1961

January 25: Government overthrown

Bland 1992: "In a mere three months...most of the officer corps, wary of potential division with their institution and encouraged by the oligarchy, launched a successful countercoup and installed a traditional brand of military leader. As for the political future of the country, 1961 marked the installation of a new military party that sought to build a representative coalition that would legitimize the leaders chosen from its ranks and therefore ensure the dominance of the old regime" (page 168).

Kantor 1969: "(A) civic-military directorate took over the country, pledging to fight communism and reform the country’s social system...(T)he new government organized the National Conciliation Party as a mechanism through which it could control the country" (page 115).

McDonald 1969: "The second civilian-military junta expressed its disapproval of the alleged ‘leftist’ inclinations in the preceding regime and placed new restrictions on the recently emancipated political organizations" (page 403).

September

Eguizábal 1982?: "El 12 de septiembre de 1961, se promulgó una nueva ley electoral, instaurando la representación proporcional como modo de escrutinio" (page 86).

December 17: Constituent Assembly election

Anderson 1971: All seats are won by the PCN (page 155).

ICSPS El Salvador 1967: "(L)eftist parties were either outlawed or ignored in planning elections for a constituent assembly..." The PCN wins all seats (page 9). Gives votes won by each party and coalition, number of registered voters, and percent who voted (page 30).

Kantor 1969: "The military directorate even resigned from office after a newly elected National Assembly elected a provisional president, Dr. Eusebio Rodolfo Cordón Cea. The National Conciliation Party had won all fifty-four seats in the Assembly that was to hold office until 1964" (page 115).

McDonald 1969: "The junta firmly controlled the election for the 1961 Constituent Assembly, which drafted a new constitution and named Colonel Julio A. Rivera as provisional President...The Constituent Assembly converted itself into a regular Congress, and was subsequently renewed along with municipal offices in 1964 and 1966" (page 403).

Montgomery 1995: "Only the PCN and five minor conservative parties were allowed to participate...A month later the Constitutional Assembly revised the 1950 constitution, gave itself the status of a national assembly, and scheduled a presidential election for April" (page 53).

Williams 1997: Gives votes for PCN and opposition (page 69).

1962

Eguizábal 1984: "Entre los cambios menores que estableció la Constitución de 1962, fue reducir la duración del mandato presidencial de seis a cinco años" (page 21).

January 25: Cordón named provisional president until the elections

April 29: Presidential election (Rivera / PCN)

Anderson 1971: The candidate of the PCN runs unopposed and is elected (page 155).

Benítez Manaut 1990: PCN wins 92 percent of the vote, the opposition calls for blank votes (page 73).

Eguizábal 1984: "El Salvador: resultados electorales de 1962" (page 28). Gives for each party the number of votes received, percent this constitutes of total vote, and seats won.

ICSPS El Salvador 1967: "The major opposition parties...boycotted the election" (pages 9 and 30). Gives the percent of popular vote for the official candidate and the number of persons who cast invalid or blank ballots to indicate their opposition.

Kantor 1969: Only the PCN candidate is on the ballot; gives number of votes he receives, also number of potential voters (page 115).

Schooley 1987: Gives votes for Rivera, total electorate, and number of blank and invalid votes (page 52). "On the abolition of the junta the constituent assembly became the National Assembly and promulgated a new constitution."

Williams 1997: Gives number of votes cast, null votes, and blank votes (page 71).

1963

Kantor 1969: "About this time, the government began to concern itself with the lack of a responsible opposition, and in August 1963 a law was passed creating a system of proportional representation for filling the seats in the National Assembly" (page 116).

Williams 1997: "..the passage of a new electoral law in June 1963...opened the possibility for recognized opposition parties to win seats in the legislative assembly. As opposed to the winner-take-all provisions of the 1950s, the new law established a system of proportional representation whereby deputies from each department were apportioned according to the number of votes received by each party. However, representation in the municipal councils continued under the terms of the winner-take-all procedures of the past" (page 72).

1964

March 8: Congressional and municipal election

Benítez Manaut 1990: Gives seats won by PCN, PDC, and PAR and mayoralties won by PCN and PDC (page 73). José Napoleón Duarte (PCN) wins the mayorship of San Salvador, which includes one-fourth of El Salvador’s population.

Caldera T. 1983: "La mayor de las victorias para el PDC representó haber ganado la Alcaldía de San Salvador. Ahora bien, para que oficialmente se reconociera este triunfo, los demócratas cristianos instalados en la Biblioteca Nacional--local donde se estaban escrutando los votos--tuvieron que hacer fuertes protestas, ya que según sus propios escrutinios ellos le ganaban al PCN por más de mil cuatrocientos votos, y este hecho no se quería reconocer. Al tanto de los acontecimientos, el Cnel. Rivera, consciente de que debía abrir una válvula de escape, decidió respetar el hecho de que un partido que no fuera el oficial ganara en una ciudad importante, reconociendo así el triunfo de José Napoleón Duarte como el nuevo Alcalde de San Salvador" (page 18).

Eguizábal 1984: "Aparentemente, el nivel de competitividad electoral en el plano local ha sido siempre mayor que a nivel nacional. Dado este rasgo, resulta útil el estudio sistemático de las elecciones municipales en los últimos años, para caracterizar con mayor precisión al régimen político salvadoreño, pero, basta aquí tener en cuenta el número de alcaldías controladas por la oposición; y señalar que a partir de 1964 la lucha por la alcaldía de la ciudad capital se convertió en un locus importante del combate político, y la función de alcalde de San Salvador la de mayor rango desempeñada por líderes de la oposición" (page 20). "Los resultados electorales de 1964 permitieron que la oposición que conformaban el PDC y el PAR ocupara 20 escaños sobre 52 en la Asamblea Legislativa, 14 y 6 respectivamente, y el primero lograra el control de 37 alcaldías, incluyendo la de San Salvador" (page 22).

El Salvador. Ministerio de Educación Pública 1964: Includes names of deputies in outgoing congress (pages 21-23), officials of the CCE (page 25), and an extensive collection of newspaper articles published before and after the election. Gives the number of seats won by PAR and PDC together and the seats won by PCN (page 228). Reprints article by Carlos Sandoval stating "Creo que más de un 70 por ciento de los electores no concurrieron a las urnas, lo que da a estas elecciones un escaso significado como registro de la opinión pública. El abstencionismo, no obstante, fue el que decidió el resultado final de los votos" (page 229).

El Salvador. Presidencia 1964: Includes laws, proclamations, newspaper clippings, letters to and from the President, etc., all regarding the 1964 election. Gives number of registered voters (page 52) and number of ballot boxes and voting booths (page 65). Gives congressional seats won by the PCN and total of seats won by the PAR and PDC (page 122).

ICSPS El Salvador 1967: "(O)pposition party members were elected to the Legislative Assembly for the first time since 1931" (pages 9 and 30). Gives percent of vote and seats won by two opposition parties and official party. "Legislative election returns, 1964" (page 31). Gives by department each party and the number and percent of votes received and seats won, and totals the valid votes. Duarte elected mayor of San Salvador (page 22). Gives mayoralties won by the PCN and PDC (page 30).

Webre 1979: Gives seats and municipalities won by PDC (page 81).

Williams 1997: Gives seats won by PCN, PDC, and PAR and municipalities won by PCN (page 72).

1966

March 13: Congressional and municipal election

Benítez Manaut 1990: Gives seats and mayoralties won by PCN, PDC, and PAR (page 73).

Caldera T. 1983: "Para 1966 en elecciones para Alcaldes y Munícipes, el PDC creció en adeptos, ya que de 58.000 votos que había obtenido en la primera votación de esta naturaleza pasó a obtener más de 75.000, lo que implicó subir de 14 a 15 diputados y de 12 alcaldías a 17, y lo más importante, se repitió el triunfo en la Alcaldía de San Salvador" (page 19).

Eguizábal 1984: Gives percent of vote and seats won by each party (page 23).

ICSPS El Salvador 1967: Gives for the three regions of El Salvador the number of seats won by the PCN and the PDC and the total of seats for each region (page 5). Gives the combined total percent vote and seats won by the PREN and PPS (page 9). Gives the percent of the popular vote received by the PDC. "Legislative election returns, 1966" (page 32). Gives by department each party and the number and percent of votes received and seats won, and totals the valid votes. "PCN retained its majority of mayors and municipal council seats, although the PDC narrowed the margin" (page 31). Duarte re-elected mayor of San Salvador by a landslide vote.

Kantor 1969: Gives seats won by each party (page 116).

Webre 1979: Duarte wins mayoral reelection "overwhelmingly," PDC increases its congressional delegation to fifteen, and picks up a "large number of minor municipalities" (pages 90-91).

Williams 1997: Gives seats won by PCN, PDC, and PAR (page 73).

1967

March 5: Presidential election (Sánchez Hernández / PCN)

Anderson 1971: Gives names of the candidates; the election is won by the PCN candidate (page 155-156).

Benítez Manaut 1990: Gives percent of vote won by PCN, PDC, PAR, and PPS (page 73).

Eguizábal 1984: Gives number of votes won by PAR and PDC candidates (page 23).

El Salvador 1982: Gives percent of the presidential vote for PCN, PDC, PAR, and PPS (page 29).

Kantor 1969: "This was the first election in the country’s history in which several candidates campaigned for office, the election was fairly conducted, and the overwhelming majority of the population accepted the result" (page 117). Gives number of votes won by each party’s candidate.

Montgomery 1995: Gives the percent of the votes won by the PDC, the PCN, and the PAR (page 61).

Webre 1979: "It became more and more apparent that disaffected voters would split their ballots between the PDC and the PAR" (page 100). PDC wins 22 percent of the vote.

Williams 1997: Gives votes for PCN and opposition and abstention rate (page 74).

1968

March 12: Congressional and municipal election

Benítez Manaut 1990: Gives seats won by PCN, PDC, PPS, and MNR (page 73).

Caldera T. 1983: Gives number of seats won. "Los demócratas-cristianos habían crecido vertiginosamente y al analizar los resultados obtenidos tenían la sensación de estar a un paso del poder; habían ganado más de ochenta Alcaldías...Según sus proyecciones, en las proximas elecciones ganarían la mayoría de las alcaldías, las diputaciones, y sin lugar a dudas en el 72 llegarían a la presidencia" (page 20).

Danby 1982: Gives seats won by PDC (page 5).

Eguizábal 1984: Gives seats and mayoralties won by each party (page 23).

El Salvador 1982: Gives assembly seats and municipalities won by the PDC and percent of vote won by Duarte of the PDC as mayor of San Salvador (page 29).

Herman 1984: Gives mayoralties won by PDC and seats won by PDC and MNR (page 99).

Webre 1979: Gives percent of San Salvador mayoral vote won by Duarte (page 101) and states that PDC won the mayorships of Santa Ana and San Miguel (page 102). Gives number of municipalities and seats won by the PDC (page 102).

Williams 1997: The elections of 1968 "made it clear that in an environment relatively free of legal impediments the opposition was at the verge of breaking through to majority status" (page 74). Gives seats won by the PDC, PCN, and the opposition.

1969

July 14: War with Honduras

Caldera T. 1983: "En 1969 se produjo la guerra entre Honduras y El Salvador, hecho que definitivamente trastocó todo el escenario político. La existencia de la guerra cohesionó a todas las fuerzas políticas alrededor del gobierno....(D)icha coyuntura fue utilizada por los sectores gubernamentales para imponer con más fuerza sus determinaciones y para ganar más electores" (pages 20-21). "Se acabó el proceso y experimento democrático y el instituto armado tomó la determinación de no permitir que el PDC llegara al poder" (page 23). Details propaganda campaigns carried out by the military against the PDC.

Haggerty 1990: "Between 1945 and 1969, population increase and land loss, particularly to cotton estates, led as many as 300,000 workers and dispossessed peasants--about 7 percent of the Salvadoran population--to migrate to neighboring Honduras. There, as farm laborers, squatters, tenants, or small farmers, they joined the land-poor rural population or moved to provincial towns where they were subsumed into the Honduran labor force. By the late 1960s, these Salvadorans constituted 12 percent or more of the Honduran population...The Honduran government targeted Salvadoran immigrants as the principal impediment to land redistribution efforts, encouraging anti-Salvadoran sentiments in an attempt to diffuse tensions among Honduran peasants and agricultural workers...(A)s many as 130,000 Salvadorans were forced, or chose...to return to El Salvador. The exodus of Salvadorans from Honduras contributed to the so-called "Soccer War" of 1969 between the two countries, and the large number of returning Salvadorans worsened social and economic tensions within El Salvador itself" (pages 75-76).