Evening star., 1935-03-10
SAN SALVADOR ELECTION
SHOWS UP u. S. POLICIES
Refused Recognition by State Depart
ment for Two Years, Gen. Mar
tinez Retains His Power.

with the constitution Of FL Salvador,
which provides that, when the chief
executive absents himself from the
country without congressional per-
mission, the Vice President auto
matically becomes his successor for
the remainder of the term. Gen.
Martinez was the legally elected Vice
President of El Salvador when Presi-
dent Araujo abandoned his post and
left the country at the outbreak of
military uprising in the capital.
At the beginning Gen. Martinez
was suspected of having taken part
in the uprising and. though no one
contested his right to succeed Araujo,
public opinion showed itself heSitant
to uphold him. But soon afterward.
when the SalvadorianS became aware
that the Vice President not only had
remained aloof in the contest between
Araujo and the military leaders, but
had also prevented the complete
breakdown of the constitutional status
by taking over the reins and restoring
order, they rallied to his support
almost without distinction of political
creeds. Later on the Salvadorian
Congress formally sanctioned the new
regime, thus removing any doubt as
to its legal nature.
United States Not Party to Treaties.
AS for the argument that Gen.
Martinez held portfolio in Araujo's
cabinet, those who used it overlooked
the fact that, besides being cabinet
officer, Gen. Martinez was also the
legally elected Vice President. If as
cabinet officer he could not be rec
ognized by the other Central Ameri-
can republics-not by the United
States, which was not party to the
1923 treaties-as the constitutional
Vice President he certainly could be
denied recognition.
More less so than by any other
American republic, could he be denied
recognition by the United States. The
Central American governments had,
at least, the right to interpret the
1928 treaties in way that might
have justified non-recognition, but
the United States was not a party
to the treaties. The United States
had merely promised. of its own will,
to follow the spirit Of constitutionality
embodied in them, with respect to the
recognition of Central American re-
gimes. The Martinez government of
El Salvador was not in conflict with
that principle of constitutionality. 1t
had been set up in accord with the
constitution of the country and, more
over, 1t counted upon overwhelming
popular support.
Recognition Delay Criticized.
When it is further realized that.
outside of the legal aspect, the eco
nomic as well as the political inter-
estS of the United States advised
recognition, it is hard to understand
why the State Department took two
years to recognize the Martinez re-
gime in Ell Salvador. Economically,
not only we're the debts contracted by
previous Salvadorian governments i'm
periled by lack of recognition, but
this, also, obstructed commercial re-
lationships between the two coun-
tries. Politically, the persistence of
the non-recognition policy could not
be farmonized with the promises of
non intervention and respect for the
sovereignty of Latin American peoples,
with which the State Department was
trying to regain good will in the
Southern Hemisphere.
But, more than anything else, more
than any one of those arguments,
what illustrates most plainly the er-
ror of that delay is acknowledging
the legitimacy and the popularity
of the previous Martinez regime, is
the fact that Gen. Martinez, after
having resigned voluntarily from the
post six months ago. has just been
given by his countrymen, in compl-
ance with constitutional provisions, a
popular mandate to head the Saliva
dorian ship Of state for another four
years.
(ccpyrisht, 1850