Osmín Aguirre y Salinas (25 December 1889 – 17 July 1977) was a Salvadoran military officer and politician who served as the provisional president of El Salvador from 21 October 1944 until 1 March 1945.

[citation needed] In January 1932, peasants across western El Salvador took up arms against the government after legislative elections were cancelled by President Hernández Martínez.

[citation needed] On 9 May 1944, Maximiliano Hernández Martínez resigned due to an attempted coup, strikes being conducted against his government, and pressure from the United States.

On 21 October 1944, Aguirre y Salinas and other military officers who previously supported Hernández Martínez overthrew Andrés Ignacio Menéndez's government and established himself as Provisional President of El Salvador.

[11] He cracked down on political opposition which lead to an armed uprising being launched by students in San Salvador on 8 December, followed by an insurgent attack from Guatemala four days later where dictator Jorge Ubico had been overthrown in July.

[13] The election ended in a victory for Salvador Castaneda Castro of the Social Democratic Unification Party with 312,754 votes and a margin of 99.70 percent.