Duarte, José Napoleón, << doo AHR tay, hoh SAY nah poh lay OHN >> (1925-1990), served as the elected president of El Salvador from 1984 to 1989. He had served as appointed head of a military junta from 1980 to 1982. A junta is a small group that takes over a government and rules by decree. During his presidency, Duarte could not end a civil war that had lasted 10 years and had resulted in the deaths of more than 60,000 people.
Duarte was born in San Salvador on Nov. 23, 1925. In 1948, he graduated from the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. In 1960, Duarte helped organize the Christian Democratic Party in El Salvador. He served as mayor of San Salvador from 1964 to 1970. As mayor, he organized neighborhood groups to build or repair schools and health facilities.
Duarte ran for president in 1972. Early election returns showed him in the lead, but the ruling government altered the final results to show its own candidate as the winner. Duarte went into exile in Venezuela after some of his followers tried to overthrow the government and failed. He returned to El Salvador in 1979, after a military junta seized power. While serving as president, Duarte contracted cancer, and he did not run for reelection in 1989. He died in San Salvador on Feb. 23, 1990.
See also El Salvador (The 1900’s) .
