1932 Salvadoran peasant uprising

The Salvadoran Peasant Uprising of 1932, also known as La matanza, was a brief peasant-led uprising in January of 1932.

Tension rises

Arturo Araujo, a presidential contender, styled himself as an advocate for the lower classes of El Salvador. He became very popular among the poor people of El Salvador, who hoped that he would bring dramatic changes and better their lot. The thirty to forty wealthy families who controlled most of El Salvador feared Araujo for this very same reason. To the dismay of the aristocracy, Araujo was elected as president on March 1, 1931.

The coup

As feelings of unrest grew, it included members of the military. In December of 1931, with the collapse of coffee prices, the military's dissatisfaction peaked. A group of young officers, led by Vice President Maximiliano Hernández Martínez, formed a coup and ousted Araujo. Araujo fled the country and Martínez assumed power.

The uprising

While Martínez may have satisfied the military, popular discontent continued to build and the government's opponents continued to agitate. Within weeks, communists, believing the country was ready for a peasant rebellion, were plotting an insurrection against Martínez. However, the government became aware of the plot and arrested most of the ringleaders.

Nevertheless, actual fighting broke out on January 22, 1932. Rebels, led by the communist party—Socorro Rojo—and Agustín Farabundo Martí, attacked government forces with support that was largely from Indians in the western part of El Salvador. Within three days, they had succeeded in taking control of several towns, disrupting supply lines to many of the country’s towns and villages, and attacking a military garrison. With their superior training and technology, the government troops needed only a few days to defeat the rebels. While the rebels killed less than 100 people, the military retaliated with great force, killing between 10,000 and 40,000 peasants, including Martí.

Aftermath

In the aftermath, accounts of the uprising and massacre were purged from libraries and replaced by the myth of Martínez as the savior of Salvadorans from vicious communists and barbaric Indians.

References

External links

http://frif.com/new2003/scar.html