Carlos Meléndez | |||||||||||||||||
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 Meléndez in 1915 | |||||||||||||||||
| 50th President of El Salvador | |||||||||||||||||
| In office 1 March 1915 – 21 December 1918 | |||||||||||||||||
| Vice President | Alfonso Quiñónez Molina | ||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Alfonso Quiñónez Molina (provisional) | ||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Alfonso Quiñónez Molina (provisional) | ||||||||||||||||
| In office 9 February 1913 – 29 August 1914 Provisional President | |||||||||||||||||
| Preceded by | Manuel Enrique Araujo | ||||||||||||||||
| Succeeded by | Alfonso Quiñónez Molina (provisional) | ||||||||||||||||
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| Personal details | |||||||||||||||||
| Born | Carlos Meléndez Ramírez (1861-02-01)1 February 1861 San Salvador, El Salvador | ||||||||||||||||
| Died | 8 October 1919(1919-10-08) (aged 58) New York City, United States | ||||||||||||||||
| Party | Club Melendista (from 1913) Liberal (until 1913) | ||||||||||||||||
| Spouse | Sara Meza de Meléndez | ||||||||||||||||
| Relatives |
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| Occupation | Politician, businessman | ||||||||||||||||
Carlos Meléndez Ramírez (1 February 1861 – 8 October 1919) was a Salvadoran politician and businessman who served as thepresident ofEl Salvador from 1913 to 1914 and again from 1915 to 1918. Meléndez's presidencies were a part of the broaderMeléndez–Quiñónez dynasty that ruled El Salvador from 1913 to 1927.
Meléndez entered politics during the presidency of Divisional GeneralFrancisco Menéndez. He participated in the presidential elections of1895,1903, and1907, but lost every contest. He was elected to theLegislative Assembly of El Salvador on five occasions during the 1900s and 1910s and became itspresident in 1913. That year, PresidentManuel Enrique Araujo was assassinated and Meléndez succeeded him as provisional president. He resigned in August 1914 to be eligible to run in the1915 presidential election, which he won.
Meléndez was inaugurated as president on 1 March 1915. As president, Meléndez kept El Salvador neutral duringWorld War I, in part due to his opposition to the United States' foreign policy in Nicaragua. Meléndez also promoted the "Meléndez Doctrine" that recognized theGulf of Fonseca as acondominium between El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. He resigned from the presidency in August 1918 due to illness and was succeeded by his brother-in-law Vice PresidentAlfonso Quiñónez Molina. Meléndez's brother,Jorge, succeeded Quiñónez after winning the1919 election. Meléndez died inNew York City in October 1919 and was buried in El Salvador the following month.
Carlos Meléndez Ramírez was born on 1 February 1861 inSan Salvador,El Salvador. His parents were Rafael Meléndez, atailor, and Mercedes Ramírez de Meléndez. Meléndez's maternal grandfather wasNorberto Ramírez, thehead of state of El Salvador from 1840 to 1841.[2] Meléndez was the couple's eldest child;[3] he had seven younger siblings, includingJorge and Leonor.Alfonso Quiñónez Molina was Meléndez's brother-in-law through his marriage to Leonor.[2] Meléndez's mother raised him as aChristian.[3]
Meléndez attended a school led by Spanish professor Fernando Velarde.[2] Meléndez became the head of his family when his father died on 11 January 1880. Meléndez made frequent business visits to theUnited States. He established an iron foundry in El Salvador named the Mercedes Iron Works after his mother.[4] Meléndez also owned several coffee and sugar plantations[5] including Carlos Meléndez y Hermanos which could produce up to 100,000quintals of sugar per year.[6] Meléndez married Sara Meza de Meléndez, but the couple did not have children.[2]
Meléndez was apragmaticliberal.[7] During the presidency of Divisional GeneralFrancisco Menéndez, Meléndez volunteered to travel toLondon as a government representative to negotiate the procurement of a £300,000 (equivalent to $42,137,901 in 2023) loan.[8] He refused payment for his participation in negotiations, instead deferring it to fund the construction ofHospital Rosales.[9] In 1889, Meléndez was selected to be the governor of El Salvador as a part of the proposedRepublic of Central America, but the union between El Salvador,Honduras, andNicaragua did not materialize.[10]
Meléndez participated in the 1894Revolution of the 44 that overthrew President GeneralCarlos Ezeta. He was a candidate1895 election where he sought to be elected as GeneralRafael Antonio Gutiérrez'svice president.[11] During the election, Meléndez and his primary opponent,Prudencio Alfaro, attempted to install allies in polling stations to monopolize them and tabulate votes in their favor.[12] Meléndez finished in second with 18,792 votes, behind Alfaro's 38,006 votes.[11] He also1903 election, running as both a presidential and vice presidential candidate. He lost both elections toPedro José Escalón (where his vote total is unknown, but it was no more than 191) andCalixto Velado (where he won 138 votes), respectively.[13] Meléndez ran in the1907 presidential election where he won 8 votes; Divisional GeneralFernando Figueroa won the election.[14]
Meléndez was elected as a deputy of theLegislative Assembly of El Salvador in 1904 from theSan Salvador Department. He was a part of the Finance and Public Credit Commission.[15] He served again in 1907,[16] 1908,[17] 1912,[18] and 1913.[19] In the latter term, he was elected as thepresident of the Legislative Assembly, assuming office on 1 February.[20]
On 4 February 1913, PresidentManuel Enrique Araujo was severely injured during an assassination attempt. He died a few days later on 9 February.[21] As Vice PresidentOnofre Durán had earlier resigned, the presidency passed to Meléndez as he was thefirst presidential designate.[22] Meléndez's rise to the presidency marks the beginning of theMeléndez–Quiñónez dynasty, apolitical dynasty that ruled El Salvador from 1913 to 1927.[23] Meléndez proclaimed 29 August as a national holiday to commemorate former president Captain GeneralGerardo Barrios and established the Medal to Military Merit.[24] Also in 1913, Meléndez founded the Club Melendista proto-political party to help him solidify his control over the Salvadoran government.[25]
Meléndez planned to run in the1915 presidential election, but theconstitution of El Salvador prohibited anyone holding the presidency six months before an election from being a candidate in that election. To bypass this constitutional limitation, Meléndez resigned on 29 August 1914[26] and was succeeded by Quiñónez, the first presidential designate.[27]
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Meléndez won the 1915 election[28] and he was inaugurated on 1 March 1915.[2] He appointed a cabinet consisting of Brigadier GeneralLuis Alonso Barahona asMinister of War and the Navy;Cecilio Bustamante asMinister of Government, Promotion, and Agriculture;Tomás García Palomo asMinister of Finance, Public Credit, and Charity; andFrancisco Martínez Suárez asMinister of Exterior Relations, Public Instruction, and Justice. He also appointed 4 sub-secretaries (vice ministers).[2] Barahona died on 20 October 1915[29] and was succeeded byEnrique Córdova.[30] Quiñónez was elected as Meléndez's vice president.[24]
Meléndez opposed the 1914Bryan–Chamorro Treaty between Nicaragua and the United States, viewing it as an infringement of Nicaragua's sovereignty. He also opposed the United States' proposal to build a naval base in theGulf of Fonseca,[31] as he considered the body of water to be acondominium shared by El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. In the "Meléndez Doctrine", he promoted the idea that the Gulf of Fonseca was a "territorial bay" ("bahía territorial") shared between the three countries.[32][33] El Salvador remained neutral duringWorld War I,[34] but according to Salvadoran diplomatRafael Guirola Duke, Meléndez sympathized with theCentral Powers due to his opposition to the United States.[31]
Against precedent from previousSalvadoran elections, Meléndez did not choose a presidential successor ahead of the1919 presidential election. According to Córdova, Meléndez was unable to choose a successor between Quiñónez and Palomo (who was also Meléndez's personal physician).[35] This led to Quiñónez and Palomo fighting to monopolize polling stations during the 1918 municipal elections to guarantee their victory in the 1919 presidential election.[36] Quiñónez's allies won the municipal elections, effectively guaranteeing his presidential victory.[37]
On 11 December 1918, Meléndez was afflicted by an "attack of paralysis", which historian Erik Ching believes to have been aheart attack or astroke, and he suffered a second three days later. On 21 December, during a period of recovery, Meléndez resigned from the presidency. Quiñónez succeeded him, thus becoming disqualified from the 1919 presidential election.[38] Quiñónez selected Meléndez's brother, Jorge, to replace him in the election;[39] Jorge won[40] and served as president from 1919 to 1923,[41] after which, he was succeeded by Quiñónez.[42]
In August 1919, Meléndez left El Salvador to the United States to seek treatment for his illness.[2] He died to his illness[38] inNew York City on 8 October 1919.[2] His funeral was held the two days later atSt. Patrick's Cathedral.[43] His body was returned to El Salvador on theUSSCleveland protected cruiser, arriving inLa Libertad on 5 November 1919. He was buried in the General Cemetery.[2] Meléndez was known as the "Business President".[44]
| Year | Office | Type | Party | Main opponent | Party | Votes for Meléndez | Result | Swing | Ref. | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | % | P. | ±% | ||||||||||||
| 1895 | Vice President of El Salvador | General | Liberal | Prudencio Alfaro | Liberal | 18,792 | 30.91 | 2nd | N/A | Lost | Hold | [11] | |||
| 1903 | President of El Salvador | General | Liberal | Pedro José Escalón | Liberal | <191 | Unknown | Lost | Hold | [13] | |||||
| Vice President of El Salvador | General | Liberal | Calixto Velado | Liberal | 138 | 0.12 | 9th | –30.79 | Lost | Hold | |||||
| 1907 | President of El Salvador | General | Liberal | Fernando Figueroa | Liberal | 8 | 0.01 | 6th | ? | Lost | Hold | [14] | |||
| 1915 | President of El Salvador | General | Club Melendista | Unopposed | ? | 100.00 | 1st | +99.99 | Won | Gain | [28] | ||||
| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | President of the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador 1913 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | President of El Salvador (provisional) 1913–1914 | Succeeded by Alfonso Quiñónez Molina (provisional) |
| Preceded by Alfonso Quiñónez Molina (provisional) | President of El Salvador 1915–1918 | Succeeded by Alfonso Quiñónez Molina (provisional) |
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| Federal Republic of Central America (1823–1841) | ||
| Republic of El Salvador (1841–1931) |
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| Salvadoran Civil War (1979–1992) | ||
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