Background
Maximiliano Hernandez Martinez was born October 29, 1882 in San Matias, La Libertad, El Salvador.
Maximiliano Hernandez Martinez was born October 29, 1882 in San Matias, La Libertad, El Salvador.
He graduated from the Guatemala Military Academy.
Martinez entered El Salvador's army at an early age. He gained combat experience in the 1906 war with Guatemala, establishing a solid record and rising to brigadier general by 1919. During much of his career he served as a professor at the Salvadoran Military Academy.
Martinez rose to power in 1931 during a tumultuous year of political maneuvering. The only military officer considered a leading candidate for the presidency in the election of 1931, Martinez emerged as the vice president on a ticket headed by Arturo Araujo, a wealthy landowner with aspirations for reform. However, after winning the election Araujo proved to be a weak ruler, unable to deal with the severe problems resulting from the global depression, especially the depressed price of coffee, the nation's principal export. In December 1931 a group of young army officers ousted Araujo in a military coup. Martinez was arrested, though the young officers later installed him as president since under the constitution he was next in line as vice president.
The United States vigorously opposed the coup, invoking the 1923 Washington Treaty, by which the governments of Central America had pledged not to grant diplomatic recognition to any regime installed by an armed revolt. While the United States had not signed the treaty, it had sponsored the idea. However, since this revolt occurred at a moment when the United States had pledged not to intervene militarily in Latin America, the Salvadoran military felt that it could resist pressure from Washington. In the midst of the maneuvering the situation was changed by the outbreak of an agrarian revolt in which discontented peasants sought to seize land. Fighting erupted throughout the interior of the nation, and several landowners were killed by peasant mobs. While the revolt reflected the conditions of the peasants, it was led by avowed Communists, including Agustín Farabundo Marti. The uprising alarmed the landowners and forced them to seek military support. In the process they turned to General Martínez, who was largely Native American Mestizo of poor origin with little in common with the elite. Martinez perceived his opportunity and ruthlessly put down the revolt. The death toll in the uprising and the subsequent repression was very high.
Martinez was able to consolidate his position with his new found support from the oligarchy and carefully orchestrated his own election. In later years Martínez twice extended his term of office through constitutional conventions.
While El Salvador had seen economic growth during his leadership and he was admired by the wealthy elite, the country experienced widespread social unrest
A revolt on May 8, 1944, led to his resignation. After that he lived in obscurity in exile in Honduras for many years and died there in 1966.
The Martinez regime constituted an important watershed in the politics of El Salvador, marking the initial control of the nation by the military and the origin of the alliance between the military and the landowners which dominated politics in that nation for many decades. The unsuccessful peasant uprising that enabled him to consolidate power also polarized his nation between upper and lower classes. These legacies were to continue to affect the politics of El Salvador for decades after Martinez abandoned power.
The Martinez government did construct a modest network of dirt roads, several governmental buildings, and a few schools and hospitals. He promoted economic growth based on the expansion of the large coffee estates, thereby benefiting the landowners and initiating links between the military and the oligarchy.
Martinez's efforts were based on minimal expenditures and were more modest than those of neighboring countries. Martinez refused to contract new loans abroad, instead insisting that his nation live on its resources. The general maintained tight personal control of the nation through an extensive system of repression and spies. His regime became more oppressive in its later years, especially after 1938, as it censored the media, banned political opposition, abolished local elections, rigged national elections and brutally killed thousands of dissidents and innocents. Police methods were harsh. Among his "reforms" were laws reinstituting the death penalty for such crimes as rebellion.
Quotations:
"It is a greater crime to kill an ant than a man, for when a man dies he becomes reincarnated, while an ant dies forever. "
"I propose before the Nation that it never consent to the incurrance of new debts. "
A recluse who seldom appeared in public, Martínez was a vegetarian, a nondrinker, and a theosophist who believed in reincarnation and engaged in occult practices. The general held seances at his home and was fond of recommending colored water to cure all ills.
