Baudilio Palma

His Excellency Baudilio Palma
Licenciado Baudilio Palma Third civilian to serve as President of Guatemala
Secretary of Finance
In office 1928 – 13 December 1930
President	Lázaro Chacón González
President of Guatemala acting
In office 13 December 1930 – 17 December 1930
Preceded by	Lázaro Chacón González
Succeeded by	Manuel María Orellana Contreras
Personal details
Born	10 June 1874[1] or 1880[2][lower-alpha 1] Santa Catarina Mita, Jutiapa  Guatemala
Died	17 December 1930[3] or 19 June 1944[1][lower-alpha 1] Ciudad de Guatemala
Spouse(s)	Luz Castañeda Godoy
Parents	Sisto de Jesús Palma Ramos and Arcadia Palma Flandes

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 no have been killed, but went into exile to El Salvador, where we 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 year, going back to Guatemala after the events that brought down president Estrada Cabrera on 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 his personal friend- – 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 de' etat 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. Asociación de Amigos del País (2004). "Diccionario Histórico Geográfico de Guatemala". 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). "Diccionario Histórico Geográfico de Guatemala". 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

1. Asociación de Amigos del País 2004
2. Nuestro Diario 14 December 1930, p. Front page
3. Time 1931b
4. Prensa Libre 2007.
5. Time 1931b.
6. Aquí Guatemala 2008.
7. Dosal 1993.
8. Bucheli & Jones 2005.
9. Time 1930.
10. Time 1931.

Bibliography

• 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.
• 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 1930). "Baudilio Palma, presidente de la República a la ciudadanía". Nuestro Diario (in Spanish) (Guatemala).
• — (14 December 1930). "¿Quién es Baudilio Palma?". Nuestro Diario (in Spanish) (Guatemala).
• — (17 December 1930). "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 23 August 2008.
• Time (1930). "Wrong horse No. 2". Time magazine (United States).
• — (1931). "We are not amused". Time magazine (United States).
• — (1931b). "Died. General Lazaro Chacon, 56, President of Guatemala". Time Magazine (United States).