Manuel María Orellana Contreras

Manuel María Orellana Contreras (17 December 1870 in El Jícaro, Guatemala – 17 June 1940 in Barcelona, Spain) was a Guatemalan army officer and politician, and from 17 to 31 December 1930, de facto interim President of Guatemala, after leading a coup d'état that ended Baudilio Palma interim presidency. Palma, in turn, had been appointed president only four days earlier, when president Lázaro Chacón González suffered a stroke and was forced to resign. At the moment the coup took place, Orellana Contreras was commander of the San Rafael de Matamoros Fort in Guatemala City.[1]

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Orellana and the second or maternal family name is Contreras.
General of Division
Manuel María Orellana Contreras
General Orellana Contreras
President of Guatemala
In office
17 December 1930 (1930-12-17T12) – 2 January 1931 (1931-01-02)
Preceded byBaudilio Palma
Succeeded byJosé María Reina Andrade
Personal details
Born(1870-12-17)17 December 1870
El Jícaro, Guatemala
Died16 June 1940(1940-06-16) (aged 69)
Barcelona, Spain
Political partyLiberal

Coup d'état against Baudilio Palma
Main article: Baudilio Palma
See also: Lazaro Chacón and Jorge Ubico
Front page del periódico guatemalteco Nuestro Diario donde se da la noticia del golpe de estado liderado por Orellana Contreras.[2]

In December, 1930 the following events occurred in a rapid succession:[3][4][5]

  • On 12 December, General Chacón suffers a stroke that forces him to resign.[6]
  • General Mauro de León, first designated successor to the Presidency apparently resigns.[6]
  • Lawyer and cabinet member Baudilio Palma, second designated successor, is appointed interim President.[6]

However, on 16 December 1930 a coup d'état led by general Orellana Contreras and Luis Leonardo forced Palma to resign after a short battle inside the Presidential Palace. During the fight, that lasted no more than an hour, both Palma and Mauro de León died. The Liberal Progresista party placed general Roderico Anzueto in the key position of Chief of Police.[Note 1]

Presidency
General Orellana Contreras (center) with some relatives in Barcelona, ca. 1938.

Once in power, Orellana Contreras reformed the Cabinet and worked on restructuring the Guatemalan military bases.[1] However, given the large investments that American companies had in Guatemala -especially the United Fruit Company, the United States Secretary of State Henry Stimson publicly denounced Orellana as an unconstitutional leader and demanded his removal. Realizing that the Americans would not recognize his government, Orellana resigned on December 29.[7] Stimson sent Ambassador Sheltom Whitehouse to tell Orellana Contreras that his country would not be dealing with the new Guatemalan president whatsoever. Whitehouse pressed the National Assembly to force Orellana Contreras to resign, taking advantage of Orellana's lack of political experience.[8] and the American government needed a (USA loyal)stable regime in Guatemala.[3][4][9]

After leaving power
See also: Jorge Ubico

Orellana Contreras was cousin of former president general José María Orellana Pinto, who had been president Manuel Estrada Cabrera Chief of Staff and who had appointed general Jorge Ubico as chief of his secret police while in office.[1] In attention to this, new president Ubico commissioned Orellana Contreras as military attaché in the Guatemalan Ambassy in Spain, where he worked until his death on 17 June 1940.

See also

Notes
  1. Anzueto would eventually become one of President Jorge Ubico main supporters during his 14 year presidency.

References
  1. Aquí Guatemala 2008.
  2. Nuestro Diario 1930c, p. Front page.
  3. Time 1930.
  4. Time 1931.
  5. Díaz Romeu 1996, p. 37-42.
  6. Nuestro Diario 1930a, p. Front page.
  7. Dosal 1993, p. 176.
  8. Bucheli & Jones 2005.
  9. Time 1931b

Bibliography
  • Aquí Guatemala (2008). "Biografía de Manuel María Orellana". Aquí Guatemala (in Spanish). Guatemala. Archived from the original on 6 February 2008. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
  • Bucheli, Marcelo; Jones, Geoffrey (2005). "The Octopus and the Generals: the United Fruit Company in Guatemala". Harvard Business School Case (9–805–146). Archived from the original on 11 July 2018.
  • Díaz Romeu, Guillermo (1996). "Del régimen de Carlos Herrera a la elección de Jorge Ubico". Historia general de Guatemala. 1993–1999 (in Spanish). Guatemala: Asociación de Amigos del País, Fundación para la Cultura y el Desarrollo. 5: 37–42. Archived from the original on 12 January 2015.
  • Dosal, Paul J. (1993). Doing business with the dictators: a political history of United Fruit in Guatemala, 1899-1944. Wilmington: Scholarly Resources.
  • Nuestro Diario (13 December 1930a). "Presidente Lázaro Chacón obligado a renunciar a la presidencia por enfermedad". Nuestro Diario (in Spanish). Guatemala.
  • — (17 December 1930b). "Alzados deponen al presidente Palma". Nuestro Diario (in Spanish). Guatemala.
  • — (18 December 1930c). "El general Manuel María Orellana presidente de la República". Nuestro Diario (in Spanish). Guatemala.
  • Time (1930). "Wrong horse No. 2". Time magazine. United States. Archived from the original on 4 January 2013.
  • — (1931). "We are not amused". Time magazine. United States. Archived from the original on 15 December 2008.
  • — (1931b). "Died. General Lazaro Chacon, 56, President of Guatemala". Time magazine. United States. Archived from the original on 15 December 2008.
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