Joaquín Valdés Explained

Joaquín Valdés (22 September 1906 – 30 August 1957) was a Salvadoran military officer who served as the Minister of National Defense from 1931 to 1935 and as Co-chairman of the Civic Directory in December 1931.

Biography

Joaquín Valdés was born on 22 September 1906 in San Salvador, El Salvador.^[1] He joined the Salvadoran Army and rose to the rank of Colonel.

On 2 December 1931, the Army staged a coup and deposed President Arturo Araujo.^[2] Valdés and Osmín Aguirre y Salinas appointed themselves as co-chairmen of the Civic Directory of El Salvador^[3] The Civic Directory was dissolved on 4 December 1931 and handed the Presidency to former Vice President Brigadier General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez.^[4]

Hernández Martínez appointed Joaquín Valdés to be his Minister of National Defense on 4 December 1931. He served until 1 March 1935 when he was replaced by Brigadier General Andrés Ignacio Menéndez.

Joaquín Valdés died in San Salvador, El Salvador, on 30 August 1957.

See also

• Civic Directory
• Minister of National Defense of El Salvador

Notes and References

1. Web site: Presidentes de El Salvador - Directorio Civico. Presidente Elías Antonio Saca El Salvador. Spanish. Presidents of El Salvador - Civic Directory. https://web.archive.org/web/20090302085013/http://www.casapres.gob.sv/presidentes/pres/dircivico1931.htm. 2 March 2009.
2. Bland, Gary "Assessing the transition to democracy" in Tulchin, Joseph S. with Gary Bland (1992) Is there a transition to democracy in El Salvador? Boulder: Westview Press, p 166
3. 10.1017/S0022216X00001425. The United States and the Rise of General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez. Journal of Latin American Studies. 3. 2. 151–172. 1971. Grieb. Kenneth J..
4. Web site: 20. El Salvador (1927-present).