Baudilio Palma
Licenciado Baudilio Palma
Third civilian to serve as President of Guatemala
President of Guatemala
Acting
In office
13 December 1930 – 17 December 1930
Preceded byLázaro Chacón González
Succeeded byManuel María Orellana Contreras
Secretary of Finance
In office
1926–1927
PresidentLázaro Chacón González
Preceded byCarlos O. Zachrisson
Succeeded byRafael Felipe Solares
Personal details
Born(1874-06-10)10 June 1874[1] or 1880[2][lower-alpha 1]
Santa Catarina Mita, Jutiapa, Guatemala
Died(1930-12-17)17 December 1930[3] or (1944-06-19)19 June 1944[1][lower-alpha 1]
Guatemala City, Guatemala
Political partyConservative
SpouseLuz Castañeda Godoy
Parent(s)Sisto de Jesús Palma Ramos and Arcadia Palma Flandes
Alma materUniversity of San Carlos of Guatemala

Baudilio Palma (Santa Catarina Mita, Jutiapa, 1874[lower-alpha 1] – Guatemala City, 17 December 1930[lower-alpha 2]) was acting President of Guatemala, in place of general Lázaro Chacón González, from 13 to 17 December 1930, when he was deposed and probably assassinated after coup d'état led by general Manuel María Orellana Contreras, who appointed himself as president. Several authors argue that he might not have been killed, but went into exile to El Salvador, where he would have died on 19 June 1944.[1]

Biography

Palma was born in the small village of Santa Catarina Mita, in the Jutiapa Department of Guatemala. He graduated high school in Guatemala City, in the Escuela Normal para Varones, part of the then prestigious National Central Institute for boys, where he obtained both a teacher and a high school diplomas. In 1894 he started his law degree in the College of Law of the National University, graduating in 1897.[2]

He practiced law in Jalapa and Zacapa. He took a case that irritated president José María Reina Barrios, who sent him to prison for two months. Upon release, he worked with opposition candidates – mainly José León Castillo -, but could not avoid that Reina Barrios extended his presidential term. After Reina Barrios assassination in 1898, he went back to practice law; however, when he had to defend his brother Abraham against some member of president Manuel Estrada Cabrera staff in 1906, he was forced to go into exile.[2]

He settled in San Pedro Sula, Honduras where he lived for fourteen years, returning to Guatemala after the events that brought down president Estrada Cabrera in April 1920. During the brief presidencies of both Carlos Herrera y Luna and José María Orellana he kept to himself and his personal business; but in 1926, elected president Lázaro Chacón (who was a friend of Palma's) invited him to join the presidential cabinet, as Secretary of Finance.[2]

Presidency

Rise to power

Besides being the Secretary of Finance, Baudilio Palma was also the second designated to the office of the Presidency in case general Lázaro Chacón González was to die.[4] When Chacón suffered a stroke that kept him from performing his presidential duties, Palma, supposedly in agreement with the rest of the cabinet, was appointed acting president,[5] even though he was the second designated and not the first. According to the official communications at the time, the first designated to the office was general Mauro de León, but he had resigned in favor of Palma.[2]

Coup d'état

However, on 16 December 1930 a coup d'état led by General Orellana Contreras and Luis Leonardo forced Palma to resign after a short battle inside the Presidential Palace. During the fight, that lasted no more than an hour, Mauro de León died. The Liberal Progresista party placed general Roderico Anzueto in the key position of Chief of Police.[lower-alpha 3]

Once in power, Orellana Contreras reformed the Cabinet and worked on restructuring the Guatemalan military bases.[6] However, given the large investments that American companies had in Guatemala -especially the United Fruit Company, the United States Secretary of State Henry Stimson publicly denounced Orellana as an unconstitutional leader and demanded his removal. Realizing that the Americans would not recognize his government, Orellana resigned on 29 December.[7] Stimson sent Ambassador Sheltom Whitehouse to tell Orellana Contreras that his country would not be dealing with the new Guatemalan president whatsoever. Whitehouse pressed the National Assembly to force Orellana Contreras to resign, taking advantage of Orellana's lack of political experience,[8] and the American government needed a stable regime in Guatemala.[9][10][3]

Notes and references

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Asociación de Amigos del País 2004. There are discrepancies regarding Palma's birth date; some author say that he was born in 1874 and other in 1880.
  2. ↑ Asociación de Amigos del País 2004. Like with his birth date, his death date is also under discussion; there are several theories on what happened to him after the coup d'état on December 1930: some authors argue that he was able to flee to El Salvador – where he would have died on 19 June 1944 – after asking for asylum in some European Embassy, while others say that the most likely scenario was that he was killed once he signed his resignation.
  3. ↑ Anzueto would eventually become one of President Jorge Ubico main supporters during his 14-year presidency.

References

Bibliography

  • Aquí Guatemala (2008). "Biografía de Manuel María Orellana". Aquí Guatemala (in Spanish). Guatemala. Archived from the original on 6 February 2008. Retrieved 16 March 2015.
  • Asociación de Amigos del País (2004). Diccionario Histórico Geográfico de Guatemala.
  • Bucheli, Marcelo; Jones, Geoffrey (2005). "The Octopus and the Generals: the United Fruit Company in Guatemala". Harvard Business School Case (9–805–146). Archived from the original on 11 July 2018.
  • Díaz Romeu, Guillermo (1996). "Del régimen de Carlos Herrera a la elección de Jorge Ubico". Historia general de Guatemala. 1993–1999 (in Spanish). Guatemala: Asociación de Amigos del País, Fundación para la Cultura y el Desarrollo. 5: 37–42. Archived from the original on 12 January 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  • Dosal, Paul J. (1993). Doing business with the dictators: a political history of United Fruit in Guatemala, 1899–1944. Wilmington: Scholarly Resources.
  • Nuestro Diario (13 December 1930a). "Baudilio Palma, presidente de la República a la ciudadanía". Nuestro Diario (in Spanish). Guatemala.
  • — (14 December 1930b). "¿Quién es Baudilio Palma?". Nuestro Diario (in Spanish). Guatemala.
  • — (17 December 1930c). "Manuel María Orellana, presidente de la República". Nuestro Diario (in Spanish). Guatemala.
  • Prensa Libre (2007). "Economía para Todos: Banco Agrícola Hipotecario de 1894". Prensa Libre (in Spanish). Guatemala. Archived from the original on 1 December 2008.
  • Time (1930). "Wrong horse No. 2". Time magazine. United States. Archived from the original on 4 January 2013.
  • — (1931). "We are not amused". Time magazine. United States. Archived from the original on 15 December 2008.
  • — (1931b). "Died. General Lazaro Chacon, 56, President of Guatemala". Time Magazine. United States. Archived from the original on 15 December 2008.
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