Arturo Araujo

Arturo Araujo
Arturo Araujo
	Araujo in c. 1928
26th President of El Salvador
	In office; 1 March 1931 – 2 December 1931
Vice President	Maximiliano Hernández Martínez
Preceded by	Pío Romero Bosque
Succeeded by	Maximiliano Hernández Martínez (acting)
Personal details
Born	1878; Santa Tecla, El Salvador
Died	1 December 1967 (aged 88); San Salvador, El Salvador
Political party	Salvadoran Laborist Party
Spouse(s)	Dora Morton; Rosa Amelia Guzmán
Children	2
Profession	Politician, engineer

Arturo Araujo Fajardo (1878 – 1 December 1967) was a Salvadoran politician and engineer who served as the president of El Salvador from 1 March 1931 to 2 December 1931. He was overthrown in a military coup led by junior officers, and was forced to flee the country for Guatemala.

Early life

Arturo Araujo was born in 1878 in Santa Tecla, El Salvador. His parents were Doctor Eugenio Araujo and Enriqueta Fajardo de Araujo.^[1]

Araujo studied in Liverpool and obtained a degree in engineering. Through his studies in the United Kingdom, he became an admirer of the British Labour Party and its policies.^[2]^[3]

Araujo was a wealthy landowner from Armenia, a municipality in the Sonsonate department.^[3] Due to his admiration of British Labour policies, developed a reputation for being generous to his workers, paying them twice the average wage and offering them housing and medical care.^[2]^[4] In 1918, artisans in Armenia bestowed upon him the title of "Benefactor of the Workers".^[5]

Early political career

1919 election and 1920 invasion

Araujo founded the Salvadoran Laborist Party.^[2] He announced that he would seek election as president of El Salvador during the 1919 presidential election.^[3] Incumbent provisional president Alfonso Quiñónez Molina of the National Democratic Party did not want Araujo to win and rigged the election to ensure that his preferred candidate, Jorge Meléndez (his brother-in-law), would in the election. Government officials went to polling stations to instruct them to cast votes in favor of Meléndez first and Pío Romero Bosque (one of Quiñónez's allies) second. In the final results, Araujo came in third place with 1,022 votes; Romero came in second with 4,370 votes and subsequently became minister of war, while Meléndez came in first with 166,441 votes, becoming president.^[6]

After Araujo's defeat, he began plotting to overthrow Meléndez's government. In March 1920, the government discovered Araujo's plot and attempted to arrest him at this hacienda in Armenia. A shootout ensued between the National Guard and Araujo's supporters, and Araujo fled the country for Honduras. While in exile, he raised an army numbering between 300 and 1,000 men, and in May 1920, he launched an invasion into northern El Salvador. His army attacked two military outposts in Arcatao in the Chalatenango department, but the Salvadoran Army responded quickly and forces Araujo and his army to flee back to Honduras. He remained in exile until 1923 when Quiñónez, who had since become president, allowed Araujo to return to Armenia.^[7]

1931 presidential election

In 1927, Romero became president. Although he was expected to continue the National Democratic Party's political dynasty, he implemented political reforms in an attempt to turn El Salvador into a democracy with free and fair elections.^[8]

During the 1931 presidential election, Araujo came in first place with 46.65 percent of the vote (a total of 106,777 votes).^[9] Election observers believed that the election was free and fair.^[10] Enrique Córdova believed that Romero may have rigged the election in favor of Araujo, but he did accept that the election was "democratic, instructive, and realized in peace".^[11]

Presidency

Araujo assumed office on 1 March 1931; Brigadier General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez was his vice president. He appointed the following cabinet ministers: Doctor Héctor David Castro as minister of foreign relations, justice, public instruction, and charity; Doctor Joaquín Novoa as minister of government, promotion, agriculture, labor, and sanitation; Doctor Francisco José Espinosa as minister of finance, public credit, industry, and commerce, and Martínez as minister of war, the navy, and aviation.^[12]

Alberto Masferrer had proposed a nine-point reform program of the country, based on which the president promised food, cloth, work and housing to every Salvadoran. However, government corruption and the Great Depression created disadvantage for the president.^{[citation needed]}

Soon he was overthrown in a military coup, and with his overthrow began five decades of military rule in the country.

Personal life

Araujo married twice. First, he married Dora Morton whom he met while studying in the United Kingdom; the couple had one daughter, Helen.^[1]^[2] Then, he married Rosa Amelia Guzmán; the couple had one son, Armando.^[1]

Death

Araujo died on 1 December 1967 at the age of 88 at the Military Hospital of San Salvador.^[1]^[13]

Electoral history

Year	Office	Type	Party		Main opponent	Party		Votes for Araujo				Result	Swing		Ref.
Year	Office	Type	Party		Main opponent	Party		Total	%	P.	±%	Result	Swing		Ref.
1919	President of El Salvador	General		Laborist	Jorge Meléndez		PDN	1,022	0.59	3rd	N/A	Lost		Hold	^[14]
1931	President of El Salvador	General		Laborist	Alberto Gómez Zárate		Zaratista	106,777	46.65	1st	+46.06	Won		Gain	^[9]

References

Citations

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Casa Presidencial (a).
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d White 1973, p. 98.
^ ^a ^b ^c Ching 1997, p. 249.
^ Ching 1997, pp. 249–250.
^ Ching 1997, p. 250.
^ Ching 1997, pp. 250–251.
^ Ching 1997, pp. 251–252.
^ Ching 1997, pp. 286–287.
^ ^a ^b Nohlen 2005, p. 287.
^ Ching 1997, p. 2.
^ Ching 1997, p. 305.
^ Leistenschneider & Leistenschneider 1980, p. 187.
^ The New York Times 1967, p. 84.
^ Ching 1997, p. 251.

Bibliography

Books

Ching, Erik K. (1997). From Clientelism to Militarism: The State, Politics and Authoritarianism in El Salvador, 1840–1940. Santa Barbara, California: University of California, Santa Barbara. OCLC 39326756. ProQuest 304330235. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
Leistenschneider, María & Leistenschneider, Freddy (1980). Gobernantes de El Salvador: Biografías [Governors of El Salvador: Biographies] (in Spanish). Ministry of the Interior. OCLC 7876291. Retrieved 2 October 2024.
Nohlen, Dieter (2005). Elections in the Americas A Data Handbook Volume 1: North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. pp. 270–299. ISBN 9780191557934. OCLC 58051010. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
White, Alastair (1973). El Salvador. Nations of the Modern World. London and Tonbridge: Ernest Benn Limited. ISBN 0510395236. LCCN 73175341. OCLC 1391406624. Retrieved 26 September 2024.

Newspapers

"Arturo Araujo, 88, President Of El Salvador in 1931, Dies". The New York Times. Vol. CXVII, no. 40, 125. San Salvador, El Salvador. 3 December 1967. p. 84. Retrieved 27 September 2024.

Web sources

"Presidentes de El Salvador – Ingeniero Arturo Araujo" [Presidents of El Salvador – Engineer Arturo Araujo]. Government of El Salvador (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2 March 2009. Retrieved 27 September 2024.

External links

Political offices
Preceded by Pío Romero Bosque	President of El Salvador 1911–1913	Succeeded by Maximiliano Hernández Martínez (acting)

This article about a Salvadoran politician is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[FOOTNOTECasa_Presidencial_(a)-1] Casa Presidencial (a).

[FOOTNOTEWhite197398-2] White 1973, p. 98.

[FOOTNOTEChing1997249-3] Ching 1997, p. 249.

[FOOTNOTEChing1997249–250-4] Ching 1997, pp. 249–250.

[FOOTNOTEChing1997250-5] Ching 1997, p. 250.

[FOOTNOTEChing1997250–251-6] Ching 1997, pp. 250–251.

[FOOTNOTEChing1997251–252-7] Ching 1997, pp. 251–252.

[FOOTNOTEChing1997286–287-8] Ching 1997, pp. 286–287.

[FOOTNOTENohlen2005287-9] Nohlen 2005, p. 287.

[FOOTNOTEChing19972-10] Ching 1997, p. 2.

[FOOTNOTEChing1997305-11] Ching 1997, p. 305.

[FOOTNOTELeistenschneiderLeistenschneider1980187-12] Leistenschneider & Leistenschneider 1980, p. 187.

[FOOTNOTEThe_New_York_Times196784-13] The New York Times 1967, p. 84.

[FOOTNOTEChing1997251-14] Ching 1997, p. 251.

[1]

v t e Heads of state of El Salvador
Post-independence (1821–1823)	Barriere Delgado Filísola Codallos Consultive Junta^‡ Prado^†
Federal Republic of Central America (1823–1841)	J. Rodríguez Prado J. V. Villacorta Prado Cornejo J. D. Villacorta Cornejo Morazán^† J. San Martín Prado J. San Martín C. Salazar^† G. Salazar^† Escolán^† Silva Espinoza F. Gómez Vigil T. Menéndez Vigil T. Menéndez Cañas^† Morazán Silva^† Cañas^† Ramírez^† Lindo^†
Republic of El Salvador (1841–1931)	Lindo^† Arce^† Marín^† J. J. Guzmán D. Villacorta^† Marín^† J. J. Guzmán C. Molina^† Arce^† C. Molina^† Arce^† Palacios^† Malespín Palacios^† J. E. Guzmán Palacios^† Aguilar Palacios^† Aguilar Medina^† Quirós^† Vasconcelos R. Rodríguez^† Vasconcelos Dueñas^† Quirós^† Dueñas J. M. San Martín^† Dueñas V. Gómez^† J. M. San Martín Dueñas^† Campo Dueñas^† Campo Zepeda^† Santín Barrios^† Santín J. E. Guzmán^† Peralta^† Barrios Dueñas González Méndez^† González del Valle Zaldívar Guirola^† Zaldívar Figueroa^† Rosales^† F. Menéndez C. Ezeta A. Ezeta^† Gutiérrez Regalado Escalón Figueroa M. Araujo C. Meléndez^† Quiñónez^† C. Meléndez Quiñónez^† J. Meléndez Quiñónez P. Romero A. Araujo
Military presidents (1931–1979)	Civic Directory^‡ Hernández Martínez^† A. Menéndez^† Hernández Martínez A. Menéndez^† Aguirre^† Castaneda Revolutionary Council of Government^‡ Osorio Lemus Junta of Government^‡ Civic-Military Directory^‡ Cordón^† Rivera F. Sánchez A. Molina C. Romero
Salvadoran Civil War (1979–1992)	Revolutionary Government Junta^‡ Magaña Duarte Cristiani
Post-Civil War (since 1992)	Cristiani Calderón Flores Saca Funes S. Sánchez Bukele C. Rodríguez^†
^† – Acting or provisional president ^‡ – Military junta