Aguirre y Salinas, Osmín (1889–1977)

Osmín Aguirre y Salinas (b. 1889; d. 1977), president of El Salvador (1944–1945). A career military officer, Osmín Aguirre y Salinas was a member of the junior officers' clique which deposed President Arturo Araújo in December 1931, establishing military control of El Salvador. During the regime of General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez he was governor of the departments of Cuz-catlán, La Paz, and Usulutan and chief of staff of the National Police, rising to the rank of colonel.

His brief tenure as president was part of the tumultuous era that followed the overthrow of Hernández Martínez. Fearing the fragmentation of the nation, an army coup removed Hernández Martínez's successor, the defense minister, General Andres I. Menéndez, from the presidency in October 1944, installing Aguirre y Salinas. The Salvadoran Supreme Court declared his tenure unconstitutional, and the United States, which considered his regime profascist, withheld recognition.

Aguirre y Salinas maintained power despite protests, conducting elections during January 1945 installed the official candidate, General Salvador Ca-staneda Castro. Aguirre y Salinas's career ended when he led an unsuccessful coup against his hand-picked successor.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Additional Bibliography

Parkman, Patricia. Insurrección no violenta en El Salvador: La caída de Maximiliano Hernández Martínez. San Salvador: Dirección de Publicaciones e Impresos, Consejo Naciónal para la Cultura y el Arte, 2003.

                                       Kenneth J. Grieb