Lieutenant Colonel José María Lemus López (22 July 1911 – 31 March 1993) was

president of El Salvador The president of El Salvador ( es, Presidente de El Salvador), officially known as the President of the Republic of El Salvador ( es, Presidente de la República de El Salvador), is the head of state and head of government of El Salvador. He i ...

from 14 September 1956 to 26 October 1960. Before becoming a president, he served as an undersecretary of defense and a minister of the interior.

Life and career

He was born into a family of humble beginnings in La Unión, El Salvador. He was undersecretary of defense from 1948-1949. As President

Óscar Osorio Óscar Osorio Hernández (December 14, 1910 – March 6, 1969) ruled as a member of the Revolutionary Council of Government from December 14, 1948 to September 14, 1950. He was President of El Salvador from September 14, 1950 until Septemb ...

's choice for the successor to presidency, he antagonized many by fighting against corruption. Having won the disputed election of 1956, he appointed prominent civilians into his government and allowed many exiles to return the country. He was a member of the Party of Democratic Unification. He continued socio-economic reforms of his predecessor, but there was no improvement in the living standards of the working class. He promulgated the Tenant Law, which protects the rights of the renters of houses or "Mesones, called also Vecindades" (humble apartment units with shared bathrooms). The law stipulating that

landlords A landlord is the owner of a house, apartment, condominium, land, or real estate which is rented or leased to an individual or business, who is called a tenant (also a ''lessee'' or ''renter''). When a juristic person is in this position, t ...

cannot increase the rent more than 10% every year made rent contract in houses obligatory with the objective of protecting the renter. His government repealed the anti-sedition laws, therefore antagonizing the military. His government's decision to control the production of coffee infuriated the public. Soon after the

Cuban revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in co ...

, there were widespread student protests. There was a subsequent roundup of dissidents and protesters.

Overthrow and death

Following these uncertainties, he was overthrown in a bloodless coup and a new, short-lived Junta government was formed consisting of three military (Miguel Ángel Castillo, César Yanes Urías, Rubén Alonso Rosales) and three civilian (Ricardo Falla Cáceres, Fabio Castillo Figueroa, Rene Fortín Magaña.) After his exile, he lived in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

until his death in San Jose, Costa Rica. He died of

Hodgkin's lymphoma Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) is a type of lymphoma, in which cancer originates from a specific type of white blood cell called lymphocytes, where multinucleated Reed–Sternberg cells (RS cells) are present in the patient's lymph nodes. The condition w ...

, leaving behind a wife and eight children.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lemus, Jose Maria Presidents of El Salvador Leaders ousted by a coup 1993 deaths 1911 births Salvadoran military personnel Grand Crosses Special Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany Revolutionary Party of Democratic Unification politicians Interior ministers of El Salvador Salvadoran exiles Salvadoran expatriates in the United States Salvadoran expatriates in Costa Rica