# Carlos Humberto Romero

Carlos Humberto Romero Mena (29 February 1924 – 27 February 2017) was a Salvadoran military general and politician who served as president of El Salvador from 1 July 1977 until his overthrow on 15 October 1979. Romero was the final president of the country's military dictatorship which began in 1931.

## Early life

Carlos Humberto Romero Mena was born on 29 February 1924 in Chalatenango, El Salvador. His parents were José María Romero (who died prior to his birth) and Victoria Mena de Romero.

## Military career

Romero studied at the Captain General Gerardo Barrios Military School and the Command and General Staff School. Romero also traveled to Mexico City to specialize in horse riding.
During his military service, Romero held various command positions over the Cavalry Group and the First Infantry Regiment. He also served as the Assistant to the Military Attaché to the Embassy of El Salvador to Mexico, the Director of the Weapons and Services School, the Head of Personnel of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces General Command. Romero attended the inaugurations of Mexican President Gustavo Díaz Ordaz in 1964 and Colombian President Misael Pastrana Borrero in 1970 as a delegate of the Salvadoran government. He also served as a delegate to the 7th Conference of American Armies in 1966 and the 6th Conference of American Intelligence Officers in 1967. In 1973, Romero served as the president of the Central American Defense Council.
On 1 July 1972, Salvadoran President Arturo Armando Molina appointed Romero to serve as Minister of Defense and Public Security.

## Political career

Romero was a member of the National Conciliation Party.
He launched his candidacy for the National Conciliation Party in the 1977 presidential elections. On 24 February, the Central Elections Council declared that he had won the election with 67.3% of the vote and was to be sworn in as President while Julio Ernesto Astacio was declared Vice President. The opposition forces grouped in the National Opposition Union (UNO) filed complaints about numerous acts of fraud and electoral coercion committed in the vote. The period between his election and the inauguration proved to be extremely dangerous for his opponents. On 28 February 1977, military forces dissolved a UNO protest rally in the Plaza Libertad in San Salvador, and between 200 and 1,500 civilians were killed.

## Presidency

The general's arrival to power meant the establishment of a purely repressive project, abandoning all reformist attempts. For the Salvadoran right, he has been considered the president of the last period of economic prosperity in El Salvador, since it was one of the best countries in Central America in terms of economic growth, which was diminished due to the paramilitary activity of civil society organizations. organized related to socialism.

### Critics

Romero was sworn in on 1 July 1977. He responded to accusations of "electoral fraud" by declaring a state of emergency for thirty days and established a rigidly conservative government.

### Political crisis

Romero's time in office was largely characterized by escalating violence and instability. In the late 1970s, political unrest increased, because of El Salvador's severe socio-economic inequalities unaddressed by his government and widespread discontent with government policy culminated in widespread protest and rebellion, which was met with reprisal by government forces. President Romero increased government education spending, but this won him no popularity with the left. The different police, military and government paramilitary forces launched a bloody repression campaign against leftist groups that ended the lives of 4 Catholic priests and numerous leaders and militants of workers and peasant organizations. He is accused of having ordered the student massacre of 30 July 1975. Left-wing armed groups responded to the violence exerted by the State with attacks on the security forces and government officials. The repression plunged the country into a serious social crisis.

### 1979 coup

Romero held power until October 1979, when he was deposed by a coup d'état carried out by a group of politically leftist and moderate military officers and civilians. The coup d'état that deposed Romero was a precursor to El Salvador's twelve-year civil war.
Romero was El Salvador's last military president.

## Personal life

Romero married Gloria Guerrero and the couple had four children: Carlos Humberto, Luis Felipe, Gloria Valentina, and Roxana Carolina.

## Later life and death

After being deposed, Romero fled El Salvador for exile in Guatemala, however, he later returned to El Salvador and settled in Colonia Escalón, a district of San Salvador.
Romero died to natural causes in Colonia Escalón on 27 February 2017 at 6:00 p.m. at the age of 92, two days before his 93rd birthday.

## Orders and decorations

Collar of the Order of Isabella the Catholic