1972 Salvadoran presidential election

none January 2022 March 2026 1972 Salvadoran presidential election El Salvador presidential Popular 1967 Salvadoran presidential election 1967 20 February 1972 (popular vote)March 1972 (legislative vote) 1977 Salvadoran presidential election 1977 1,119,699 72.02% Legislative vote PCN National Coalition Party (El Salvador) Arturo Armando Molina National Coalition Party (El Salvador) Enrique Mayorga Rivas 334,600 43.42% 31 Jose Napoleon Duarte.png José Napoleón Duarte National Opposition Union (El Salvador) Guillermo Ungo 324,756 42.14% 0 President Fidel Sánchez Hernández National Coalition Party (El Salvador) Arturo Armando Molina National Coalition Party (El Salvador) Presidential elections were held in El Salvador in 1972. A popular election was held on 20 February between four candidates, but since no candidate won an absolute majority, the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador elected the president indirectly in March. There was widespread fraud in the election's conduct. On election day, the Central Electoral Council declared the National Opposition Union's (UNO) José Napoleón Duarte to have won the election, but the ruling National Conciliation Party (PCN) rigged the election in favor of its candidate, Colonel Arturo Armando Molina. The Legislative Assembly unanimously elected Molina as president after the opposition boycotted the vote. Background Lieutenant Colonel José María Lemus, the president of El Salvador, was overthrown in a coup d'état in October 1960 by the social democratic Junta of Government. The junta was itself overthrown in January 1961 and replaced by the conservative Civic-Military Directory.Bosch 1999 9Haggerty 1990 20–21 The Civic-Military Directory approached members of the Christian Democratic Party (PDC) to participate in the new government. Founded in November 1960, the PDC advocated for Christian democracy while rejecting Marxism as politically extreme. The faction of the PDC that supported the Civic-Military Directory split from the party and formed the military-backed and conservative National Conciliation Party (PCN) in 1961.Haggerty 1990 21–22Bosch 1999 10 The PCN went on to win every seat in the 1961 Constitutional Assembly electionHaggerty 1990 22 and Colonel Julio Adalberto Rivera, the leader of the Civic-Military Directory, went on to win the 1962 presidential election uncontested.Krennerich 2005 288 Throughout the 1960s, José Napoleón Duarte-led PDC was the PCN's primary opponent and challenged the ruling party during the 1964 and 1966 legislative elections. In 1964, Duarte was elected as mayor of San Salvador. In the 1967 election, the PCN's General Fidel Sánchez Hernández defeated the PDC's Abraham Rodríguez Portillo es and two other candidates by over 30 points.Krennerich 2005 288Haggerty 1990 23–24 Candidates The 1972 presidential election had four candidates. Sánchez selected Colonel Arturo Armando Molina to succeed him as the PCN's presidential candidate. Duarte was the presidential candidate for the National Opposition Union (UNO), a political coalition consisting of the PDC, the social democratic National Revolutionary Movement (MRN), and the leftist National Democratic Union (UDN). José Antonio Rodríguez Porth was the candidate for the conservative Salvadoran Popular Party (PPS),Haggerty 1990 27 while Colonel José Alberto Medrano (the director of the National Guard from 1967 to 1970)McClintock 1985 206 & 208 was the candidate for the conservative United Democratic Independent Front (FUDI).Haggerty 1990 27 Party Candidate National Opposition Union 100px|center|José Napoleón Duarte José Napoleón DuarteMayor of San Salvador(1964–1970) United Democratic Independent Front 100px|center|José Alberto Medrano José Alberto MedranoDirector of the National Guard(1967–1970) National Conciliation Party 100px|center|Arturo Armando Molina Arturo Armando Molina Salvadoran Popular Party 100px|center|José Antonio Rodríguez Porth José Antonio Rodríguez Porth Election campaign After the 1969 Football War against Honduras, the PDC began campaigning on land reform to rally popular support as the war worsened the country's land distribution crisis.Haggerty 1990 26 The PDC accused the PCN of electoral fraud after the PDC lost 3 seats in the Legislative Assembly and over 70 municipalities during the 1970 legislative election.Haggerty 1990 27 Duarte resigned as mayor of San Salvador ahead of the 1972 presidential election to run as the UNO's presidential candidate. Duarte selected the MNR's Guillermo Ungo as his running mate. UNO supporters faced harassment, kidnappings, and assaults by the National Guard during the election campaign. The Central Electoral Council (CEC) also disqualified UNO's candidates for the 1972 legislative election, scheduled to occur one month after the presidential election, in six departments.Haggerty 1990 27 FUDI was supported by wealthy landowning families.Haggerty 1990 27 Results The election was held on 20 February 1972.Krennerich 2005 276 There were 1,119,699 registered voters accounting for 30.5 percent of the population.Krennerich 2005 277 Although the PCN attempted to stuff ballot boxes, the Central Electoral Council announced that Duarte had won the election.Herman Brodhead 1984 99 According to UNO election monitors, Duarte won with 327,000 votes to Molina's 318,000. A three-day media blackout ensued, after which, the CEC revised its resultsHaggerty 1990 29 to give Molina 334,600 votes to Duarte's 324,756.Krennerich 2005 288 As no candidate received an absolute majority according to the revised results, the Legislative Assembly was scheduled to elect the president. As PCN held a majority in the Legislative Assembly, it elected Molina as El Salvador's next president amidst a walkout by opposition deputies.Haggerty 1990 29 Political scientist Michael Krennerich described the election as having experienced "massive electoral fraud".Krennerich 2005 288 and economist Edward S. Herman further described the fraud as having been "blatant".Herman Brodhead 1984 99 Richard A. Haggerty, a researcher for the United States Federal Research Division, remarked that "the actual vote count in the presidential balloting of February 20, 1972, probably will never be known".Haggerty 1990 29 Popular vote Legislative vote Arturo Armando Molina National Conciliation Party 334600 31 José Napoleón Duarte National Opposition Union 324756 José Antonio Rodríguez Porth Salvadoran Popular Party 94367 José Alberto Medrano United Democratic Independent Front 16871 22501 13262 1119699 52 59.62 Krennerich 2005, p. 288 Aftermath After the election, Duarte and Ungo called on the Central Electoral Council to launch a recount, but the CEC denied this request.Haggerty 1990 29 The Farabundo Martí Popular Liberation Forces (FPL), a Marxist militant organization, applauded the PCN's electoral fraud as it believed that public frustration with the results would lead "the masses" ("es las masas") to launch an armed conflict against the military dictatorship. The People's Revolutionary Army (ERP) was founded by young Salvadorans, including some UNO members, in the wake of the election and its fraudulent results.Dutriz Hermanos 1992 6 On 25 March, disillusioned junior officers of the Armed Forces of El Salvador led by Colonel Benjamín Mejía launched a coup against Sánchez that aimed to install Duarte as president.Herman Brodhead 1984 99Haggerty 1990 29 Many Salvadorans marched in the streets in support of the coup, and according to Fabio Castillo Figueroa, a former member of the Junta of Government, the coup had the support of most junior officers as it "promised a healthy and bloodless democratic change".Herman Brodhead 1984 99–100 The coup leaders arrested Sánchez and established a "revolutionary junta", and Duarte issued a radio announcement calling on civilians to evacuate from areas that faced the threat of artillery fire. The coup failed when loyalist elements of the armed forces regained control of San SalvadorHaggerty 1990 29 and the militaries of Guatemala and Nicaragua launched a military intervention on the government's behalf. Around 200 civilians were killed during the coup attempt.Herman Brodhead 1984 100 After the coup attempt, Duarte was tortured and exiled to Venezuela.Haggerty 1990 30 Molina became president on 1 JulyLeistenschneider Leistenschneider 1980 241 and served until 1977 when he was succeeded by the PCN's General Carlos Humberto Romero who won the fraudulent 1977 presidential election.Leistenschneider Leistenschneider 1980 249 Romero was overthrown in 1979Bernal Ramírez Quijano de Batres 2009 215 marking the start of the Salvadoran Civil War.McClintock 1985 262 See also Elections in El Salvador References Citations 22em Bibliography 35em yes Bernal Ramírez Luis Guillermo Quijano de Batres Ana Elia 2009 Historia 2 El Salvador History 2 El Salvador https://www.mined.gob.sv/descarga/cipotes/historia_ESA_TomoII_0_.pdf Historia El Salvador es Ministry of Education San Salvador, El Salvador 9789992363683 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20220113050934/https://www.mined.gob.sv/descarga/cipotes/historia_ESA_TomoII_0_.pdf 13 January 2022 7 March 2026 amp Bosch Brian J. 1999 The Salvadoran Officer Corps and the Final Offensive of 1981 https://books.google.com/books?id=cuMWAAAAYAAJ en Jefferson, North Carolina; London McFarland & Company Publishers 0786406127 99-26678 41662421 7 March 2026 1992 Documento de La Prensa Gráfica: El Conflicto en El Salvador Document of La Prensa Gráfica: The Conflict in El Salvador http://biblioteca.utec.edu.sv/siab/virtual/libros_PDF/27791.pdf dead es 2nd San Salvador, El Salvador Dutriz Hermanos 27088774 https://web.archive.org/web/20200203003757/http://biblioteca.utec.edu.sv/siab/virtual/libros_PDF/27791.pdf 3 February 2020 7 March 2026 Dutriz Hermanos 1992 Haggerty Richard A. 1990 El Salvador: A Country Study https://archive.org/details/elsalvadorcountr00hagg en 2nd Washington, D.C., United States Federal Research Division 9780525560371 89048948 1044677008 7 March 2026 Herman Edward S. Edward S. Herman Brodhead Frank 1984 Demonstration Elections: U.S.-Staged Elections in the Dominican Republic, Vietnam, and El Salvador https://archive.org/details/demonstrationele0000herm en 1st South End Press Boston, Massachusetts 0896082156 83051284 1285463466 7 March 2026 amp Krennerich Michael El Salvador 2005 Nohlen Dieter Dieter Nohlen Elections in the Americas A Data Handbook Volume 1: North America, Central America, and the Caribbean https://books.google.com/books?id=-xZREAAAQBAJ en Oxford, United Kingdom Oxford University Press 270–299 9780191557934 58051010 7 March 2026 Leistenschneider María Leistenschneider Freddy 1980 Gobernantes de El Salvador: Biografías Governors of El Salvador: Biographies https://www.scribd.com/document/589275475/Gobernantes-de-El-Salvador San Salvador, El Salvador es Ministry of the Interior 7876291 27 August 2025 amp McClintock Michael 1985 The American Connection: State Terror and Popular Resistance in El Salvador https://archive.org/details/americanconnecti0000mccl/mode/2up en 1 London, United Kingdom Zed Books 9780862322403 1145770950 27 August 2025 El Salvador Politics President El Salvador Category:February 1972 in North America Category:Presidential elections in El Salvador