1. Dirty War in El Salvador
2/15/2010

2. Dirty War: Characteristics
State-sponsored violence against large segments of the general population
Violent repression of non-violent groups deemed hostile to the regime in power
Groups often branded as “terrorists” or “subversives”
State Terror:
Ideological logic
Efforts to foster uncertainty
Efforts to fragment society
Impunity

3. Dirty War: Methods Asymmetric violence Extra-judicial detention
Disappearances
Torture and murder
Massacres
Use of paramilitary forces
Lack of accountability
Plausible deniability

4. The National Context: 1823 - 1980
1823: Independence; the country is ruled by a series of liberal elites
1850s: the global market price of indigo collapses
1856 law requires communes to plant 2/3 of their land in coffee
1880 communal landholding is outlawed
Vagrancy laws
1930: limited democratic reforms
1931: coup; military dictatorships
1932: la Matanza
1961: ORDEN forms
1970: leftist guerilla groups begin to form
1972: Duarte wins the presidential election
1980: leftist groups unite to form the FMLN
Augustín Farabundo Martí

5. The International Context: the U.S. and the Cold War
Cuba: 1959 revolution
Guatemala: ongoing conflict between the government and a series of leftist opposition groups (Arbenz 1954)
Nicaragua: July overthrow of the Somoza dictatorship by the Sandinista National Liberation Front
1977–1981: Pres. Carter
1981–1989: Pres. Reagan
1989–1993: Pres. Bush, Sr.

6. The Dirty War: 1980 – 1992 The Government Forces
The Military
Rapid response battalion ATLACATL
Intelligence Forces
Security Forces
Civil defense forces
Paramilitary death squads
ORDEN
Strategies
: “Draining the Sea”
1985 and later: targeting FMLN fighters
Methods
Searches of persons and property
Arbitrary arrest and detention
Systematic use of kidnapping and torture
Mutilation and dismemberment of corpses which are then left in visible, public places
Judicial stonewalling, corruption, and the use of confessions obtained through torture
Impunity for violators and harassment of humanitarian, human rights, and relief organizations

7. The Dirty War: 1980 – 1992 The Opposition Forces
Urban movements, based on unions and student groups
Liberation Theology
24 March 1980: Assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero
Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional
Numbered around 4,000 fighters
Mobility, familiarity with the mountain terrain
Quick, small operations
Survived on peasant support
Radio Venceremos
Broadcast from military-
controlled territory

8. El Mazote, December 1981

9. Ending the Dirty War The failure of the FMLN
The “hearts and minds” strategy
The decline of U.S. support
End of the Cold War
16 Nov 1989 Jesuit killings
The 1991 Peace Agreement
Reconciliation, Amnesty, Reintegration
1992 the peace agreement takes effect, UN verifies weapons decommissioning
1993 Peace and Reconciliation Commission
1994 Presidential elections

10. Ending the Dirty War The Civil War lasted for 12 years: 1980-1992
Roughly 70,000 people died
State-related forces were responsible for 80% of all deaths
four-fifths or more of these deaths were peasants and workers
1979 population 4.5 million
500,000 – 750,000 people fled the country
500,000 – 1,000,000 IDPs
10% reduction in per capita economic production

11. El Salvador Today Social Indicators Underemployment: 40-50%
Median age: 22 years
Education: average of 5.5 years of schooling
Religion: 55% Catholic
Underemployment: 40-50%
Homicide rate: 55.3 per 100,000
Higher than during the war
Gangs
Eighteenth Street
Mara Salvatrucha