José Miguel Ramón Idígoras Fuentes

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José Miguel Ramón Idígoras Fuentes

José Miguel Ramón Idígoras Fuentes also Ydígoras (born October 17, 1895 in Retalhuleu , † October 1982 in Guatemala City ) was President of Guatemala from March 2, 1958 to March 31, 1963 .

Life

Idigoras held various government offices under Jorge Ubico Castañeda . General Miguel Idigoras Fuentes was a friend of Jacobo Arbenz Guzmán in 1944 and was sent to Washington as a military attaché after the Revolución de Octubre in 1944 .

Idigoras founded the Partido Redención . In the presidential elections in 1950 Idígoras ran against Arbenz.

• Idígoras received 76,180 votes which was 18.7%.
• Arbenz received 266,778 votes which was 65.4%.

He also clearly lost the elections of 1957, but these were declared invalid due to electoral fraud and Idigoras Fuentes took over the presidency in 1958.

Ydígora's government cut ties with Fidel Castro . US Ambassador Lester D. Mallory trained around 5,000 mercenaries to invade the Bay of Pigs at Finca La Helvetia . The Finca La Helvetia in Retalhuleu was owned by Roberto Alejos Arzu, a close friend Idígoras'. On November 13, 1960, the Fuerte de Matamoros troops rebelled to prevent an invasion of Cuba. This failed coup attempt marks the beginning of the Guatemalan civil war . In 1962 the Furezas Armadas Revoluciónarias (FAR) are founded. Idigoras ordered air strikes on Mexican fishing boats that were fishing in the territorial waters of Guatemala. His government underpinned Guatemala's claims to Belize with clear military threats and had some villages named after warriors: Pedro de Alvarado , the last king of the Quiché Tecun Uman, Melchor de Mencos.

Miguel Idigoras enjoyed the patronage of the US Embassy. The opposition to Idigoras was strong in all strata of the population. After electoral fraud in parliamentary elections, in which the Partido Redención Yidigoras won the majority of the seats, there were demonstrations through Guatemala City, calling for Idigoras' resignation. President Idigoras fired automatic weapons at the demonstrators. After a week of protest, around 40 protesters were dead, hundreds injured and thousands in prison. The government of Ydigora was replaced in 1963 by Defense Minister Colonel Enrique Peralta Azurdia .

Under his rule, the improvement of the infrastructure, especially through paved bridges and paved roads, intensified. Among other things, some bridges on the route from Guatemala City to the Atlantic were completed in November 1959, the street clover (el Trebol) was completed, the bridges to Belize and "Baltazar Orena" over the river "Los Esclavos" were built. The “San Vicente” anti-tuberculosis hospital and the “María Teresa” children's hospital were also opened. Guatemala participated most actively in the common Central American market, Mercado Común Centro Americano . Idigoras had living space created for the middle class and accompanied this with slogans such as "esfuerzo propio, ayuda mutua" (own effort, mutual help).

Fomento y Desarrollo Economico del Peten

In 1959 FYDEP was founded by the Idigoras regime. By means of this state development company, the military acquired large land ownership and poultry farming was promoted. The Petén was practically uninhabited since the end of the classical Maya age, so that after 900 years the forests here were almost renatured again. Economic activities during the colonial period were limited to a few cattle farms in savannah areas and a few precarious settlements on the banks of the great rivers. At the beginning of the 20th century the economic exploitation of rubber began, which in 1947 reached a record harvest of 47,000 quintals , making rubber Guatemala's third highest-yielding export product. At the same time, the timber industry was mechanized, which enabled a significant expansion of the felling areas, which were previously limited to the areas near the rivers. FYDEP was tasked with managing the use of natural resources and promoting the colonization of the area. In the following years, non-wood products from the forest were also used, such as decorative palm fronds in floristry, xate palms ( Chamaedorea spp) and thick pepper (All spice). FYDEP awarded concessions for logging and land, and had roads and infrastructure built. The Petén was thus integrated into the Guatemalan economy. During this time, more and more cattle breeding businesses were founded, which cleared the large natural forest areas and leveled them to pastures. In the 1980s, the crisis of access to land in various parts of the country worsened (people were driven off their land by the military for the construction of large reservoirs) and increased peasant migration in the Petén, with the result of increased conversion of forest in pasture and cultivation areas. FYDEP was dissolved at the end of 1980.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Time , Oct. 30, 1944, revolution
2. ^ Dieter Nohlen, Elections in the Americas: North America, Central America, and the Caribbean , University Press, 2005, 758 pages, page 338 f.
3. ↑ Miguel Ydigoras Fuentes . In: Der Spiegel . No. 49 , 1962 ( online - December 5, 1962 ).
4. ^ Time , Mar. 10, 1958, Good Impression
5. ^ Time , May 09, 1960, Round the Maypole Rally
6. ↑ No comment . In: Der Spiegel . No. 5 , 1961 ( online - Jan. 25, 1961 ).
7. ^ Time , Jan. 6, 1961, Mystery Strip
8. ↑ Gerald Clark, The Coining Explosion in Latin America , DAVID McKAY COMPANY, INC., New York 1962

predecessor	Office	successor
Guillermo Flores Avendaño	President of Guatemala March 2, 1958–31. March 1963	Alfredo Enrique Peralta Azurdia