Maximiliano Hernandez Martinez
Maximiliano Hernández Martínez (San Matías, La Libertad, El Salvador, October 21, 1882 – Danlí, El Paraíso, Honduras, May 15, 1966) was a Salvadoran military man and dictator. He was president of El Salvador (1931-1944), a position he assumed after a coup in 1931.
After completing his military studies in Guatemala, he rose through the military ranks to brigadier general. In 1931, the Pro Patria party nominated him for the vice-presidency, which he won. On December 2, 1931, President Arturo Araujo was deposed by a coup, after which he was named president by the coup leaders grouped in the Civic Directory, being ratified in office the following year by the Legislative Assembly. He extended his term for thirteen years through elections in which he was the only candidate, and also through legislative decrees.
In his tenure (colloquially known as Martinato) they highlighted the slaughter of 25,000 indigenous people who rose up against his government in 1932, his policies attached to his theosophical beliefs, the diplomatic movements during World War II, the decline significant reduction of crime through the use of force, the consolidation of public finances, the creation of a state currency-issuing bank, the sale of low-cost housing for peasants, the significant reduction of debt for people on the verge of bankruptcy, the construction of the Pan-American Highway and the cancellation of the external debt.
In 1944, a group of soldiers rose up against the president, who were put down by force in a couple of days. A month later there was a sit-down strike by civil society, which forced the general to depose the position of first magistracy. Hernández Martínez was assassinated 22 years later in Honduras, at the hands of his driver.
Family
Her parents were Raymundo Hernández and Petronila Martínez. He married Concepción Monteagudo, with whom he had nine children: Alberto, Carmen, Esperanza, Marina, Eduardo, Rosa, Gloria, Maximiliano and Luis. His family relationship was always subject to his theosophical beliefs and his office as agent; An example of this was the death of his son Maximiliano. The boy fell ill with appendicitis and Hernández Martínez refused to allow him to be treated by doctors, since he himself would treat him with "blue waters" (water that had spent a long time in the sun inside blue-colored bottles); the result was fatal, the child died and the military's response was that only resignation remained because the "invisible doctors" they had not wanted to save the infant. To his theosophical habits were added his vegetarianism, his obsession with the occult sciences and his fondness for the study of reincarnation.He was absolutely teetotaler, a habit which he strictly instilled in his children.
Studies and military career
He studied at the National Institute of El Salvador. After finishing his secondary education studies, he entered the Polytechnic School of Guatemala, where he obtained the rank of Second Lieutenant. He returned to El Salvador during the presidency of General Tomás Regalado. Upon his return, he studied at the Faculty of Jurisprudence and Social Sciences at the University of El Salvador, leaving the degree in the second year of studies.
He was promoted to effective lieutenant on November 17, 1903; to captain, August 23, 1906; to captain major, the same year (during the war with Guatemala, where he was under the command of General Tomás Regalado); to lieutenant colonel, on May 6, 1909 and to colonel, on June 15, 1914. On July 14, 1919, the Legislative Assembly promoted him to the rank of brigadier general, the legislative decree was sanctioned by President Jorge Meléndez on September 17. In 1921 he was instituted as Minister of War and Navy.
Foray into politics
In 1931, the fascist-leaning Pro Patria party included him as a vice-presidential candidate. After winning the elections, he held the position of Vice President, at the same time as Minister of War, in the services of President Arturo Araujo. On December 2 of the year of his election, he participated in a coup d'état, being elected President of the Republic, following the designation of the civic Directorate provisionally established, his presidency was ratified by the legislative branch in 1932.
In the coup he was accompanied by a civilian minority and by a good number of soldiers with low and medium ranks, who were known as "Military Youth". The military were incited mainly by non-compliance with executive salaries and unfavorable conditions for carrying out their work. After a day of deliberation, Hernández Martínez was named interim president for having abandoned the outgoing president before the uprising began.
The United States vigorously opposed the coup, invoking the 1923 Treaty of Washington, by which Central American governments had pledged not to grant diplomatic recognition to any regime installed by armed revolt. Although the United States had not signed the treaty, it had sponsored the idea. However, since this revolt occurred at a time when the United States had pledged not to intervene militarily in Latin America, the Salvadoran military felt it could withstand pressure from Washington. Initially, other Central American governments, notably that of General Jorge Ubico in Guatemala, supported the United States in its opposition to Martínez. Claiming that the 1923 Washington Treaties prevented recognition of anyone who came to power as a result of a coup, the United States insisted on Martinez's resignation. Martínez and Ubico became rivals in a diplomatic contest for support across the isthmus. When the non-recognition failed to overthrow Martínez due to his control of the government's internal security apparatus and the reluctance of the United States to intervene militarily, the United States recognized the Martínez regime in January 1934. The general arranged his own re-election in violation of the Salvadoran constitution in 1934, beginning his second term in March 1935.
Government of Maximiliano Hernández Martínez
Peasant uprising of 1932
The political situation became tense for President Hernández Martínez, and on January 22, 1932, a peasant uprising broke out in the western part of the country. On February 1, 1932, Agustín Farabundo Martí (leader of student groups and left-wing politician) and university students Alfonso Luna and Mario Zapata were shot for having found pamphlets supporting the Salvadoran Communist Party.
The peasant uprising of 1932 was an insurrection that ended in the death of approximately 25,000 indigenous people. The causes were diverse, among them the strong discontent of the peasants before the policies of the government of General Hernández Martínez. In a short time, under presidential orders, the Salvadoran army put down the revolt and a state of siege was established. The indigenous leader Feliciano Ama was lynched and hanged by military forces, encouraging the participation of Ama's countrymen in the uprising. After the massacre, the shallowly buried corpses served as a source of contamination, which spread pockets of disease among the inhabitants. residue of the insurgents. In addition, pigs and other animals dug up the bodies and fed on them, which brought an immediate government reaction, since it had repercussions on the economy by contaminating farmyard animals.
Once the insurrection was put down, the president refused to receive foreign military aid, referring a telegram to the admiral of the warships that the United States and the United Kingdom had sent. The telegram stated that:
The head of Operation of the Western Zone of the Republic, General of Division José Tomás Calderón, presents his compliments, on behalf of the government of General Martínez and on his own behalf, to Admiral Smith and Commander Brandeur, of the warships Rochester, Skeena and Wancouver, and is pleased to inform you that we declare a situation absolutely dominated by El Salvador forces. Guaranteed lives of foreign nationals accepted and respectful laws of the Republic. Peace is established in El Salvador. Offensive communist discarded his formidable dispersed cores. To this day, four thousand eight hundred Bolsheviks are liquidated.General José Tomás Calederón
After the massacre, Hernández Martínez took it upon himself to take various plays throughout the country, such as But the Indians also have a heart and Birds without a nest, whose content was intended to qualify the facts to appease the rumors and the claims of some sectors. He ordered the destruction of all newspapers, articles or pamphlets that were contrary to him on the subject; the main objective was to convince public opinion that the indigenous people were confused by the communists and that the insurrection had been financed by the Union Soviet Union, which forced the massacre. In addition, after the events, Alfredo Schlesinger, a sympathizer of the Hernández Martínez government, wrote a book entitled The truth about communism, in which he told the story according to the official version. Later, the same Schlesinger wrote another book, entitled Communist Revolution, and which was published in 1946, where he reaffirmed what he said in the first. Some parts of the books have been strongly criticized for covering up the facts, although there is also criticism for exaggerating the events. In general, the accusations point to the fact that the death tolls are much lower than the real ones and that acts of vandalism are described by the rebels that did not really happen. Regarding the media, the president limited radio broadcasts, the written press and even the cinema, trying to turn history around by managing public opinion.
Government policies
His government policies had diverse effects on the country's cultural, political, and economic life. Without establishing a centralized government, he participated in almost all the decisions that had to be made, directing almost personally every activity of his government. He removed the military (with the exception of himself, of course) from the civil administration, and That is why his cabinet was a minority military one. Salaries for government officials and for the military were extremely low, compared to previous times, which significantly scared away the military interested in participating in the government. However, he always preferred to be close to military protection, so he which transferred the presidential office and his family residence to the then Normal School for Boys, next to the El Zapote Barracks.[citation required]
He promoted economic growth based on the expansion of large coffee plantations, thus benefiting landowners and initiating links between the military and the oligarchy.
During his presidency the Central Reserve Bank and the Mortgage Bank were created, the Salvadoran Coffee Company, the Rural Credit Fund, the Cotton Cooperative, the General Directorate of Public Works, Social Improvement, developed commendable work within their functions. The first in big finance and in the case of social improvement, dividing up some haciendas to settle peasant families. Highways were built throughout the country (the Pan-American Highway) and the Flor Blanca National Stadium (today Jorge “Mágico” González Stadium) where the III Central American and Caribbean Games were held at that time. Buildings were built such as the telegraph, the castle of the old National Police, current headquarters of the General Directorate of the National Civil Police, and large bridges, such as the Cuscatlán over the Lempa River in 1942.
On February 23, 1932, the Salvadoran State was declared in default, specifying to the creditors of the external debt that it would not pay the loans if the interest were not softened and the term was extended. The net debt, that is, without interest, was fully paid in 1938, although the interest ended up being paid in 1960. Once the debt was paid, he proposed, through a commemorative plaque placed in the Legislative Assembly, the policy of non-acquisition of international loans in the future. Despite this initiative, it also acquired loans for the construction of the Pan-American Highway. On the other hand, on March 12, 1932, it decreed the Moratorium Law, through which it reduced the interest of debtors who were about to fall into bankruptcy. In addition, with the aim of stabilizing the value of the colon, he created the Central Reserve Bank of El Salvador in 1934, indemnifying private banks to stop issuing money.
Martínez kept the nation in the grip of a harsh dictatorship until 1944. A theosophist and spiritualist who believed in the transmigration of human souls into other people, he was rumored to be involved in rituals and was often considered a witch doctor. The security apparatus controlled all aspects of Salvadoran life, including the press, mercilessly repressing dissent.
The general cracked down on corruption, stopped foreign loans, and stabilized the currency. His regime was best known for its public works program, which, while not as extensive as his contemporary Guatemalan one, changed the face of the nation. His efforts included the construction of extensive highways, as well as the construction of many government buildings. He was periodically re-elected, save for a brief interim regime.
After some years of continuous rivalry, Martínez and Ubico joined the leaders of Honduras and Nicaragua in a détente in which each agreed to avoid rebel movements against their neighbors, thus acknowledging that neither could gain ascendancy. This agreement gave rise to the myth of a League of Central American Dictators, which seemed to gain further credibility when both Guatemala and El Salvador became the first governments to recognize the new Spanish regime of Generalissimo Francisco Franco in Spain. In fact, however, there was no formal agreement and certainly no link with the Axis powers. Rather, the respective Central American military presidents simply adopted a policy of mutual non-intervention.
As for policies directly referring to the population, their theosophical customs always predominated. For example, when a smallpox plague broke out, it was treated by the president by covering the lamps in the squares with blue paper, hoping that the invisible doctors would save those who were destined to live. Among other things, he established that all those Anyone who asked for an education should be considered a communist, especially denying access to education to workers and wage earners because, in his words, there would soon be no more people willing to work as cleaners.
In July 1932, he established the Social Improvement Fund, and in October, the National Social Improvement Board, whose main activity was to acquire homes and provide soft loans to peasants to buy them; however, said activity did not brought the results expected by the population, since the beneficiaries were many fewer than what had been projected. Despite being described as an agrarian reform, this was not, since the lands were not expropriated, but bought from market price and sold at a lower one, using national funds that would never be repaid and would pass into the hands of the landowners of the time. Houses were also built to be sold under the same conditions, although this occurred on a smaller scale.
Modified the Police Law of 1879, prohibiting civilians from carrying firearms, knives, machetes or slingshots, making evasion of said ordinance a crime. On the other hand, it established that those who did not have lawful trades or an honest way of living would be persecuted and punished as lazy. The penalty for theft was the amputation of a hand and, for recidivism, the sentence was the firing squad. 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 at political executions and who, after the 1932 uprising, offered masses in gratitude for the military victory.
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.
In 1939, he convened the Constituent Assembly to draft a new constitution, the main novelty of which was the inclusion of the female vote under certain conditions of social origin and educational level.
In 1943, Hernández Martínez tried to increase the tax rates on exports to obtain more income for the State, and that broke the relationship he had with the oligarch groups.
His World War II Policies
The advent of World War II 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.
The general was very attracted to the successes of the European fascist governments, especially Hitler and Mussolini. In fact, in 1938 he appointed Eberhardt Bohnstedt, general of the Wehrmacht of the German army, director of the Military School. In addition, he opened diplomatic relations with the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco; however, under pressure from the United States (main buyer of coffee to the Central American country), he had to forget his sympathies and agreed to side with the Allies. In addition, he gave diplomatic recognition to the puppet state of Manchukuo, and removed from office its officials who had German and Chinese ancestry. He also expropriated their lands from German and Italian residents in El Salvador and sent them to US concentration camps, which was used to obtain US diplomatic support.
That change in his foreign policy, as well as the repression against communists and opponents of his government, allowed him to obtain greater support from the United States. However, the situation changed when Hernández Martínez refused 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 given by Hernández Martínez for rejecting the request of the Americans was that, since the troops that would arrive would have a percentage of black soldiers, there was an imminent risk that they would reproduce in El Salvador and fill with children of color. to the country.
During his dictatorship, the heroic deed of Colonel Arturo Castellanos, Consul of El Salvador in Switzerland, came to the aid of hundreds of thousands of Jews, Gypsies and politically persecuted people from Eastern Europe and the Balkans, granting them Salvadoran citizenship and consequently protection against to the Nazis by the International Red Cross, Martínez was suspicious of Castellanos considering him a political rival and was the reason for sending him to the Salvadoran diplomacy in England, Germany and finally in Switzerland, after the fall of the dictator the new government ratified all the certificates issued by Castellanos and his people, the colonel was then honored by Israel and recently by El Salvador, several of the Jews protected by the colonel emigrated to El Salvador with the certificates issued by the so-called Schindler Salvadoreño.
Main achievements
During his tenure, he achieved successes such as the organization of banking, through the creation of the Central Reserve Bank of El Salvador and the Mortgage Bank of El Salvador between 1934 and 1939, the momentary elimination of foreign debt, the creation of credit institutions for the peasantry (Federation of Rural Credit Banks), the execution of affordable housing construction projects for workers, the reorganization of the national treasury, support for coffee, sugar and cotton producers through measures favorable economic conditions for said items; the construction of 300 kilometers of the Pan-American Highway and the reduction of the debts of small and medium landowners who were in the process of embargo.In addition, his most remembered achievement was the significant reduction in crime, through relentless compliance with the law.
Main criticisms
The government of Hernández Martínez has been widely criticized by various sectors, focusing mainly on his theosophical practices and their repercussions on his actions as ruler. In the first place, the general's belief that the superior being (the State, for that matter) should have absolute power over individuals led him to turn the State into an individual controller, endowing it with extra-constitutional power over national life, giving it control of the armed forces. He had strict control of the mass media, aligning them in favor of his regime or simply closing them down in the face of occasional resistance. In addition, he is criticized for the exile of the most important thinkers and artists from the time when they did not commune with his government. The harshness of his measures and mainly his contempt for the quality of the human being forced him to commit acts that would set a precedent for violence, a prelude to what would come decades later during the military dictatorship. The media management extended to the political field, creating conditions so that even abroad he was considered a democratic president; For example, he placed the Communist Party polling station right in front of the Nuevo Mundo Hotel, which housed a large number of foreigners, especially Americans. The intention was clear: to create an image of democracy to be recognized by the rest of the States as a legitimate president. In the field of ideas, he publicly supported himself on the theories of Alberto Masferrer, although in practice he opposed the themselves.
However, the main criticism leveled at his government is the excessive use of force. He used unorthodox repressive methods characterized by violence and disrespect for the integrity of the individual.
End of term
Since Hernández Martínez intended to extend his mandate beyond 1944, the military rose up against the ruler, who managed to defeat the rebel movement and ordered the opposition officers who were involved in the revolt to be shot. It was then that civil society, demonstrating against the mass shootings of rising officers, rebelled through a sit-down strike that led to the resignation of the dictator.
Military Rebellion
On the afternoon of April 2, 1944, through the use of air force and infantry, military rebels under the command of Alfonso Marroquín and Tito Tomás Calvo took control of the Infantry Barracks, Sixth Machine Gun Regiment, and Fifth Infantry of Santa Ana. Everything happened while Hernández Martínez was traveling from La Libertad to San Salvador in a rental van.
The fighting lasted until April 4, when forces loyal to Hernández Martínez annihilated the rebels in an ambush on the way to Santa Ana. Marroquín surrendered and was arrested along with Calvo, who was denied asylum politician at the US embassy. Both were shot without trial the following day.
Civil rebellion
Civil society, led by the intellectual Joaquín Castro Canizales, who had collaborated with Hernández Martínez in 1931, gradually went on strike. Since April 26, university students imposed a partial strike, followed by high school students, teachers, theater employees, market vendors, professionals, and exactly one month after the military uprising, on April 2 On May 1944, civil rebels prevented the capital's railways from operating, officially starting what is known as "the sit-down strike", in which some actors participated who over time became become relevant politicians: such is the case of Schafik Handal, who would aspire to the presidency of the republic several decades later. During the sit-down strike there was no production, for which national and international pressure grew to the point of force the president to resign his position, depositing it in Andrés Ignacio Menéndez. His resignation was announced by himself through a radio statement on May 8, 1944 at 9:00 p.m.; he ended his speech with the phrase:
I don't believe in history because history is made by men and every man has his favorable or unfavorable passion. I believe only in one thing: in my conscience, and that conscience tells me that I have fulfilled my duty.Maximiliano Hernández Martínez resigning the presidency.
Death and military legacy
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After his resignation from the first magistracy, Martínez left by land for Guatemala, where he was received by his brother Guadalupe, then he moved to the United States, Maximiliano Hernández Martínez would move to Honduras where he lived his last years he leased the "Jamastran" farm in the department of El Paraíso to dedicate himself to agriculture or cotton cultivation Martínez lived on a property whose last name was Araujo, during his long exile, he only visited El Salvador on one occasion, during the presidency of Lt. colonel. Oscar Osorio It is known that the general, as well as President Osorio, were members of the Central American Masonic lodge, being the general grand master, degree 33. Martínez lived alone, without any member of his family, his wife Concepción Monteagudo had already died years previous years, and all their children resided in El Salvador. His driver, José Cipriano Morales, who was a trusted man of Martínez, was at his service, but unfortunately on Sunday, May 15, 1966, at about 12:00 p.m. m. Martínez was having lunch, Morales, who had been drinking for several days, came to demand his salary in a drunken state, which Martínez had not paid him so that he would not continue getting drunk. When he refused to cancel, they had a heated discussion and he stabbed him 19 times in the back at the age of 83, after committing the crime, leaving the body in a bathtub and stealing what he could. It is believed that there was also complicity with a cook. which fled with unknown whereabouts. The criminal fled to El Salvador, being later captured by the National Guard in the City of San Miguel. Cipriano Morales would confess to the crime being the murderer of one of the presidents who had the most periods during the history of El Salvador. One of his sons would find his father's corpse in a state of decomposition, which was repatriated to El Salvador in a Honduran Air Force Plane landing at the Ilopango Airport and buried in the Los Ilustres Cemetery in San Salvador in a tomb. which is recognizable for being completely simple and for not having any name or dedication.
During the historical temporal plane of the dictatorship of General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez, tragically famous for having ordered the ethnocide of more than 25,000 indigenous people in January 1932, El Salvador, from 1931 to 1979, was governed by the military and its economy It was based on the monoculture of coffee, which denotes the subjugation of the peasant to a production system imposed by the crook and the rifle, for which there was no way or more logical sense of expression before the bosses or foremen for someone who was subjected to the line workshops and working conditions close to slavery. For this reason it is considered by historians as an allegorical example of the great destruction for the fulfillment of Human Rights at that time. The "Martinato" consolidated the military governments which brought down almost 5 decades of military governments, the longest chapter of military control in the history of El Salvador.
After the death of the dictator, an anti-communist extermination brigade was named after him, which functioned as a death squad. With his mandate, more than five decades of military governments began that would lead, among other things, to in a civil war.
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