The Civic Directory (a military junta) ruled El Salvador for two days after the coup until it relinquished power to Brigadier General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez, Araujo's vice president and minister of war, the navy, and aviation.

On 1 March 1931, Arturo Araujo of the Salvadoran Laborist Party assumed office as the president of El Salvador[1] after this victory in the presidential election two months prior.

[7] In August 1931, the Salvadoran Laborist Party proposed a bill to the Legislative Assembly to dismiss military officers who did not perform active duties in an effort to collect their salaries.

The coup began when soldiers of the 1st Infantry Brigade, garrisoned at the El Zapote barracks in San Salvador, attacked the Presidential Palace across the street with machine guns.

[10][11] While the Presidential Guard resisted the rebelling soldiers and defended Araujo, the remainder of San Salvador's military garrisons either ignored or supported the coup.

[9][12] Ultimately, Araujo concluded that his army in Santa Ana would be unable to regain power; he resigned from the presidency, named the first presidential designate as his successor, and fled the country to Guatemala on 4 December 1931.

The Civic Directory consisted of twelve military officers[a] and was led by colonels Osmín Aguirre y Salinas (vice minister of war, the navy, and aviation) and Joaquín Valdés (deputy commander of the National Guard) as co-chairmen.

[15][16] The Civic Directory dissolved itself on 4 December 1931 and relinquished power to Brigadier General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez, Araujo's vice president and minister of war, the navy, and aviation who's role in the coup is disputed.