Osmín Aguirre y Salinas
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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 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, head of state and Head of Government, head ...
from 21 October 1944 until 1 March 1945. A Colonel in the
Salvadoran Army The Salvadoran Army (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Ejército Salvadoreño'') is the land branch and largest of the Armed Forces of El Salvador. Conflicts The Football War The Football War (also called The Soccer War or 100-hours War) was a ...
, Aguirre y Salinas led two successful coups against the Salvadoran government: once in 1931 (installing 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 ...
in power) and again in 1944 (installing himself in power). He left office in 1945, with the assurance that his successor in the next election would be
Salvador Castaneda Castro Salvador Castaneda Castro (6 August 1888 – 5 March 1965) was President of El Salvador from 1 March 1945 to 14 December 1948. He had previously served as Interior Minister under President Maximiliano Hernández Martínez. He was elected unoppos ...
. He was later assassinated near his home 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 ...
at the age of 87. The Supreme Court declared his term unconstitutional, and 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 ...
did not recognize his coming to power, which deemed his regime pro-fascist.


Personal life

Osmín Aguirre y Salinas was born in San Miguel, San Miguel, on 24 December 1889. He married Mrs. Rosa Cardona (1904–1991) and fathered four children.


Government of Hernández Martínez

On 2 December 1931, President
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 ...
was overthrown by
Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
officers over anger that they had not been paid. Colonel Osmín Aguirre y Salinas took part in the coup and helped establish 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 Civic Directory handed over the Presidency of El Salvador to then
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 ...
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 ...
on December 4. Aguirre y Salinas acted as Director of the National Police during Hernández Martínez's presidency from 1931 through 1944. In January 1932, peasants across western
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 ...
took up arms against the government after
legislative elections 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 ( ...
were cancelled by President Hernández Martínez. Nohlen, D (2005) ''Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I'', p 277 In what would become a massacre of 25,000 to 40,000 indigenous peasants and communists, Aguirre y Salinas was put in charge of capturing
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 ...
, one of the rebellion's
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 ...
leaders.


Presidency

On 9 May 1944,
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 ...
resigned due to an attempted coup, strikes being conducted against his government, and pressure from 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 ...
. After Hernández Martínez's resignation,
Andrés Ignacio Menéndez Brigadier General Andrés Ignacio Menéndez (1 February 1879–7 June 1962) was born in Santa Ana, El Salvador. He served as President of El Salvador from 29 August 1934 to 1 March 1935 and again from 9 May to 20 October 1944. He was overthro ...
became Provisional President of El Salvador. On 21 October 1944, Aguirre y Salinas and other military officers who previously supported Hernández Martínez overthrew
Andrés Ignacio Menéndez Brigadier General Andrés Ignacio Menéndez (1 February 1879–7 June 1962) was born in Santa Ana, El Salvador. He served as President of El Salvador from 29 August 1934 to 1 March 1935 and again from 9 May to 20 October 1944. He was overthro ...
's government and established himself as Provisional President of El Salvador. He cracked down on political opposition which lead to an armed uprising being launched by students 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 ...
on 8 December, followed by an insurgent attack from
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 ...
four days later where dictator
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 ...
had been overthrown in July. Both movements were crushed by the Aguirre y Salinas government, which thus consolidated its position in power. During his brief and short presidency, he issued a decree reforming the regulations of executive power on 28 February 1945, with the purpose of making a "more rational distribution of the different branches of public administration" and considering "urgent the introduction of some reforms to the Regulation of the Executive Power, so that the incoming Government can organize said services on new bases." In January 1945, Aguirre y Salinas oversaw the
presidential elections A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pr ...
and ran in them to be elected to a second term. The election was boycotted by five candidates who withdrew after accusing Osmín Aguirre y Salinas of unfair election practices to ensure victory for his favored candidate. The election ended in a victory for
Salvador Castaneda Castro Salvador Castaneda Castro (6 August 1888 – 5 March 1965) was President of El Salvador from 1 March 1945 to 14 December 1948. He had previously served as Interior Minister under President Maximiliano Hernández Martínez. He was elected unoppos ...
of the
Social Democratic Unification Party Social organisms, including human(s), live collectively in interacting populations. This interaction is considered social whether they are aware of it or not, and whether the exchange is voluntary or not. Etymology The word "social" derives from ...
with 312,754 votes and a margin of 99.70 percent.Nohlen, D (2005) ''Elections in the Americas: A data handbook Vol. 1'' Oxford University Press, p287 Aguirre y Salinas himself only received 690 votes, a margin of 0.22 percent, in the heavily rigged election. Aguirre y Salinas' term ended on 1 March 1945 and Castaneda Castro was sworn in as President. He continued to harbour political aspirations in opposition to the rule of Castaneda Castro and run for the presidency, until the military coup of 1948.


Assassination

Aguirre y Salinas was assassinated on 12 July 1977 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 ...
while he was being taken to the Military Hospital. He was 87 years old at the time of his death.


See also

*
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 ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aguirre y Salinas, Osmin 1889 births 1977 deaths People from San Miguel, El Salvador Salvadoran people of Basque descent Presidents of El Salvador Salvadoran military personnel Leaders who took power by coup World War II political leaders People murdered in El Salvador Assassinated Salvadoran politicians 1977 crimes in El Salvador 1977 murders in North America 1970s murders in El Salvador Defence ministers of El Salvador