolt phenomenon, including: ...


Notes


References


Citations


Bibliography

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Further reading

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Salvadoran peasant massacre 1932 in El Salvador Conflicts in 1932 Mass murder in 1932 January 1932 events 20th-century rebellions Communist rebellions Peasant revolts Wars involving El Salvador Pipil Anti-indigenous racism in North America Genocide of indigenous peoples of North America Racism in North America History of El Salvador Political history of El Salvador Human rights abuses in El Salvador Massacres in El Salvador Anti-communist terrorism Ahuachapán Department La Libertad Department (El Salvador) Santa Ana Department Sonsonate Department