Maximiliano Hernández Martínez

Maximiliano Hernández Martínez

Maximiliano Hernández Martínez (born October 21, 1882 in San Matías , El Salvador , † May 15, 1966 in Jamastrán , Honduras ) was a Salvadoran politician and dictator of El Salvador between 1931 and 1944.

Life before the presidency

After studying at the University of El Salvador, he joined the army in 1903 and rose to lieutenant . In 1914 he was made a colonel and in 1919 a brigadier general. In 1921, Hernández Martínez became Minister of War and the Navy. Since the Guardia Nacional was subordinate to the Ministry of War as well as the Presidential Ministry, Martinez was also jointly responsible for the Guardia Nacional's human rights violations.

Coup

As War and Navy Minister ousted he's elected president Arturo Araujo after this by the control boycott of the landlords - oligarchy the solvency of the state had been taken. This happened against the background of political unrest and due to a dramatic drop in the price of one of the country's most important export goods, coffee, as a result of the global economic crisis .

La Matanza

The rule of Martinez began with La Matanza , a genocidal massacre in western El Salvador, which killed an estimated 10,000–40,000 people, mostly members of the Pipil .

Consolidation of power

Since the Hernández Martínez government was initially not recognized by the governments of the other Central American states and that of the USA , Hernández Martínez sought formal legitimation of his power. This included the justification that he had been vice-president and that he would therefore exercise the office of Arturo Araujo in his absence. Six months before the end of Araujo's term of office, Hernández Martínez resigned and was the only candidate for president.

fascism

Before the Second World War, Maximiliano Martinez Hernandez openly professed fascism and his government was one of the first to recognize the dictatorship of Francisco Franco in Spain. Military officers like Arturo Castellanos were scholarships for studies in Fascist Italy supported. Hernandez also appointed two Germans to leading positions. The German consul Baron Guillermo von Hundelshausen, father of the President of the Cámara de Comercio e Industria Salvadorena Alemana , Wolf von Hundelshausen, became director of the newly founded, state-owned Banco Hipotecario . In 1938 Eberhardt Bohnstedt became head of the Escuelas Militar Capitán general Gerardo Barrios . Hernandez had Hitler's birthday publicly celebrated on April 20, 1939.

On March 9, 1938, a border treaty was signed with Guatemala under Jorge Ubico Castañeda . On July 30, 1939, 50 Jewish refugees were refused entry to El Salvador. Each refugee had paid US $ 500 for Salvadoran visas in Budapest and Amsterdam, but upon arrival in El Salvador these were declared fakes and the refugees were sent back to Germany. All over the world, the German embassies were the contact points for the NSDAP's foreign organization , including in El Salvador.

During the Second World War, cooperation with Germany and Italy endangered good relations with the United States. The US government reacted with threatening gestures in line with the “ Good Neighbor Policy ” and Hernandez declared war on the Axis powers one day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor . Hernandez also had a radio station operated by Germans shut down.

racism

Immediately after La Matanaza, Martinez had the public use of the nawat banned. In 1933, he passed a racist immigration law that banned Jews , Roma , Malays , Turks , Arabs and blacks from immigrating to El Salvador.

Economic policy

Martínez had the support of the oligarchy and pursued a policy of austerity . On instructions from the Martínez government, wages have been cut by 30%. He managed to end the state's insolvency. It also succeeded in reducing the trade deficit by canceling foreign debts . A state bank and a state-owned mortgage bank were set up under his rule . Due to the Second World War, exports to the USA from El Salvador (and thus revenue) increased significantly and the economic situation improved somewhat. In response to farmers' discontent, a very small portion of the land was redistributed to peasants who had no possessions. Martínez strictly rejected an education system for the general public.

Theosophy

His attitude to life was shaped by superstition , occultism and a belief in reincarnation . He was also a member of the Theosophical Society . He subordinated family and private relationships to his theosophical beliefs and ambitions as ruler. An example of this is the death of his son Maximiliano. The child fell ill with appendicitis , Hernández Martínez refused treatment by a doctor, instead he tried to treat him with "blue water". It was water that was tossed back and forth from blue bottles under the sun many times. The treatment was fatal for his son. Martinez's answer was only resignation, since only the "invisible doctors" could have saved. He was also a vegetarian and completely abstinent . He encouraged his children to adopt his lifestyle.

Disempowerment

In 1944 he was ousted by a general strike paro de brazos caídos , initiated and organized by students . He fled to Guatemala . The protest movement then spread to Guatemala and led to the overthrow of the dictator Jorge Ubico . Eventually he fled into exile in Honduras . He lived there as a landowner until he was stabbed to death by his driver on May 15, 1966.

Aftermath

In the 1980s, a death squad named after him appeared. Hernández's method of giving members of the Guardia Nacional plenty of alcohol before the murders lives on in the drug use of the Escuadrones de la Muerte . The ARENA party continues to regard Maximiliano Hernández Martínez as the savior of the nation.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Roque Dalton The world is a limping millipede, The Century of Miguel Mármol , Rotpunktverlag, Zurich, 1997, p. 233.
2. ↑ Description of Issues ( Memento of the original from September 27, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on theohistory.org 
3. ^ Political events in 1932 on answers.com

predecessor	Office	successor
Directorio cívico	President of El Salvador 1931–1934	Andrés Ignacio Menéndez

predecessor	Office	successor
Andrés Ignacio Menéndez	President of El Salvador 1935–1944	Andrés Ignacio Menéndez