1939 Salvadoran presidential election

none January 2022 February 2025 1939 Salvadoran presidential election El Salvador presidential Legislative 1935 Salvadoran presidential election 1935 21 January 1939 1944 Salvadoran presidential election 1944 General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez, President of El Salvador.jpg Maximiliano Hernández Martínez National Pro Patria Party 42 100.00% President Maximiliano Hernández Martínez National Pro Patria Party Maximiliano Hernández Martínez National Pro Patria Party Presidential elections were held in El Salvador on 21 January 1939. The election was indirect rather than being held through a popular vote. The National Constitutional Assembly elected Brigadier General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez, the incumbent president of El Salvador, to a third presidential term that would last from 1939 to 1945. He was the only candidate and won unopposed. Martínez was constitutionally ineligible to run for re-election in 1939, so the year prior, he and the National Pro Patria Party (PNPP) held open cabildos across El Salvador and reported that the citizenry overwhelmingly supported amending the constitution to allow Martínez to be re-elected. Some politicians and military officers opposed Martínez's re-election. They spread propaganda calling for his resignation and even attempted a coup in January 1939. On 20 January 1939, the National Constitutional Assembly approved a new constitution, and the following day, it unanimously re-elected Martínez to a six-year term. Background Brigadier General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez became President of El Salvador in December 1931 after a coup d'état overthrew President Arturo Araujo and established a military dictatorship.Ching 1997 363–364 Martínez solidified his position in January 1932 after suppressing an uprising and killing between 10,000 and 40,000 people in mass killings known as es La Matanza.Tulchin Bland 1992 167 Martínez won the 1935 presidential election unopposed with 329,555 on 77 percent turnout.Ching 1997 398–399 Election campaign right 325px "Pro-Patria Delegation was opened last night amidst fevered regalia. Last night conferences were held in the central plaza and a reception was given in the Central Hotel. Today the conferences continue with the goal of holding the public session of the es cabildo abierto. In unison the citizens agree with out patriotic ideals." Governor of Usulután Antonio Galdámez 17 July 1938Ching 1997 416 right 325px "It is time that the head of this [constitutional] pact be convinced that the devotion to democracy in El Salvador is a tangible fact. General Martínez should not stain our fatherland with fresh blood. He should respect the prevailing Constitution. He should avoid causing the people of El Salvador to remain downtrodden forever." Civilian-Military Association 19 September 1938Ching 1997 418 Ahead of the 1939 election, Martínez decided to be elected by the legislature in an indirect election instead of through a popular vote like in 1935. According to historian Erik Ching, Martínez chose to do this as he was "aware of growing opposition to his political monopoly".Ching 1997 417 In order to be re-elected, however, Martínez had to amend the 1886 constitution as it prohibited re-election.Ching 1997 415 In July 1938, open cabildos were held across El Salvador where citizens would meet at town halls and approve proposed constitutional changes.Ching 1997 416 The National Pro Patria Party ("National Party of the Fatherland", PNPP), the only legal political party in El Salvador,Lindo Fuentes Ching Lara Martínez 2007 82–83 organized the meetings and reported that the citizenry was in unanimous support of the proposed changes despite no voting actually taking place.Ching 1997 416 The PNPP reported that Salvadoran citizens overwhelmingly supported the constitutional reforms and that there were "popular" rallies and parades leading up to the election.Ching 1997 417–418 Meanwhile, some political leaders opposed Martínez's re-election. Among them were Sub-Secretary of Public Works Manuel López Harrison, Sub-Secretary of Government Hermógenes Alvarado, Sub-Secretary of Public Instruction David Rosales, and Sub-Secretary of War Colonel Ascencio Menéndez.Ching 1997 418 In October 1938, a so-called "Civilian-Military Association" spread propaganda posters across Santa Ana calling for Martínez's resignation.Ching 1997 417 In January 1939, Menéndez led an attempted coup against Martínez's government but it failed. The conspirators were exiled to France and Mexico.Ching 1997 414–415 The National Constitutional Assembly approved the new constitution on 20 January 1939.Diario Oficial 1939 149 Most of the new constitution was identical to the 1886 constitution. One of the most notable differences regards article 92 that mandates that the National Constitutional Assembly would elect the next president and that whoever they elect would be exempted from article 94 that banned re-election. It also increased the lengths of presidential terms from four to six years.Ching 1997 415 Results On 21 January 1939, the National Constitutional Assembly convened to elect El Salvador's president for the 1939–1945 term. The assembly unanimously voted to re-elected Martínez as President.Diario Oficial 1939 177 Maximiliano Hernández Martínez National Pro Patria Party 42 42 100.00 Diario Oficial 1939, p. 177 Aftermath Martínez was inaugurated for his third term on 1 March 1939.Leistenschneider Leistenschneider 1980 190 Martínez was re-elected by the legislature to another six-year term in 1944Olmedo 2023 but he was forced to resign on 8 May 1944 during the Strike of Fallen Arms, a student protest that opposed his government. Martínez subsequently fled El Salvador on 11 May.Bernal Ramírez Quijano de Batres 2009 121 The military itself continued to rule the country until the 1979 Salvadoran coup d'état.Ching 1997 357 References 22em Bibliography 35em yes 23 January 1939 San Salvador, El Salvador Asamblea Nacional Constituyente http://abaco.uca.edu.sv/acervo/Diario_Oficial/1939/1939-01.pdf National Constitutional Assembly Diario Oficial es 125 17 177 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20240516055704/http://abaco.uca.edu.sv/acervo/Diario_Oficial/1939/1939-01.pdf 16 May 2024 23 August 2025 Diario Oficial 1939 Bernal Ramírez Luis Guillermo Quijano de Batres Ana Elia amp 2009 Historia 2 El Salvador History 2 El Salvador https://www.mined.gob.sv/descarga/cipotes/historia_ESA_TomoII_0_.pdf es Historia El Salvador El Salvador Ministry of Education 9789992363683 23 August 2025 https://web.archive.org/web/20221016073315/https://www.mined.gob.sv/descarga/cipotes/historia_ESA_TomoII_0_.pdf 16 October 2022 dead Ching Erik K. 1997 From Clientelism to Militarism: The State, Politics and Authoritarianism in El Salvador, 1840–1940 https://www.proquest.com/docview/304330235 en Santa Barbara, California University of California, Santa Barbara 39326756 23 August 2025 304330235 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 es Ministry of the Interior 7876291 23 August 2025 amp Lindo Fuentes Héctor Ching Erik K. Lara Martínez Rafael A. amp 2007 Remembering a Massacre in El Salvador: The Insurrection of 1932, Roque Dalton, and the Politics of Historical Memory https://books.google.com/books?id=AubqWtPHt1kC en Albuquerque, New Mexico University of New Mexico Press 9780826336040 122424174 9 December 2025 https://www.revistafactum.com/segundo-mandato-maximiliano/ El Segundo Mandato de Maximiliano Hernández Martínez Maximiliano Hernández Martínez's Second Mandate es 3 May 2023 23 August 2025 Revista FactUM Daniel Olmedo Tulchin Joseph S. Bland Gary amp 1992 Is There a Transition to Democracy in El Salvador? https://books.google.com/books?id=okB-QgAACAAJ en L. Rienner Publishers 9781555873103 23 August 2025 El Salvador Politics El Salvador President Category:January 1939 in North America Category:Presidential elections in El Salvador Category:Single-candidate presidential elections in El Salvador