1939 Salvadoran presidential election

This article uses day-month-year date format (e.g., 3 May 2025). Please do not change it without consensus.

Presidential elections were held in El Salvador on 21 January 1939. The election was indirect rather than being held through a popular vote. The National Constitutional Assembly elected General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez, the incumbent president of El Salvador, to a third presidential term that would last from 1939 to 1945. He was the only candidate and won unopposed.

Martínez was constitutionally ineligible to run for re-election in 1939, so the year prior, he and the National Pro Patria Party (PNPP) held open cabildos across El Salvador and reported that the citizenry overwhelmingly supported amending the constitution to allow Martínez to be re-elected. Some politicians and military officers opposed Martínez's re-election. They spread propaganda calling for his resignation and even attempted a coup in January 1939. On 20 January 1939, the National Constitutional Assembly approved a new constitution, and the following day, it unanimously re-elected Martínez to a six-year term.

Background

General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez became President of El Salvador in December 1931 after a coup d'état overthrew President Arturo Araujo.Template:Sfn Martínez solidified his position in January 1932 after suppressing an uprising and killing between 10,000 and 40,000 people in mass killings known as Template:Lang.Template:Sfn Martínez won the 1935 presidential election unopposed with 329,555 on 77 percent turnout.Template:Sfn

Election campaign

Ahead of the 1939 election, Martínez decided to be elected by the legislature in an indirect election instead of through a popular vote like in 1935. According to historian Erik Ching, Martínez chose to do this as he was "aware of growing opposition to his political monopoly".Template:Sfn In order to be re-elected, however, Martínez had to amend the 1886 constitution as it prohibited re-election.Template:Sfn

In July 1938, open cabildos were held across El Salvador where citizens would meet at town halls and approve proposed constitutional changes. The National Pro Patria Party (PNPP), Martínez's political party, organized the meetings and reported that the citizenry was in unanimous support of the proposed changes despite no voting actually taking place.Template:Sfn

While the PNPP reported that Salvadoran citizens overwhelmingly supported the constitutional reforms, there were political leaders that opposed Martínez's re-election. Among them included Sub-Secretary of Public Works Manuel López Harrison, Sub-Secretary of Government Hermógenes Alvarado, Sub-Secretary of Public Instruction David Rosales, and Sub-Secretary of War Colonel Ascencio Menéndez.Template:Sfn In October 1938, a so-called "Civilian-Military Association" spread propaganda posters across Santa Ana calling for Martínez's resignation.Template:Sfn In January 1939, Menéndez led an attempted coup against Martínez's government but it failed. The conspirators were exiled to France and Mexico.Template:Sfn

The National Constitutional Assembly approved the new constitution on 20 January 1939.Template:Sfn Most of the new constitutional was identical to the 1886 constitution. One of the most notable differences regards article 92 that mandates that the National Constitutional Assembly would elect the next president and that whoever they elect would be exempted from article 94 that banned re-election. It also increased the lengths of presidential terms from four to six years.Template:Sfn

Results

On 21 January 1939, the National Constitutional Assembly convened to elect El Salvador's president for the 1939–1945 term. The assembly unanimously voted to re-elected Martínez as President.Template:Sfn

Aftermath

Martínez was inaugurated for his third term on 1 March 1939.Template:Sfn Martínez was re-elected by the legislature to another six-year term in 1944Template:Sfn but he was forced to resign on 8 May 1944 during the Strike of Fallen Arms, a student protest that opposed his government. Martínez subsequently fled El Salvador on 11 May.Template:Sfn

Bibliography

• Template:Cite news
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• Template:Cite book
• El Segundo Mandato de Maximiliano Hernández Martínez

(3 May 2023)

, accessed 23 August 2025

• Template:Cite book