Osmín Aguirre y Salinas (24 December 1889 – 17 July 1977) was a Salvadoran military officer and politician who served as the provisional

president of El Salvador President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

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. History The Football War The Football War (also called The Soccer War or 100-hours War) was a ter ...

, Aguirre led two successful coups against the Salvadoran government: once in 1931 (installing General

Maximiliano Hernández Martínez Maximiliano Hernández Martínez (21 October 1882 – 15 May 1966) was a Salvadoran military officer and politician who served as president of El Salvador from 4 December 1931 to 28 August 1934 in a provisional capacity and again in an offi ...

in power) and once more 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 ...

. Aguirre was later assassinated by left-wing guerrillas near his home in

San Salvador San Salvador () is the Capital city, capital and the largest city of El Salvador and its San Salvador Department, eponymous department. It is the country's largest agglomeration, serving as the country's political, cultural, educational and fin ...

at the age of 87. The Supreme Court declared his term unconstitutional, and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

did not recognize his coming to power, which deemed his regime pro-fascist. As the chief of the

National Police of El Salvador The National Police of El Salvador (), abbreviated as the PN, was the national law enforcement agency of El Salvador from 1867 to 1992. History The National Police of El Salvador was established in 1867 during the presidency of Francisco ...

, Aguirre was one of main perpetrators of .

Early life

Osmín Aguirre y Salinas was born in San Miguel, El Salvador on 24 December 1889. Aguirre married Rosa Cardona and the couple had four children.

Military career

Aguirre became a cadet in the

on 13 January 1906. He participated in the 1906 Totoposte War against Guatemala as a sub-lieutenant. He was promoted to

lieutenant A lieutenant ( , ; abbreviated Lt., Lt, LT, Lieut and similar) is a Junior officer, junior commissioned officer rank in the armed forces of many nations, as well as fire services, emergency medical services, Security agency, security services ...

in 1908; to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

on 5 September 1913; major captain on 23 October 1917; lieutenant colonel on 3 June 1922; and

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

on 3 November 1927.

Government of Maximiliano Hernández Martínez

On 2 December 1931, President

Arturo Araujo Arturo Araujo Fajardo (1878 – 1 December 1967) was a Salvadoran politician and engineer who served as the president of El Salvador from 1 March 1931 to 2 December 1931. He was overthrown in a military coup led by junior officers, and was fo ...

was overthrown by military officers of the

Armed Forces of El Salvador The Armed Forces of El Salvador () are the official governmental military forces of El Salvador. The Forces have three branches: the Salvadoran Army, the Salvadoran Air Force and the Navy of El Salvador. History Spanish colonial rule In the 19 ...

. Aguirre took part in the coup and became a member of the

Civic Directory The Civic Directory () 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 from the Army, Air Force, and National Guard. The directory marked the beginning of ...

, a

military junta A military junta () is a system of government led by a committee of military leaders. The term ''Junta (governing body), junta'' means "meeting" or "committee" and originated in the Junta (Peninsular War), national and local junta organized by t ...

established after the coup's success. Aguirre served as the junta's minister of war, the navy, and aviation. The junta dissolved on 4 December and handed over power to General

, Araujo's

vice president A vice president or 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 vi ...

. Martínez appointed Aguirre as the chief of the National Police. In January 1932, peasants across western

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of 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 by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

took up arms against the government after

legislative elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...

were cancelled by Martínez. In what would become a massacre of 25,000 to 40,000 indigenous peasants and communists, Aguirre was put in charge of capturing Farabundo Martí, one of the rebellion's

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

leaders.

Presidency

On 9 May 1944, Martínez resigned due to an attempted coup, strikes being conducted against his government, and pressure from the

. After Martínez's resignation, General Andrés Ignacio Menéndez became Provisional President of El Salvador. On 21 October 1944, Aguirre and other military officers who previously supported Martínez overthrew Menéndez's government. Aguirre became the country's provisional president as he was the first presidential designate. Aguirre created his cabinet on 23 October. It consisted of Reyes Arrieta Rossi as minister of foreign relations and justice; Adolfo Pérez Menéndez as minister of public instruction; Francisco Emilio Ponce as minister of governance, labor, promotion, and social assistance; Lisandro Villaloboa as minister of finance, public credit, industry, and commerce; and Salvador Peña Trejo as

minister of national defense A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divided ...

. Aguirre cracked down on political opposition which lead to an armed uprising being launched by students in

on 8 December, followed by an insurgent attack from

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

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 military officer, politician, and dictator who served as the president of Guatemala from 1931 to 1944. A ge ...

had been overthrown in July. Both movements were crushed by the Aguirre 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 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 ...

and ran in them to be elected to a second term. The election was boycotted by five candidates who withdrew after accusing Aguirre of unfair election practices to ensure victory for his favored candidate. The election ended in a victory for General

of the Social Democratic Unification Party with 312,754 votes and a margin of 99.70 percent. Aguirre himself only received 690 votes, a margin of 0.22 percent, in the heavily rigged election. Aguirre's term ended on 1 March 1945 and Castaneda was sworn in as President. After leaving office, Aguirre retired from politics and military service.

Assassination

Aguirre was shot and killed on 12 July 1977 in

while he was being taken to the Military Hospital. He was 87 years old at the time of his death. The

Farabundo Martí Popular Liberation Forces The Farabundo Martí Popular Liberation Forces (, abbreviated FPL) was a left wing guerrilla military and political organization in El Salvador. It was the oldest of the five groups that merged in 1980 to form the Farabundo Martí National Libe ...

claimed responsibility for the assassination.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Aguirre y Salinas, Osmin 1889 births 1977 deaths 20th-century presidents of El Salvador Assassinated presidents in North America Assassinated Salvadoran politicians Deaths by firearm in El Salvador Defence ministers of El Salvador Leaders who took power by coup North American politicians assassinated in the 1970s People from San Miguel, El Salvador People murdered in El Salvador Perpetrators of Indigenous genocides in North America Politicians assassinated in 1977 Politicide perpetrators Salvadoran anti-communists Salvadoran mass murderers Salvadoran military personnel Salvadoran people of Basque descent Salvadoran war criminals World War II political leaders