José Napoleón Duarte
| José Napoleón Duarte | |
|---|---|
José Napoleón Duarte in 1987
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| President of El Salvador | |
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In office June 1, 1984 – June 1, 1989 |
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| Vice President | Rodolfo Antonio Claramount Castillo (1984-1989) |
| Preceded by | Álvaro Magaña |
| Succeeded by | Alfredo Cristiani |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
José Napoléon Duarte Fuentes November 23, 1925 Santa Ana, El Salvador |
| Died | February 23, 1990 (aged 64) San Salvador, El Salvador |
| Resting place | Cemeterio Jardines del Recuerdo San Salvador, El Salvador |
| Political party | Christian Democratic Party |
| Spouse(s) | Inés Durán de Duarte (died 2011) |
| Alma mater | University of Notre Dame |
| Profession | politician, military |
José Napoleón Duarte Fuentes (November 23, 1925 – February 23, 1990), more commonly known as José Napoleón Duarte. was a Salvadoran political figure who served as President of El Salvador from 1984 to 1989. He was mayor of San Salvador before running for president in 1972. He lost, but the election is widely viewed as fraudulent. Following a counter-coup in 1979, Duarte led the subsequent civil-military Junta from 1980 to 1982. He was then elected president in 1984, defeating ARENA party leader Roberto D'Aubuisson. Supported by the Reagan Administration and the Central Intelligence Agency, his time in office occurred during the worst years of the Salvadoran Civil War which saw numerous abuses and massacres of the civilian population by the Salvadoran security forces and the Death Squads linked to them.
Duarte was born in Santa Ana in the department of the same name. While he was studying at Liceo Salvadoreño in May 1944, he took part in the protests that brought down the twelve-year-old regime of then-President General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez. Other military regimes followed, and in 1945 he crossed the border into Guatemala to join the opposition in exile. Although he spoke no English at the time, his father enrolled him in the University of Notre Dame in Indiana, United States. In 1948, having worked doing dishes and laundry in order to support himself through his studies, he graduated with a degree in engineering before returning to an El Salvador uncomfortably transitioning to a democracy. He married his childhood sweetheart, Maria Inés Durán, with whom he had 6 children: Inés Guadalupe, Alejandro, Napoleón, María Eugenia, María Elena, and Ana Lorena. Duarte got a job in his father-in-law's construction firm and, at the same time, began teaching.
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