Technology & Dirty Jobs During the United States Civil War Photography, Reporter, Telegraph.
Dirty War in El Salvador
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Transcript of Dirty War in El Salvador
DIRTY WAR IN EL SALVADOR
2/15/2010
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
Dirty War: Methods
Asymmetric violence Extra-judicial detention Disappearances Torture and murder Massacres Use of paramilitary forces Lack of accountability Plausible deniability
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
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 1979 overthrow of the Somoza dictatorship by the Sandinista National Liberation Front
1977–1981: Pres. Carter 1981–1989: Pres. Reagan 1989–1993: Pres. Bush,
Sr.
The Dirty War: 1980 – 1992The Government Forces The Military
Rapid response battalion ATLACATL
Intelligence Forces Security Forces Civil defense forces Paramilitary death squads
ORDEN
Strategies 1980-1984: “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
The Dirty War: 1980 – 1992The Opposition ForcesUrban movements, based on unions and student
groupsLiberation Theology 24 March 1980: Assassination of Archbishop Oscar
RomeroFrente 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
El Mazote, December 1981
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
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
El Salvador Today
Social Indicators 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