Maximiliano Hernández Martínez

Dead bodies of people killed by the Salvadoran army in 1932's La Matanza massacre.

Map of the Salvadoran departments affected by the 1932 revolt.

Legislative elections were scheduled for 3–5 January 1932 and Hernández Martínez's government promised free and fair elections. To participate in the election, however, voters had to be registered in their municipalities alongside their party, thus giving the government a list of Communist Party members.[14] The communists won several municipalities but Hernández Martínez cancelled the election results[15] and cancelled follow up elections scheduled for 10–12 January.[16][17][5]

In response to the election cancellation, many in the Salvadoran Communist Party (PCES) believed that armed insurrection was the only choice since both democracy and Hernández Martínez's authoritarian government had both failed.[18] The rebellion was planned for mid-January.[19] Meanwhile, indigenous peasants also planned a revolt of their own to protest the poor living conditions in western El Salvador.

On 22 January 1932, peasants in western El Salvador attacked military barracks and wealthy estates and killed around 100 people.[6][20] The rebels, led by Feliciano Ama, Farabundo Martí, Mario Zapata, and Alfonso Luna, seized control of the towns of Juayúa, Nahuizalco, Izalco, and Tlacopan. Barracks in towns such as Ahuachapán, Santa Tecla, and Sonsonate resisted the attacks and remained under government control.[21]

Hernández Martínez responded quickly to the uprising in western El Salvador and ordered the army to put down the revolt.[22] He organized several of his military officers to accomplish specific tasks to crush the rebellion. General José Tomás Calderón was tasked with evicting rebels from western El Salvador, Colonel Osmín Aguirre y Salinas was to arrest communist leader Farabundo Martí, Colonel Salvador Ochoa had to recapture Santa Tecla, and Major Saturnino Cortez had to recapture Tacuba.

After 72 hours, the rebellion was crushed. The specific number of victims is unknown, but estimates range from 10,000 to 40,000 for the entire rebellion.[23] American historian Thomas Anderson says there were no more than 10,000 killed. He does accept that the military killed people without a judgement and that they were usually killed by a firing squad after being compelled to dig their own graves. Usually they only needed to be Indian, usually male, from the town, and listed as voters of the Communist party in that town. The leaders of the rebellion were all executed: Feliciano Ama was lynched by the Army while the communist leaders were executed by firing squad.[24][25]

After the conflict, survivors attempted to flee to Guatemala. In response, Guatemalan President and dictator Jorge Ubico ordered the Guatemalan-Salvadoran border to be closed and handed over anyone who attempted to cross to the Salvadoran army.[26]

As resolution of the conflict, the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador issued Legislative Decree No. 121 on 11 July 1932, which granted unconditional amnesty to anyone who committed crimes of any nature in order to "restore order, repress, persecute, punish and capture those accused of the crime of rebellion of this year."[27]

Hernández Martínez's policies had various effects on the country's cultural, political, and economic life. By centralizing government, he participated in almost all decision-making, directing almost every single one of his government's activities.[28] He distanced the military, except himself, from the civil administration of the country, resulting in military officers being a minority within his cabinet. The salaries for government officials and for the military were extremely low, compared to previous times. This discouraged military personnel from being involved in government, despite the fact that a demand for higher wages was one of the reasons the military toppled Araujo's government in 1931.[29][30] However, he always preferred to have military protection, and transferred the presidential office and his family residence to the then Normal School for Boys, next to the El Zapote Barracks.[31]

Maximiliano Hernández Martínez as president in December 1931. He initiated a succession of military governments that controlled the country through 1979.

He promoted economic growth based on expansion of large coffee plantations, thus benefiting landowners and initiating links between the military and the oligarchy. During his presidency, the creation of the Central Reserve Bank and the Mortgage Bank, the Salvadoran Coffee Company, the Rural Credit Box, the Cotton Cooperative, the General Directorate of Public Works, and the Social Improvement, developed a commendable work within its functions.[32][33]

Roads were built throughout the country such as the Pan-American Highway and the Flor Blanca National Stadium (now the Estadio Jorge "Mágico" González) where the Third Central American and Caribbean Games were held in 1935. Buildings such as the telegraph building, the castle of the former National Guard (current headquarters of the General Directorate of the National Civil Police), and large bridges such as the Cuscatlán Bridge over the Lempa River were built in 1942.[34]

On 23 February 1932 the Salvadoran government defaulted on its external debt and stated that it would not pay the loans if the interest was not reduced and the term extended. The net debt, that is to say without interest, was fully paid off in 1938, although the interest was not paid off until 1960.[35] Once the debt had been paid off, Hernández Martínez proposed, reflected on a commemorative plaque placed in the Legislative Assembly, the policy of non-acquisition of international loans in the future. Despite this initiative, he also acquired loans for the construction of the Pan-American Highway.[36] On the other hand, on 12 March 1932, he decreed the Moratorium Law, by which he reduced the interest of debtors facing bankruptcy. In addition, with the objective of stabilizing the value of the colón, he created the Central Reserve Bank of El Salvador in 1934, indemnifying private banks to stop issuing money.[32][33][37][38]

As for policies referring directly to the population, his theosophical customs prevailed. For example, when a smallpox plague broke out in San Salvador, he had street lamps in the squares covered with blue paper, hoping that "invisible doctors" would save those who were destined to live.[39] Among other things, he established that anyone who asked for a formal education should be considered a communist. He discouraged workers and employees from getting an education because, in his words, "soon there would be no more people willing to work in cleaning tasks."[40]

In July 1932, he established the Social Improvement Fund, and in October, the National Board of Social Improvement, whose main activity was to acquire homes and provide soft loans to farmers to buy them.[41] However, this activity did not bring results expected by the population, since the beneficiaries were much fewer than what had been projected.[42] Despite the fact that it was described as an agrarian reform, it was not, since the lands were not expropriated, but bought at a price market and sold at a lower one, using national funds that would never be reintegrated and that would pass into the hands of the landowners of the time.[42] Homes were also built to be sold under the same conditions, although this occurred on a smaller scale.[41]

Hernández Martínez modified the Police Law of 1879, prohibiting civilians from carrying firearms, knives, machetes or slits, and making defiance of said ordinance a crime. He also established that those who did not hold legal offices or legitimate jobs would be persecuted and punished as lazy.[40] The penalty for theft was the amputation of a hand and, in the face of recidivism, the sentence was death by firing squad.[40] He established strong alliances with the Catholic Church, obtaining the benefit of the two monsignors of the time, Monsignor Belloso and Monsignor Chávez y González, who were always present in political executions and who, after the 1932 uprising, offered masses in gratitude for the military victory.[40]

In military matters, he strengthened the professionalization of officers through military study scholarships, especially to Italy. He financed the construction of a war tank, armed with six heavy machine guns.[36] On 24 April 1938, Eberhardt Bohnstedt, a Wehrmacht general, was appointed as director of the Salvadoran military school.[43]

In 1939, he called the Constituent Assembly to draft and ratify a new constitution, which had provisions for the female vote, under certain conditions of social origin and level of education.[44]

In 1943, Hernández Martínez tried to increase the export tariffs to obtain more revenue for El Salvador, which harmed the relationship he had with the oligarchs.[45]

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 land through an agrarian program.[36]

Hernández Martínez was very attracted to the successes of the European fascist governments, especially Hitler, Mussolini, and Franco. In 1938 he appointed Eberhardt Bohnstedt, a general of the Wehrmacht, as director of the Salvadoran military school.[11][36][43] In addition, he opened diplomatic relations with the Spanish dictator, Francisco Franco and was one of the first to recognize his government.[36][11] In addition, he gave diplomatic recognition to the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo and the German puppet state of the Slovak Republic.[36] Trade with Germany and Italy increased from 1935 to 1937 and El Salvador bought several planes from the Italian government for the Salvadoran Air Force since American planes were too expensive.[11] El Salvador sent military officers to Italy for military training. From 1930 up until 1940, El Salvador imported and exported more to Germany than the United States.[11] Fascist influence was so abundant in El Salvador that schoolchildren were taught to do the Roman salute and 300 men imitating the Italian Blackshirts marching in the streets on San Salvador following the Italian entry into World War II in June 1940.[11]

However, under pressure from the United States, the primary coffee buyer of El Salvador, he had to abandon his sympathies and agreed to align himself alongside the Allies of World War II on 8 December 1941 after the attack on Pearl Harbor.[36] Likewise, German and Italian residents in El Salvador were expropriated of their lands and were sent to internment camps in the United States.[40]

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 the United States. However, the situation changed due to Hernández Martínez's refusal 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 Hernández Martínez gave for rejecting the American request was that, since the arriving troops would have a percentage of black soldiers, there was an imminent risk that they would reproduce in El Salvador and that they would fill El Salvador with black children.[36]

El Salvador sent no men to fight on the battlefield during the war but it did send men to perform maintenance on the Panama Canal.[11] During WWII, Colonel José Castellanos Contreras saved 40,000 Jews in Central Europe by providing them political asylum and fake Salvadoran passports.[46]

The Civic Directory of El Salvador of 2 December 1931. Maximiliano Hernández Martínez is the 6th from the left.

Hernández Martínez's government was widely criticized by various sectors, focusing mainly on his theosophical practices and their repercussions on his actions as ruler. First, the general's belief that the state must have absolute power over individuals led him to convert the state as an individual controller, endowing him with extra-constitutional power over national life, giving him control of the armed forces.[47] He had strict control of the mass media, aligning them in favor of his regime or simply closing them in the face of occasional resistance. Furthermore, he was criticized for the exile of the most important thinkers and artists of the time who did not agree with his government.[47] The harshness of his measures and mainly his contempt for the quality of the human being led him to commit acts that would mark a precedent of violence, a prelude to what would come decades later during the military dictatorship. The media handling extended to the political field, creating conditions so that even abroad he was considered a democratic president. For example, he placed the Communist Party election booth right in front of the Hotel Nuevo Mundo, which housed large numbers of foreigners, especially Americans. The intention was clear: to create an image of democracy to be recognized by the rest of the world as a legitimate president. He went to the lengths of holding presidential elections in 1935, 1939, and 1944, and legislative elections in 1936, 1939, 1944, however, he was the only candidate, he always won 100% of the vote, and his National Pro Patria Party was the only legal political party.[5]

However, the main criticism of his government is the excessive use of force. He used unorthodox repressive methods characterized by violence and disrespect for the integrity of the individual.[47]

The Palm Sunday Coup attempt.

In response, an armed revolt broke out on Palm Sunday, 2 April 1944, led by intellectuals, business leaders and disloyal segments of the military. While top members of the regime leadership were at home for Holy Week, the strategic First Infantry and the Second Artillery regiments of San Salvador and Santa Ana garrison seized the state radio station, took control of the Air Force and seized Santa Ana's police headquarters and telegraph offices. Santa Ana was bombed from the air as civilians below rallied, overthrew and replaced their city council. However, Gen. Hernández Martínez was able to put down the rebellion with his remaining obedient military units. Martial law, including a police curfew, was declared in effect and savagely enforced. Reprisals against rebels and suspected rebels began right away and lasted for weeks in a highly public and distressing campaign of repression.[49] More than 100 civilians were shot dead in street demonstrations by the army.[50]

Soon after, however, in May 1944, Hernández Martínez was deposed by the Strike of Fallen Arms led by students. Their strategy was to avoid direct confrontation with the regime's soldiers by simply, passively, non-violently staying home. During this massive political action, Salvadoran society was completely paralysed until he was deposed. Doctors and other professionals joined on May 5, successfully turning it into a general strike. On May 7 police fired into a group of youths, and fatally struck a 17-year-old who happened to be a U.S. citizen. This increased the pressure on the regime.[51]

After attempting to negotiate a later departure date, Hernández Martínez resigned on 9 May and had Andrés Ignacio Menéndez appointed as Provisional President. By May 11 the strike was over and he had fled to exile in Guatemala. The revolt then spread to Guatemala, where the similar military leader Jorge Ubico was also forced to resign by 1 July.