1931 Salvadoran coup d'état

Military coup that overthrew Salvadoran president Arturo Araujo February 2022 February 2022 1931 Salvadoran coup d'état El Zapote Barracks (7185452336).jpg A photograph of El Zapote barracks with military vehicles in front of it The El Zapote barracks in San Salvador, where the coup began, as seen in 2012 2 December 1931 El Salvador Coup successful President Arturo Araujo overthrown Civic Directory established Salvadoran government Presidential Guard Armed Forces Salvadoran Army Salvadoran Air Force National Guard Arturo Araujo Osmín Aguirre y Salinas Joaquín Valdés Maximiliano Hernández Martínez (disputed) At least 1 killed Unknown The 1931 Salvadoran coup d'état occurred on 2 December 1931 when the Armed Forces of El Salvador overthrew President Arturo Araujo. The Civic Directory (a military junta) ruled El Salvador for two days after the coup until it relinquished power to Brigadier General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez, Araujo's Vice President and Minister of War, the Navy, and Aviation. Economic troubles resulting from the Great Depression weakened Araujo's government and forced it to take out loans to finance itself. When Araujo's government suspended all military payments in August 1931, the armed forces began plotting to overthrow Araujo. The military moved to overthrow Araujo on 2 December 1931, and Araujo was forced to flee the country two days later after failing to launch a countercoup. The coup led to almost five decades of military rule in El Salvador, lasting until the 1979 Salvadoran coup d'état. Background Economic situation On 1 March 1931, Arturo Araujo of the Salvadoran Laborist Party assumed office as the president of El Salvador,Leistenschneider Leistenschneider 1980 187 after his victory in the presidential election two months prior.Krennerich 2005 270 During Araujo's presidency, El Salvador's economy continued to struggle as a result of the Great Depression.Ching 1997 359–360 El Salvador's economy was highly dependent on coffee exports, and from 1928 to 1931, coffee prices decreased by 54 percent.Haggerty 1990 14 In April 1931, legislator Alberto Masferrer proposed allocating US$500,000 (US 500000 1931 eq) from the national budget to purchase agricultural properties and resell them to workers below market price, but this was opposed by the landowners affected.Ching 1997 362 In July 1931, high debt led to Araujo and the Legislative Assembly approving a US$2 million (US 2000000 1931 eq) foreign loan to finance the government against the advice of Araujo's financial advisors, but the Legislative Assembly was unable to find a willing lender.Ching 1997 361 Around 900 university students protested against the Legislative Assembly as they believed that the legislature was considering approving an additional loan and accusing it of selling out El Salvador to foreigners. The National Guard forcibly suppressed the protest, arresting up to 30 students and injuring many others.Ching 1997 361–362 Facing continued protests, Araujo called for municipal elections to be held in December 1931 as a concession to the protestors. He also allowed the Communist Party of El Salvador to participate as another concession.Haggerty 1990 15 Role of the military Elements of the Armed Forces of El Salvador opposed the Meléndez–Quiñónez dynasty of the 1910s to 1920s due to rivalries with the National Guard and payment delays for soldiers and officers.Ching 1997 260–261 In 1920, President Jorge Meléndez made proposals to the Legislative Assembly to limit the military's role in Salvadoran politics and to have its members accountable to civilian courts, describing the military's role as the "arbiter of social destiny in [El Salvador]" as an "unwise custom". His proposals were opposed by the military and Meléndez never followed up on getting his proposals approved.Ching 1997 261–262 Military factions attempted coups in February 1922, May 1922, and 1927, but none succeeded.Ching 1997 263–264 & 310–311 After the 1931 presidential election, Warren Delano Robbins, the United States ambassador to El Salvador, feared the military would stage a coup as General Antonio Claramount Lucero, a losing candidate, called for one. This did not occur, however, as the military was satisfied with the election of Brigadier General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez as Araujo's vice president.Anderson 1971 47Grieb 1971 153 The last successful coup before 1931 occurred in 1898 when General Tomás Regalado overthrew General Rafael Antonio Gutiérrez.Ching 1997 211 In August 1931, the Salvadoran Laborist Party proposed a bill to the Legislative Assembly to collect military officers' salaries by dismissing those who did not perform active duties. When seven influential military officers stated they would not abide by the bill, the Legislative Assembly abandoned the proposal.Ching 1997 362–363 Later that month, however, Araujo's government suspended all payments to the military due to a lack of government funds. According to Salvador Peña, a Salvadoran military officer, the military began plotting a coup d'état to overthrow Araujo shortly after the government suspended all military payments.Ching 1997 363 Coup At 10 p.m. local time on 2 December 1931, junior military officers initiated the coup d'état to overthrow Araujo's government. The coup began when soldiers of the 1st Infantry Brigade, garrisoned at the El Zapote barracks in San Salvador, attacked the Presidential Palace across the street with machine-gun fire.Ching 1997 363Astilla 1976 5Grieb 1971 154–155 While the Presidential Guard resisted the rebelling soldiers and defended Araujo, the remainder of San Salvador's military garrisons either ignored or supported the coup.Ching 1997 363 As the overwhelming attack on the Presidential Palace continued, Araujo and several of his government officials fled San Salvador. In the process, the rebelling soldiers shot and killed José Espinosa, the Minister of Finance. Araujo arrived in Santa Tecla where he planned to initiate a countercoup, however, the barracks' soldiers opposed his continuance as president. He then fled to Santa Ana where he rallied a few hundred supporters.Ching 1997 363Astilla 1976 40 Ultimately, Araujo concluded his forces in Santa Ana would be unable to regain power; he resigned from the presidency, named Salvador López Rochac (the first presidential designate) as his successor, and fled the country to Guatemala on 4 December 1931.Ching 1997 363–364Ching 2014 251Diario co Latino 2021 In Guatemala, Araujo received protection from President Jorge Ubico, but he was eventually expelled from the country by Ubico after he attempted to rally an army to retake power.Astilla 1976 41 Aftermath Political ramifications During the coup, military officers from the army, air force, and National Guard established the Civic Directory, a military junta, to govern the country. The Civic Directory consisted of twelve military officers,The twelve military officers who composed the Civic Directory were colonels Osmín Aguirre y Salinas, Juan Vicente Vidal, and Joaquín Valdés; captains Manuel Urbina and Visitación Antonio Pacheco; lieutenants Joaquín Castro Canizales and Carlos Rodríguez; and sub-lieutenants Julio Cañas, José Alonso Huezo, Miguel Hernández Saldaña, Héctor Montalvo, and Juan Ramón Munés.Casa Presidencial and was led by colonels Osmín Aguirre y Salinas (Vice Minister of War, the Navy, and Aviation) and Joaquín Valdés (deputy commander of the National Guard) as co-chairmen.Casa PresidencialGrieb 1971 155 The Civic Directory dissolved itself on 4 December 1931 and relinquished power to Vice President Martínez, who was also serving as Minister of War, the Navy, and Aviation. Martínez's role in the coup is disputed.Ching 1997 364 Martínez's supporters argue he was not involved in the coup and was only given the presidency as mandated by the country's constitution; his opponents argue he organized the coup.Astilla 1976 42 Martínez was arrested during the coup, but his opponents argue Martínez's arrest was fabricated to legitimize his presidency.Ching 1997 364 The 1931 coup established a military dictatorship that ruled El Salvador for almost five decades.Haggerty 1990 15 Martínez pushed out many of the junior officers who led the coup and replaced them with loyal members of the military's old guard.White 1973 107 Martínez ruled El Salvador as president until 1944 when he resigned following the Strike of Fallen Arms,Haggerty 1990 17–18 but the military continued to rule the country through rigged elections until the 1979 coup d'état that led to the Salvadoran Civil War.Krennerich 2005 270–271 In fact, the municipal elections Araujo promised to hold in December 1931 were postponed for one month by Martínez's government. Races where the communists won had their results suspended.Haggerty 1990 15–16Anderson 1971 88–89 Constitutionality and recognition According to article 92 of the constitution of El Salvador, Araujo's departure from El Salvador without permission from the Legislative Assembly automatically forfeited his presidency to the vice president (Martínez). Araujo's resignation to López Rochac was unconstitutional as he attempted to circumvent giving the presidency to the vice president as mandated by article 81. Additionally, articles 36 and 132 of the constitution granted the armed forces the "right to insurrection", and according to Charles B. Curtis, the United States ambassador to El Salvador, this article made the coup "entirely constitutional".Dur 1998 101 Despite assessing the coup as being constitutional, Curtis described the coup's leaders as "little more than halfwitted" and "utterly irresponsible youths" who had "no capacity and no fixed plan beyond getting rid of [Araujo's] government".Grieb 1971 155 The United States government refused to recognize Martínez's government as to do so violated the 1923 Central American Treaty of Peace and Amity, which prohibited signatories from recognizing governments formed through coups.Grieb 1971 155–156 The United States pressured Martínez to resign,Ching 1997 366 but by January 1934, the United States had formally recognized Martínez as El Salvador's president.Grieb 1971 170 Historical assessment United States Federal Research Division historian Richard Haggerty described the coup as a "watershed" event in Salvadoran history.Haggerty 1990 15 Historian Michael Krennerich described both the coup and the subsequent es La Matanza (a January 1932 military-instigated massacre that killed up to 40,000 peasants)Tulchin Bland 1992 167 as "landmarks in the history of the country".Krennerich 2005 270 Notes References Citations 22em Bibliography 35em yes Anderson Thomas P. 1971 Lincoln Matanza: El Salvador's Communist Revolt of 1932 https://archive.org/details/matanzaelsalvado0000ande/mode/2up en University of Nebraska 9780803207943 1150304117 12 September 2025 https://repository.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4001&context=gradschool_disstheses The Martinez Era: Salvadoran–American Relations, 1931–1944 en 1976 27 October 2024 Louisiana State University Astilla Carmelo Francisco Esmeralda Ann Arbor, Michigan 3809272 https://web.archive.org/web/20240127090909/https://repository.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4001&context=gradschool_disstheses 27 January 2024 live Ching Erik K. 1997 From Clientelism to Militarism: The State, Politics and Authoritarianism in El Salvador, 1840–1940 https://www.proquest.com/docview/304330235 PhD en Santa Barbara, California University of California, Santa Barbara 39326756 28 February 2024 304330235 Ching Erik K. 2014 Notre Dame, Indiana Authoritarian El Salvador: Politics and the Origins of the Military Regimes, 1880–1940 en University of Notre Dame Press Kellogg Institute Series on Democracy and Development j.ctvpj7923 9780268023751 875865660 Dur Philip F. 1998 US Diplomacy and the Salvadoran Revolution of 1931 Journal of Latin American Studies 30 1 95–119 10.1017/S0022216X97004914 0022-216X 158449 9983590519 145075012 Grieb Kenneth J. Kenneth Grieb 1971 The United States and the Rise of General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez Journal of Latin American Studies en Cambridge University Press 3 2 151–172 10.1017/S0022216X00001425 0022-216X 156558 9983670644 146607906 Haggerty Richard A. 1990 El Salvador: A Country Study https://archive.org/details/elsalvadorcountr00hagg en 2nd Washington, D.C. Library of Congress, Federal Research Division 9780525560371 89048948 1044677008 17 September 2020 https://www.diariocolatino.com/impago-1931-y-golpe-de-estado-vii/ Impago 1931 y Golpe de Estado (VII) Non-Payment 1931 and Coup d'État (VII) es 13 August 2021 1 December 2025 Diario Co Latino Diario co Latino 2021 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 27 October 2024 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 27 October 2024 amp http://www.casapres.gob.sv/presidentes/pres/dircivico1931.htm Presidentes de El Salvador – Directorio Cívico Presidents of El Salvador – Civic Directory es 27 October 2024 Government of El Salvador Casa Presidencial https://web.archive.org/web/20090302085013/http://www.casapres.gob.sv/presidentes/pres/dircivico1931.htm 2 March 2009 dead Casa Presidencial 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 25547798 7 April 2026 White Alastair 1973 El Salvador https://archive.org/details/elsalvador0000whit/mode/2up en Nations of the Modern World Ernest Benn Limited London and Tonbridge 0510395236 73175341 1391406624 1 December 2025 Further reading Beverley John John Beverley (Latin Americanist) 1982 El Salvador Social Text en Duke University Press 5 55–72 10.2307/466334 0164-2472 466334 5548079038 El Salvador Category:1930s coups d'état Category:1931 in El Salvador Category:December 1931 in North America 1931