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April 1920 Guatemalan presidential election

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Nominee Carlos Herrera Adrián Vidaurre Party PU Independent Electoral vote 36 6 Percentage 85.71% 14.29%

President before election Manuel Estrada Cabrera Liberal Party President-elect Carlos Herrera y Luna PU–PD

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Indirect presidential elections were held in Guatemala on 8 April 1920. After two decades of repression and dictatorial rule, political opponents of Manuel Estrada Cabrera organized the Unionist Party (PU) in 1919. Led by Conservatives tied to the landed oligarchy, the Unionists also attracted support among the urban proletariat, artisans, students, and industrialists.

In January 1920 the Unionists allied with dissident Liberals in the legislature led by Adrian Vidaurre. Toward the end of March 1920 the Unionists began to pressure the National Legislative Assembly to impeach Estrada Cabrera. Even those who had benefitted from his rule accepted that Cabrera should step down. On 8 April he was declared insane and no longer capable of governing the country by members of the Legislative Assembly. They then voted to replace him with Carlos Herrera y Luna (36 out of 42 voted for him). On 9 April Cabrera ordered troops still loyal to him to bomb the Unionist-held Guatemala City, but on 15 April Congress accepted his resignation.

References

1. Casey, Dennis Floyd (1979) Indigenismo: the Guatemalan experience Lawrence: University of Kansas. Unpublished dissertation, p106
2. Dosal, Paul J (1993) Doing business with the dictators: a political history of United Fruit in Guatemala, 1899-1944 Wilmington: Scholarly Resources, p95
3. Dosal, p96
4. Pitti, Joseph A (1975) Jorge Ubico and Guatemalan politics in the 1920s Albuquerque: University of New Mexico. Unpublished dissertation, p26
5. Grandin, Greg. The last colonial massacre: Latin America in the Cold War. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 2004. Pp. 27.
6. Pitti, p27

Bibliography

• Calvert, Peter. Guatemala : a nation in turmoil. Boulder: Westview Press. 1985.
• Díaz Romeu, Guillermo. “ Del régimen de Carlos Herrera a la elección de Jorge Ubico.” Historia general de Guatemala. 1993-1999. Guatemala: Asociación de Amigos del País, Fundación para la Cultura y el Desarrollo. Volume 5. 1996.
• Holden, Robert H. Armies without nations: public violence and state formation in Central America, 1821-1960. New York: Oxford University Press. 2004.
• Jiménez, Ernesto Bienvenido. Ellos los presidentes. Guatemala: Editorial José de Pineda Ibarra. 1981.
• Krehm, William. Democracia y tiranias en el Caribe. Buenos Aires: Editorial Parnaso. 1957.
• Rendón, Catherine. “El gobierno de Manuel Estrada Cabrera.” Historia general de Guatemala. 1993-1999. Guatemala: Asociación de Amigos del País, Fundación para la Cultura y el Desarrollo. Volume 5. 1996.
• Schlewitz, Andrew James. The rise of a military state in Guatemala, 1931-1966. New York: New School University. Unpublished dissertation. 1999.

v t e Elections and referendums in Guatemala
Presidential elections	1873 1880 1892 1898 1904 1910 1916 1920 1926 1931 1944 1950 1954 1957 1958 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1985 1990–91 1995–96 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023 2027
Parliamentary elections	1873 1880 1923 1925 1926 1927 1929 1931 1935 1944 (Nov) 1944 (Dec) 1947 1948 1950 1953 1954 1955 1957 1958 1959 1961 1964 1966 1970 1974 1978 1982 1984 1985 1990 1994 1995 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023 2027
Local elections	1985 1988 1990 1993 1995 1998 1999 2003 2007 2011 2015 2019 2023 2027
Referendums	1935 1994 1999 2018
See also: Elections in the Federal Republic of Central America

• Presidential elections in Guatemala
• 1920 elections in Central America
• 1920 in Guatemala