Editing El Salvador (section)

=== Salvadoran Civil War (1979–1992) ===
{{Further|Salvadoran Civil War}}
[[File:32-0032 Monumento a la Memoria y la Verdad.jpg|thumb|A monument carved in black marble which contains the names of thousands of victims of [[List of massacres in El Salvador|massacres]] that occurred during the civil war]]
[[Carlos Humberto Romero]] was the final president of the [[Military dictatorship in El Salvador|country's military dictatorship which began in 1931]]. The U.S. had been Romero's biggest supporter, but by October 1979, the Carter administration decided that El Salvador needed [[United States involvement in regime change|regime change]].<ref>{{cite journal|title=Continuity and Change in U.S. Foreign Policy: Carter and Reagan on El Salvador|last=Pastor|first=Robert|journal=Journal of Policy Analysis and Management|volume=3|issue=2|pages=170–190|date=1984|publisher=Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management|jstor=3323931|doi=10.1002/pam.4050030202}}</ref>

On 15 October 1979, a [[1979 Salvadoran coup d'état|coup d'état]] brought the [[Revolutionary Government Junta of El Salvador|Revolutionary Government Junta]] (JRG) to power. It nationalized many private companies and took over much privately owned land. The purpose of this new junta was to stop the revolutionary movement already underway in response to Duarte's stolen election. Nevertheless, the oligarchy opposed [[agrarian reform]], and a junta formed with young reformist elements from the army such as Colonels [[Adolfo Arnoldo Majano]] and [[Jaime Abdul Gutiérrez]],<ref>{{cite web |title=Román Mayorga asume embajada en Venezuela |url=http://www.elsalvador.com/mwedh/nota/nota_completa.asp?idCat=6351&idArt=4199885 |website=elsalvador.com |access-date=17 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140811214354/http://www.elsalvador.com/mwedh/nota/nota_completa.asp?idCat=6351&idArt=4199885 |archive-date=11 August 2014 |date=29 October 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Chronology of the Civil War in El Salvador |url=http://kellogg.nd.edu/romero/Salvador.htm |website=Kellogg Institute for International Studies |publisher=University of Notre Dame |access-date=17 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170408194257/http://kellogg.nd.edu/romero/Salvador.htm |archive-date=8 April 2017 }}</ref> as well as with progressives such as [[Guillermo Ungo]] and Alvarez.

[[File: O.Romero 1979 autographed photo.jpg|thumb|left|[[Archbishop Romero]] spoke out against social injustice and violence amid the escalating conflict between the military government and left-wing insurgents that led to the Salvadoran Civil War.]]

Pressure from the oligarchy soon dissolved the junta because of its inability to control the army in its repression of the people fighting for unionization rights, agrarian reform, better wages, accessible health care and freedom of expression. In the meantime, the guerrilla movement was spreading to all sectors of Salvadoran society. Middle and high school students were organized in MERS (Movimiento Estudiantil Revolucionario de Secundaria, Revolutionary Movement of Secondary Students); college students were involved with AGEUS (Asociacion de Estudiantes Universitarios Salvadorenos; Association of Salvadoran College Students); and workers were organized in BPR (Bloque Popular Revolucionario, Popular Revolutionary Block). In October 1980, several other major guerrilla groups of the Salvadoran left had formed the [[Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front]], or FMLN. By the end of the 1970s, government-contracted death squads were killing about 10 people each day. Meanwhile, the FMLN had 6,000 to 8,000 active guerrillas and hundreds of thousands of part-time militia, supporters, and sympathizers.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Mason |first=T.D. |author2=D.A. Krane |title=The Political Economy of Death Squads: Toward a Theory of the Impact of State-Sanctioned Terror |journal=International Studies Quarterly |year=1989 |volume=33 |issue=2 |pages=175–198 |doi=10.2307/2600536|jstor=2600536 |s2cid=36082281 |url=http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/6698/d4568a77c41a133fbcb5da2750db91cde582.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200731003053/http://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/6698/d4568a77c41a133fbcb5da2750db91cde582.pdf |archive-date=31 July 2020 }}</ref>

The U.S. supported and financed the creation of a second junta to change the political environment and stop the spread of a leftist insurrection. Napoleón Duarte was recalled from his exile in Venezuela to head this new junta. However, a revolution was already underway and his new role as head of the junta was seen by the general population as opportunistic. He was unable to influence the outcome of the insurrection.

[[Óscar Romero]], the [[Roman Catholic]] Archbishop of San Salvador, denounced injustices and massacres committed against civilians by government forces. He was considered "the voice of the voiceless", but he was assassinated by a [[Death squads in El Salvador|death squad]] while saying Mass on 24 March 1980.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Golden |first1=Renny |title=Oscar Romero: Bishop of the Poor |url=http://www.uscatholic.org/culture/social-justice/2009/02/oscar-romero-bishop-poor |website=U.S. Catholic |access-date=17 March 2020 |date=25 February 2009 |archive-date=19 January 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130119005101/http://www.uscatholic.org/culture/social-justice/2009/02/oscar-romero-bishop-poor |url-status=live }}</ref> Some consider this to be the beginning of the full [[Salvadoran Civil War]], which lasted from 1980 to 1992.

An unknown number of people "disappeared" during the conflict, and the UN reports that more than 75,000 were killed.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Boutros-Ghali |first1=Boutros |title=Report of the UN Truth Commission on El Salvador |url=http://www.derechos.org/nizkor/salvador/informes/truth.html |website=El Equipo Nizkor |publisher=United Nations Security Council |access-date=17 March 2020 |date=29 March 1993 |archive-date=23 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170223031646/http://www.derechos.org/nizkor/salvador/informes/truth.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Salvadoran Army]]'s US-trained [[Atlácatl Battalion]] was responsible for the [[El Mozote massacre]] where more than 800 civilians were murdered, over half of them children, the [[El Calabozo massacre]], and the [[murder of UCA scholars]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Wilkinson |first1=Tracy |title=Notorious Salvadoran Battalion Is Disbanded: Military: U.S.-trained Atlacatl unit was famed for battle prowess but was also implicated in atrocities. |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-12-09-mn-1714-story.html |access-date=17 March 2020 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=9 December 1992 |archive-date=19 March 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200319215642/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-12-09-mn-1714-story.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[File: Protest against the Salvadoran Civil War Chicago 1989 5.jpg|thumb|Protest against US involvement in the Salvadoran Civil War in Chicago, Illinois, in March 1989]]

On 16 January 1992, the government of El Salvador, represented by president [[Alfredo Cristiani]], and the FMLN, represented by the commanders of the five guerrilla groups – [[Schafik Hándal]], [[Joaquín Villalobos]], [[Salvador Sánchez Cerén]], Francisco Jovel and [[Fermán Cienfuegos|Eduardo Sancho]], all signed peace agreements brokered by the United Nations ending the 12-year civil war. This event, held at [[Chapultepec Castle]] in Mexico, was attended by U.N. dignitaries and other representatives of the international community. After signing the armistice, the president stood and shook hands with the newly ex-guerrilla commanders, an action which was widely admired.