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Pío Romero Bosque

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In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Romero and the second or maternal family name is Bosque.

Doctor
Pío Romero Bosque
A black-and-white headshot portrait of Pio Romero Bosque
Romero in c. 1927–1931
25th President of El Salvador
In office
1 March 1927 – 1 March 1931
Vice PresidentGustavo Vides
Preceded byAlfonso Quiñónez Molina
Succeeded byArturo Araujo
19th Vice President of El Salvador
In office
1 March 1923 – 1 March 1927
PresidentAlfonso Quiñónez Molina
Preceded byAlfonso Quiñónez Molina
Succeeded byGustavo Vides
Other offices
President of the Supreme Court of Justice of El Salvador
In office
1914–1919
Preceded byVíctor Jerez
Succeeded byFrancisco Martínez Suárez
23rd Minister of War, the Navy, and Aviation of El Salvador
In office
1 March 1919 – 1 March 1927
PresidentJorge Meléndez
Alfonso Quiñónez Molina
Preceded byEnrique Córdova
Succeeded byAlberto Gómez Zárate
In office
29 August 1914 – 1 March 1915
PresidentAlfonso Quiñónez Molina
Preceded byAlfonso Quiñónez Molina
Succeeded byLuis Alonso Barahona
Minister of Governance, Development, and Public Instruction of El Salvador
In office
1903–1907
PresidentPedro José Escalón
Preceded byJosé Rosa Pacas
Succeeded byIsidro Paredes
Deputy of the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador
In office
1892–1893
Personal details
Born1860
Suchitoto, El Salvador
Died10 December 1935(1935-12-10) (aged 74–75)
Nicaragua
Political partyNational Democratic Party
SpouseAmparo Molina
RelativesAlfonso Quiñónez Molina (brother-in-law)
Alma materUniversity of El Salvador
OccupationPolitician, judge, lawyer

Pío Romero Bosque (1860 – 10 December 1935), contemporarily referred to as Don Pío,[1] was a Salvadoran politician and lawyer who served as president of El Salvador from 1927 to 1931. He had previously served as Alfonso Quiñónez Molina's vice president from 1923 to 1927 and as El Salvador's minister of war, the navy, and aviation (defense minister) from 1919 to 1927. He also previously served as the minister of governance, development, and public instruction from 1903 to 1907 and as the president of the Supreme Court of Justice from 1914 to 1919.

Romero completed his doctorate of law in 1889 and was shortly afterwards appointed by the Supreme Court of Justice to serve as a judge. He served as a judge in San Salvador and Zacatecoluca during the 1890s and 1900s and also served as a magistrate on the Supreme Court of Justice itself from 1893 to 1895 and again from 1899 to 1903. He also briefly served as a deputy of the Legislative Assembly from 1892 to 1893 before resigning to serve on the Supreme Court of Justice.

During Romero's presidency, he distanced himself from the Meléndez–Quiñónez political dynasty that preceded him and implemented various democratic reforms. Romero's government survived an attempted coup plotted by supporters of the Meléndez–Quiñónez dynasty in December 1927, and the coup's supporters were imprisoned or exiled from the country. Romero did not hand-pick a presidential successor as his predecessors had done and was succeeded by Arturo Araujo who won the 1931 presidential election, considered by historians to be El Salvador's first free and fair democratic election. Romero fled El Salvador during the presidency of Brigadier General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez, whose government reversed all of Romero's democratic reforms. Romero died in exile in Nicaragua in 1935.

Early life

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Pío Romero Bosque was born in 1860 in Suchitoto, El Salvador to Serapío Romero and Rosario Bosque.[2] Romero was a landowner, owning a hacienda in San Salvador and Santiago Nonualco named "El Rosario" and "Nahualapa", respectively.[3]

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Romero completed his bachelor's degree at the Ciencias y Letras college of Santa Tecla and completed his doctorate of law at the University of El Salvador in 1889.[4] Later that year, the Supreme Court of Justice appointed Romero to serve as the supplementary judge of the 1st circuit of the San Salvador Department. A few months after this appointment, he was named as the proprietary judge of the Zacatecoluca district; he served in this position for two years.[2]

In 1892 and 1893, Romero was elected as a deputy of the Legislative Assembly. He resigned in 1893 after he was appointed as the fourth magistrate of the Supreme Court of Justice. His term ended in 1895 and he resumed his role as the proprietary judge of Zacatecoluca until 1899.[2] Romero served a second term as a supreme court magistrate from 1899 until 14 April 1903.[5] In 1914, Romero became the president of the Supreme Court of Justice [es]; he served in this position until 1919.[6]

Political career

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On 12 March 1903, President Pedro José Escalón appointed Romero as El Salvador's vice secretary of governance and development. He was promoted to serve as minister of governance, development, and public instruction later that year, succeeding Doctor José Rosa Pacas.[6][7]

During the 1919 presidential election, President Alfonso Quiñónez Molina (who was Romero's brother-in-law)[8] and presidential front-runner Jorge Meléndez installed Romero as a presidential candidate in order to receive more votes than Arturo Araujo, another presidential candidate, in an effort to humiliate Araujo for attempting to challenge Jorge Meléndez's presidential bid.[9] Quiñónez's government sent telegrams to polling stations across El Salvador instructing them to rig votes in favor of Meléndez first and Romero second.[10] Romero came in second place, receiving 4,370 votes to Jorge Meléndez's 166,441 votes and Araujo's 1,022 votes. Upon assuming the presidency, Jorge Meléndez appointed Romero as the minister of war, the navy, and aviation (defense minister).[11]

Vice presidency

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During the 1923 presidential election, Romero was elected to serve as Quiñónez's vice president. Upon assuming office on 1 March 1923, Quiñonez appointed Romero to continue serving as defense minister,[12] an office he would hold until 1927. On 26 January 1927, Romero issued a decree that renamed the country's military academy to the Captain General Gerardo Barrios Military School.[5]

In 1926, as the following year's presidential election approached, Quiñónez hand-picked Romero to succeed him as president. Romero ran for office unopposed and won the election unanimously on 13 January 1927 as a member of the ruling National Democratic Party.[13][14] Gustavo Vides, an engineer, was elected as Romero's vice president; Quiñónez also hand-picked Vides, who served as Quiñónez's minister of finance.[15]

Presidency

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Official portrait of Romero taken on 1 March 1927 by the El Día newspaper[16]

Romero assumed the presidency on 1 March 1927 between 9 and 10 a.m. CST.[17] He appointed the following individuals to his cabinet: Doctor José Gustavo Guerrero as minister of foreign relations;[a] Doctor Manuel Vicente Mendoza as minister of governance, development, agriculture, and labor; and Doctor Alberto Gómez Zárate as minister of war, the navy, and aviation.[b][5]

Ending the Menéndez–Quiñónez dynasty

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Then-Vice President Bosque (third from the right) with President Alfonso Quiñónez Molina and other cabinet members in 1926

Quiñónez hand-picked Romero as his successor as he was a trusted collaborator who Quiñónez believed would continue the Menéndez–Quiñónez dynasty,[18] a political dynasty which had ruled El Salvador since Carlos Meléndez became president in 1913.[19] Romero was chosen to continue the dynasty as neither the Meléndez's nor the Quiñónez's had any family members who were eligible or willing to become the next president of El Salvador.[18] Contemporary public opinion believed that Romero would continue the Menéndez–Quiñónez dynasty's politics and policies during his presidency.[20]

Cornelius Van Hemert Engert, the United States chargé d'affaires to El Salvador, described Romero as "weak and irresolute". Jefferson Caffery, the United States ambassador to El Salvador, referred to Romero as a man "of no particular force, and with probably no superfluous amount of backbone". Engert believed that Quiñónez selected Romero to act as a puppet ruler due to his perceived weakness and that Quiñónez would continue to govern the country from behind the scenes[21][22] as he had been appointed as the first presidential designate, making Quiñónez second in line to the presidency after Vides.[23]

One month into Romero's presidency, he forced Marcos Letona and Salvador Rivas, the two vice secretaries of development and public instruction, to resign despite an agreement between Romero and Quiñónez to maintain certain political appointments in place; Quiñónez accused Romero of failing to uphold his political promises as a result of this relatively minor cabinet reshuffle. Engert believed that the forces resignations were part of Romero's "campaign to do away with the Quinonez [sic] influence".[23] Romero also lifted a state of emergency which was in effect throughout Quiñónez's presidency, ended press censorship, allowed public demonstrations.[15] These reforms led to public protests against Quiñónez's appointment as the first presidential designate, and students from the University of El Salvador called for his resignation. After pressure from Romero's supporters, protestors, and even some high-ranking military officers, Quiñónez resigned and left the country for exile in France.[24]

In December 1927, Jorge Meléndez, Quiñónez, and their allies plotted a coup to overthrow Romero in an attempt to continue the political dynasty that their families had created.[25] On 6 December 1927, Colonel Juan Aberle (chief of the army machine shop) and Major Manuel Noguera (deputy chief of police) presented an ultimatum to Romero demanding he resign and accept the formation of a military junta in exchange for safe passage out of El Salvador. Romero ordered both men to be arrested, and Aberle and Noguera were subsequently court martialed and executed by firing squad on 8 December 1927. A planned attack by 500 militants commanded by Jorge Meléndez failed to support Aberle and Noguera as was planned. Hundreds of conspirators were arrested after the failed coup attempt, and Jorge Meléndez fled the country to Honduras.[26] The coup's failure ended what remaining influence the Menéndez–Quiñónez dynasty had in Salvadoran politics.[27]

Democratic reforms

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Romero (third from the right) at Arturo Araujo's (second from the right) 1931 presidential inauguration

Romero was a liberal.[28]

Ahead of the 1931 presidential election, Romero did not select a presidential successor,[29] and a result, several candidates participated in the election.[30] During the election, Araujo was elected as the country's next president in what historians considered to be the most free and fair election in Salvadoran history up to that point.[1][31] Romero left office on 1 March 1931.[32]

Personal life

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Romero married Amparo Molina. The couple had a son, Pío Romero Bosque Molina,[2] and a daughter.[33]

Later life and death

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Romero's tomb in the Cemetery of Distinguished Citizens in San Salvador

Romero fled El Salvador for exile in Costa Rica during the presidency of Brigadier General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez due to heavy police monitoring by Martínez's government, especially by the orejas informant network.[34] Romero died in Nicaragua on 10 December 1935.[2][c]

In 1971, conservative Salvadoran editorialist Juan Ulloa blamed Romero's democratic reforms as directly causing La Matanza and accused him of "knowing its [communist] leaders" ("conoció sus lideres [comunistas]").[35]

Electoral history

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Year Office Type Party Main opponent Party Votes for Romero Result Swing Ref.
Total % P. ±%
1919 President of El Salvador General PDN Jorge Meléndez PDN 4,370 2.54 2nd N/A Lost Hold [11]
1927 President of El Salvador General PDN Unopposed ? 100.00 1st +97.46 Won Hold [13]

Notes

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  1. ^ During Romero's presidency, Doctor Francisco Martínez Suárez succeeded Guerrero as minister of foreign relations.[5]
  2. ^ Romero's son, Pío Romero Bosque Molina, succeeded Zárate as minister of war, the navy, and aviation on 19 May 1930.[5]
  3. ^ According to Héctor Lindo Fuentes, Erik K. Ching, and Rafael A. Lara Martínez, Bosque died in Costa Rica in 1934.[34]

References

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Citations

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  1. ^ a b Haggerty 1990, p. 14.
  2. ^ a b c d e Leistenschneider & Leistenschneider 1980, p. 183.
  3. ^ Ching 1997, pp. 288–289.
  4. ^ Cortez Tejada 2023, p. 139.
  5. ^ a b c d e Leistenschneider & Leistenschneider 1980, p. 184.
  6. ^ a b Ching 1997, p. 288.
  7. ^ Leistenschneider & Leistenschneider 1980, pp. 161 & 184.
  8. ^ Burns 1984, p. 307.
  9. ^ Ching 1997, p. 250.
  10. ^ Ching 1997, pp. 250–251.
  11. ^ a b Ching 1997, p. 251.
  12. ^ Ching 1997, p. 280.
  13. ^ a b Ching 1997, p. 286.
  14. ^ Royal Institute of International Affairs 1927, p. 16.
  15. ^ a b Ching 1997, pp. 305–306.
  16. ^ Cortez Tejada 2023, p. 142.
  17. ^ Cortez Tejada 2023, p. 140.
  18. ^ a b Lindo Fuentes, Ching & Lara Martínez 2007, p. 79.
  19. ^ Cortez Tejada 2023, pp. 139 & 140.
  20. ^ Bernal Ramírez & Quijano de Batres 2009, p. 94.
  21. ^ Ching 1997, p. 290.
  22. ^ van den Berk 2016, p. 231.
  23. ^ a b Ching 1997, p. 305.
  24. ^ Ching 1997, p. 306.
  25. ^ Ching 1997, pp. 308–309.
  26. ^ Ching 1997, pp. 309–311.
  27. ^ Ching 1997, p. 311.
  28. ^ White 1973, p. 88.
  29. ^ Racine 1997, p. 234.
  30. ^ Grieb 1971, p. 152.
  31. ^ Nohlen 2005, p. 292.
  32. ^ Leistenschneider & Leistenschneider 1980, p. 185.
  33. ^ Ching 1997, p. 289.
  34. ^ a b Lindo Fuentes, Ching & Lara Martínez 2007, p. 195.
  35. ^ Ching & Ramírez 2017, p. 288.

Bibliography

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Books

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Journals

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Further reading

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Political offices
Preceded by Minister of Governance, Development, and Public Instruction
1903–1907 		Succeeded by
Preceded by President of the Supreme Court of Justice
1914–1919 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of War, the Navy, and Aviation
1914–1915 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Minister of War, the Navy, and Aviation
1919–1927 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Vice President of El Salvador
1923–1927 		Succeeded by
Preceded by President of El Salvador
1927–1931 		Succeeded by
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