Hernández Martínez, Maximiliano

Related Category: Salvadoran History: Biographies

(mäk´´sēmēlyä´nō ĕrnän´dĕs märtē´nĕs), 1882–1966, president of El Salvador (1931–44). An admirer of fascist theories, he seized power during a palace revolt, then was elected president in 1935. He ruled dictatorially until he was ousted by a general strike led by students, which erupted after his bloody suppression of an army uprising. The revolt spread to Guatemala, where Jorge Ubico was similarly deposed. Hernández Martínez lived in exile in Honduras.