Arturo Araujo


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	Civic Directory Maximiliano Hernández Martínez as President

Personal details
Born	1878 Santa Tecla
Died	December 1, 1967 San Salvador
Political party	Labor Party
Profession	engineer

Arturo Araujo Fajardo (1878 – December 1, 1967) was the president of El Salvador from March 1, 1931, to December 2, 1931. He was overthrown in a military coup led by junior officers, and was forced to flee the country for Guatemala. An agricultural leader and engineer, Araujo had been elected in what is generally reckoned as the country's first honest presidential contest.^[1]

Arturo Araujo was a distant relative of Manuel Enrique Araujo. Pachita Tennant Mejía de Pike, who is familiar with the history of Salvadoran families, says that the Araujo family mostly comes from the town of Jucuapa, in the department of Usulután, El Salvador. However, Arturo Araujo's family originally came from Suchitoto, in the department of Cuscatlán, moving to Santa Tecla around 1885. His parents were Enriqueta Fajardo de Araujo and Dr. Eugenio Araujo, Finance Minister in the Administration of General Francisco Menéndez.^[2] He spent some time studying in Liverpool, England. It was there that Araujo became involved with Labour Party politics. He also met his English wife, Dora née Morton, while a student there.^[3]

Biography

Araujo was a member of land-owning oligarchy of El Salvador. He made an unsuccessful bid for presidency in 1919. Before that, his speech at the first workers congress in the western town of Armenia earned him the nickname "Benefactor of the general people." In 1922, he made a failed attempt to invade the country from Honduras.^{[citation needed]}

The free elections in 1931 failed to obtain a plurality for any of the candidate. Arturo won the elections with the backing of his supporters in the congress. 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.^[4]

Notes

^ The New York Times of December 4, 1931
^ Arturo Araujo ^{[dead link]}
^ White, Alastair El Salvador London 1973 p.98 ISBN 0510395236
^ "Araujo, Arturo (1878–1967) | Encyclopedia.com".

Political offices Preceded byPío Romero Bosque President of El Salvador 1931 Succeeded byMaximiliano Hernández Martínez

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