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.Casey, Dennis Floyd (1979) Indigenismo: the Guatemalan experience Lawrence: University of Kansas. Unpublished dissertation, p106 Led by Conservatives tied to the landed oligarchy, the Unionists also attracted support among the urban proletariat, artisans, students, and industrialists.Dosal, Paul J (1993) Doing business with the dictators: a political history of United Fruit in Guatemala, 1899-1944 Wilmington: Scholarly Resources, p95
In January 1920 the Unionists allied with dissident Liberals in the legislature led by Adrian Vidaurre.Dosal, p96 Toward the end of March 1920 the Unionists began to pressure the National Legislative Assembly to impeach Estrada Cabrera.Pitti, Joseph A (1975) Jorge Ubico and Guatemalan politics in the 1920s Albuquerque: University of New Mexico. Unpublished dissertation, p26 Even those who had benefitted from his rule accepted that Cabrera should step down.Grandin, Greg. The last colonial massacre: Latin America in the Cold War. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. 2004. Pp. 27. 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.Pitti, p27
References
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.