816.00/12–1648
The Chargé in El Salvador (Williams) to the Secretary of State
V. EL SALVADOR
Sir: I have the honor to refer to my telegrams 226 through 231 of December 14 and 151 and to submit the following report on the overthrow of President Salvador Castaneda Castro on December 14, 1948.2
Provocation of the Revolt
The Decree Convoking a Constituent Assembly. As reported in telegram 225 of December 14, and despatch No. 497 of December 14,3 President Castaneda on Monday made a sudden effort to get at least two more years in office by calling a special session of the National Assembly and rushing through a decree designed to remove constitutional limitations on his present term.4 The decree, published as Decree No. 253 of December 13, called for the election of a Constituent Assembly this week to consider the legality of prolonging Castaneda’s term for two more years.
Indignation over Decree. When the decree was published Tuesday,5 there was general popular indignation. It was evident to everyone that Castaneda was making a last desperate effort for continuismo and that he had chosen this week because the strongest opponent to his continuing, [Page 117] General Mauro Espinola Castro,6 was in the hospital recovering from an appendectomy. There was immediate activity on the part of all political parties to marshal their forces as far as possible to meet this threat.
The Decision of the Young Officers. The Young Officers group, which had participated unsuccessfully in the revolt of April 2, 1944,7 against President Martinez,8 and had for four years nursed some hope of effecting a successful coup d’état, was the first outfit to prepare for action on a large scale. Castaneda’s indecision with respect to holding elections in January and his most recent signs of continuismo had encouraged them. They met Monday night, December 13, in great secrecy and again early Tuesday. At 9 a. m. Tuesday, according to a member of the group, they took their final decision to act.
The Military Action
Seizure of the Zapote Fort. At about 1 p. m. Tuesday, a group of the young officers, headed by Lt. Col. Manuel de J. Cordova, Sub-Director of the Escuela Militar, entered the Zapote Fort barracks of the First Artillery Regiment. Moving quickly, they took command of forces present and prepared for action. The Commander of the garrison, General Santiago Ayala, long considered a bulwark of any incumbent regime, was away from the fort, having been called to the hospital to visit his sick wife. There was apparently no resistance whatsoever to the seizure.
The Firing. At about 1:40 p. m., first shots were fired from machine guns and mortars in the direction of Casa Presidencial, arousing President Castaneda, who was finishing his lunch. Castaneda telephoned immediately to the fort and had the disappointment of finding that his friend, General Ayala, was away and that the officers in the fort wanted his surrender. There was intermittent firing for the next two hours as the President hesitated and tried to ascertain what forces were still loyal to him. When he found that the Cavary regiment had been lost to the revolutionaries and its commander, Colonel Juan Solorzano, had been killed, and that he could count on no significant forces either in the city or in the provinces, he left Casa Presidencial and took refuge in the Police headquarters. When the Zapote officers learned of this, they opened fire with machine guns and mortars at about 4 p. m. on the Policia. There was no return fire and at about [Page 118] 4:10 p. m. the white flag of surrender was hoisted over the Policia. There was no further firing.
The Diplomatic Corps Called In
Castaneda’s Message to Papal Nuncio. René Garcia Prieto, Castaneda’s son-in-law and Minister of Fomento, came to the American Embassy at 4:40 p. m. to say that the President had “no forces” and to ask Embassy representatives to go to the Policia to witness the surrender. Garcia Prieto was told that he should take this up with the Dean of the Diplomatic Corps, the Papal Nuncio. From the Embassy, Garcia Prieto went directly to the Nunciatura, where in the presence of the Costa Rican and Honduran Ambassadors and the undersigned and other officers of this Embassy, the Nuncio acceded to Castaneda’s request and agreed to convene the corps. He made it clear that the corps would be called, at the President’s request, simply to witness the surrender and thus to help end the bloodshed. Since telephone service had been suspended, American Embassy personnel assisted the Nuncio, at his request, in conveying messages to members of the corps.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Informing the Corps of Castaneda’s Removal. At about 9 p. m. the corps was invited to the Zapote by Lt. Col. Cordova who said he wished to give them an accurate account of the movement. Cordova made a speech in which he declared that “the Criminal (reo) ex-President Castaneda” had been removed from office by the Young Officers group and would be held pending trial for “lesa-patria,” especially for his flagrant violation of the laws of the land and his misuse of the national treasury.
The Junta
Cordovans Statement of Purposes and Plans. Cordova stated to the Corps that the movement was a patriotic one undertaken out of respect for a soldier’s duty to his country. He said they had been forced to act by Castaneda’s disregard for the constitution through his attempt on Monday to get himself an extended term. He promised that free elections would be held as soon as possible. He declared that the group had no political commitments whatsoever (contrary to earlier reports that they would support Espinola). He boasted that the army was entirely in support of the movement and was in complete control of all sections of the country. The country would be governed, he added, by a military junta. After his statement and a further clarification by Major José Maria Lemus, the Diplomatic Corps left the Zapote.
Composition of the Junta. It was announced yesterday that the Junta would consist of: [Page 119]
- Teniente-Coronel Manuel de J. Córdova
- Major Oscar Osorio
- Major Oscar Bolaños
- Doctor Humberto Costa
- Doctor Inf. Reynaldo Galindo Pohl
. . . . . . . . . . . . . .
… It is important to note that so far no one above the rank of lieutenant colonel has appeared among the leaders. It is literally and strictly a young officers’ group.
Who is Behind the Movement? It appears that aside from the Army the principal support of the young officers comes from a few young liberal intellectuals and from a large body of students. There has been no sign yet of any capitalist assistance for the young officers, nor has any such aid been necessary up to the present.…
The Communists. The Junta professes its intention to deal severely with communists. It has stated that it will purge from the Government such “suspected communists” as Rodolfo Jimenez Barrios and Ricardo Jimenez Castillo, now in Geneva or Paris. On the other hand, the supporters of Colonel Osmin Aguirre have zealously been spreading the rumor that the communists are actually the brains of the revolt. I think this is quite evidently a maneuver by Aguirre to prepare the ground for some action of his own, if he is released from prison.
The State of the Republic
Business as Usual. The revolt started Tuesday during the long luncheon and siesta hour. Accordingly, all business establishments were closed and most of them had their iron shutters down. They remained closed until Wednesday morning. Thus, there was no damage to any business premises. (No other significant property damage has been observed.) When shops opened Wednesday, they functioned normally, though there was some delay in getting commercial cables out of the country. The Embassy assisted the Grace Line and other American concerns in obtaining clearances for telegrams.
Order Maintained. A ten o’clock curfew was established Tuesday and martial law declared. The revolutionaries moved quickly to organize police protection. They appointed Lt. Colonel Miguel Angel, Parada, formerly Sub-Director of the Police, to be Acting Director General of Police. As a result there was complete order in the city. Military censorship of mails was placed temporarily in effect. The curfew was suspended Wednesday evening.
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[Page 120]Casualties. As previously reported, there were no known American casualties. Total Salvadoran civilian casualties are reported as four dead and ten injured, all passersby. In addition to Col. Solorzano, one military fatality has been reported.
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Constitution to be Revised
The Junta intends for the present to govern by decree, and as soon as possible it says that it will call a Constituent Assembly to rewrite the constitution. Meanwhile, the former constitution is abrogated. As of early Thursday morning, no announcement had been made as to the makeup of the new Government.9 The Embassy will follow developments closely and report. The Military Attaché, Lt. Col. Alva R. Fitch, who is highly respected by members of the Junta, is being kept constantly informed of their plans and actions.
Respectfully yours,
- None printed.↩
- For Department of State press release of December 15, 1948, “Uprising overthrows President of El Salvador”, see Department of State Bulletin, December 26, 1948, p. 810.↩
- Neither printed.↩
- President Castaneda’s four-year term was to end March 1, 1949, and elections for the presidency of the Republic were scheduled to be held in January 1949.↩
- December 14.↩
- Minister of Defense. On December 14 President Castaneda bad taken over personally General Espinola’s position as Minister of Defense and had changed several strategic garrison commanders, according to a report by the Chargé in El Salvador (Williams) in telegram 225, December 14, 10 a. m., not printed.↩
- For documentation on this subject, see Foreign Relations, 1944, vol. vii, pp. 1087–1113.↩
- Gen. Maximiliano Hernández Martínez.↩
- In despatch 501, December 17, 1948 from San Salvador, not printed, Charge Williams transmitted a copy of Decree No. 1 of the Council of the Revolutionary Government published December 16, 1948, containing a concise statement of the general position of the Junta which seized power on December 14.↩