Editing Roberto D'Aubuisson

{{short description|Salvadoran politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{about-distinguish-text|a Salvadoran partisan|the American counterinsurgent [[Robert Komer|"Blowtorch Bob" Komer]]}}
{{family name hatnote|D'Aubuisson|Arrieta|lang=Spanish}}
{{Infobox officeholder
 | honorific_prefix = [[Major (rank)|Major]]
 | name             = Roberto D'Aubuisson
 | image            = Roberto D’Aubuisson.jpg
 | image_size       = 
 | alt              = 
 | caption          = 
 | office           = 90th [[List of presidents of the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador|President of the Legislative Assembly of El{{nbsp}}Salvador]]
 | term_start       = 26 April 1982
 | term_end         = 20 December 1983
 | predecessor      = [[José Leandro Echeverría]]
 | successor        = [[María Julia Castillo Rodas]]
 | office1          = Deputy of the [[Legislative Assembly of El Salvador|Legislative Assembly of El{{nbsp}}Salvador]] from [[La Libertad Department (El Salvador)|La Libertad]]
 | term_start1      = 1 May 1988
 | term_end1        = 20 February 1992
 | office2          = Deputy of the [[Legislative Assembly of El Salvador|Legislative Assembly of El{{nbsp}}Salvador]] from [[San Salvador Department|San Salvador]]
 | term_start2      = 26 April 1982
 | term_end2        = 1 May 1988
 | birth_name       = Roberto D'Aubuisson Arrieta
 | birth_date       = 23 August 1943
 | birth_place      = [[Santa Tecla, El Salvador|Santa Tecla]], El Salvador
 | death_date       = {{Death date and age|1992|02|20|1943|08|23|df=y}}
 | death_place      = [[San Salvador]], El Salvador
 | resting_place    = 
 | party            = [[Nationalist Republican Alliance]]
 | spouse           = Yolanda Munguía (divorced)<br />Luz María Angulo (his death)
 | children         = 4
 | relatives        = [[Maribel Arrieta]] (cousin)
 | alma_mater       = [[Captain General Gerardo Barrios Military School]]<br />[[Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation|School of the Americas]]
 | occupation       = Military officer, politician
 | known_for        = Ordering the assassination of [[Óscar Romero]]
 | nickname         = Chele, Blowtorch Bob, The Major<ref name="NYT death">{{cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1992/02/23/daubuisson-death-comes-to-the-executioner/df5839ff-fe39-4a51-ac3c-7f4e38e0d5f2/|title=D'Aubuisson: Death Comes to the Executioner|access-date=18 April 2021|date=23 February 1992|author=Farah, Douglas|work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref>
<!--Military service-->
 | allegiance       = {{flag|El Salvador}}
 | branch           = [[Salvadoran Army]]
 | serviceyears     = 1963–1980
 | rank             = [[File:El-Salvador-Army-OF-3.svg|20px|Major]] [[Major (rank)|Major]]
 | unit             = [[National Guard (El Salvador)|National Guard]]
 | commands         = [[Death squads in El Salvador|Death squads]]
 | battles          = [[Salvadoran Civil War]]
}}

'''Roberto D'Aubuisson Arrieta''' ({{respell|dohb|wee|SOHN}};<ref name="RDA">{{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/ROBERTO%20DAUBUISSON%20ARRIET%5B15816703%5D.pdf|title=Roberto D'Aubuisson Arrieta|language=en|date=5 May 1982|access-date=25 September 2023|work=[[Central Intelligence Agency]]}}</ref> 23 August 1943 – 20 February 1992) was a Salvadoran military officer, [[Neo-fascism|neo-fascist]]<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pyes |first=Craig |date=1994-04-17 |title=DEATH SQUAD DEMOCRACY |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1994/04/17/death-squad-democracy/f670de04-de21-423b-8f85-6e4fea5be5eb/ |access-date=2022-08-29 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Los Angeles Times |date=9 Jan 1987 |title=The World |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-01-09-mn-2819-story.html?_amp=true |website=L.A. Times Archive}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Archbishop Oscar Romero {{!}} Kellogg Institute For International Studies |url=https://kellogg.nd.edu/archbishop-oscar-romero#tab-1491 |access-date=2022-08-29 |website=kellogg.nd.edu}}</ref> politician, and [[Death squads in El Salvador|death squad]] leader. In 1981, he co-founded and became the first leader of the [[Far-right politics|far-right]] [[Nationalist Republican Alliance]] (ARENA) and served as [[List of presidents of the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador|president]] of the [[Legislative Assembly of El Salvador|Legislative Assembly]] from 1982 to 1983.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Horvitz|first1=Leslie Alan|last2=Catherwood|first2=Christopher|title=Encyclopedia of War Crimes and Genocide|date=14 May 2014|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=9781438110295|page=119|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AHpFp2nsGyUC&pg=PA119|accessdate=19 October 2016|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last1=Ameringer|first1=Charles D.|title=Political Parties of the Americas, 1980s to 1990s: Canada, Latin America, and the West Indies|year=1992|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=9780313274183|page=293|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kD5qi3MyEHYC&pg=PA293|accessdate=19 October 2016|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=EL SALVADOR ELECTS NEW LEADER OF ASSEMBLY|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1983/12/25/world/el-salvador-elects-new-leader-of-assembly.html|accessdate=19 October 2016|work=The New York Times|agency=AP|date=25 December 1983}}</ref> He was a presidential candidate for [[1984 Salvadoran presidential election|1984 presidential election]], losing in the second round to [[José Napoleón Duarte]], the former president of the [[Revolutionary Government Junta of El Salvador|Revolutionary Government Junta]].<ref name="Los Angeles Times">{{cite news|title=Salvador Rightist D'Aubuisson Quits Party Post|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1985-10-01-mn-19174-story.html|access-date=19 October 2016|work=Los Angeles Times|agency=Associated Press|date=1 October 1985}}</ref>

After ARENA's loss in the [[1985 Salvadoran legislative election|1985 legislative elections]], D'Aubuisson stepped down in favor of [[Alfredo Cristiani]] and was designated as the party's honorary president for life.<ref name="Los Angeles Times"/> D'Aubuisson was named by the [[United Nations]]' [[Truth Commission for El Salvador]] as having ordered the assassination of [[Óscar Romero]], the archbishop of [[San Salvador]] in 1980.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Brockett|first1=Charles D.|title=Political Movements and Violence in Central America|date=21 February 2005|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521600552|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a1_PgauRgLwC&pg=PA240|accessdate=19 October 2016|language=en}}</ref>

== Early life ==

Roberto D'Aubuisson Arrieta<ref name="RDA" /> was born on 23 August 1943 in [[Santa Tecla, El Salvador|Santa Tecla]], El Salvador. His father was Roberto d'Aubuisson Andrade, and his mother was Joaquina Arrieta Alvarado, a career civil servant. He is the descendant of Jacques, Marie, Germain, Gustave d'Aubuisson, who was born in [[Toulouse]], France in 1822 and arrived in El Salvador at the age of 20, where he established himself as an [[ironmonger]] and salesman. His father, Pierre d'Aubuisson, was [[French nobility|Marquis]] and Lord of [[Nailloux]] and [[Ramonville-Saint-Agne]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://gw.geneanet.org/phido?lang=fr&n=d+aubuisson&oc=0&p=jacques+marie+germain+gustave|title=Généalogie de Jacques,Marie,Germain,Gustave d'AUBUISSON|website=Geneanet}}</ref>

D'Aubuisson enrolled in the [[Captain General Gerardo Barrios Military School]] in 1958 at the age of 15 and graduated in 1963, becoming a member of the [[National Guard (El Salvador)|National Guard]].<ref name="RDA" /> He was part of La Tandona, the class of 1966 at the [[Captain General Gerardo Barrios Military School]]. In 1972, he was trained in communications at the [[Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation|School of the Americas]], a United States Department of Defense Institute that provides military training to government personnel in US-allied Latin American nations. After completing his studies at the institute, he became a member of the Salvadoran [[Military espionage|military intelligence]].<ref name="partridge">Wayne Partridge. "The School of the Americas: leadership or terrorist training?: jailed Ky. nun to be among protesters at annual rally Sunday", ''Lexington Herald-Leader'' (KY), 20 November 1999, 1A: "But the school can hardly be blamed for the misdeeds of its graduates, supporters say. D'Aubuisson, for example, attended only a six-week radio maintenance and repair course at the school."</ref><ref name="nytimes1992">{{cite news|last1=Severo|first1=Richard|title=Roberto d'Aubuisson, 48, Far-Rightist in Salvador|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/02/21/world/roberto-d-aubuisson-48-far-rightist-in-salvador.html|accessdate=20 May 2018|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=21 February 1992}}</ref> D'Aubuisson was also educated at the Taiwanese [[Fu Hsing Kang College]].<ref>{{cite web |last1=Barron |first1=James |title=A league with a dark past |url=https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2022/01/23/2003771895 |website=www.taipeitimes.com/ |date=23 January 2022 |publisher=Taipei Times |access-date=23 January 2022}}</ref><ref name="Le Monde diplomatique 2016" >{{cite news |last=Beaulande |first=Guillaume |url=https://mondediplo.com/2016/06/10taiwan |title=New left regimes ally with China |work=[[Le Monde diplomatique]] |date=June 2016 |accessdate=June 5, 2016 }}</ref>

== Death squads ==


[[File:Sansalvador-1981.jpg|thumb|right|220px|Death squad victims in San Salvador, 1981]]

D'Aubuisson involved himself in [[Death squads in El Salvador|death squad]] activity while in the military, and he became associated with the second death squad to emerge in El Salvador in the mid-1970s, called the White Warriors Union.{{citation needed|date=September 2023}} In October 1979, after a group of progressive officers deposed the government of [[Carlos Humberto Romero]] in a [[1979 Salvadoran coup d'état|bloodless coup d'état]] and established the [[Revolutionary Government Junta of El Salvador|Revolutionary Government Junta]] (JRG, 1979–1982), D'Aubuisson was forced out of military service for his death squad connections, although he continued working for senior military commanders secretly. D'Aubuisson was regularly featured on Salvadoran television denouncing alleged traitors and communists, who were then murdered shortly afterwards by death squads.<ref>{{cite book|last1=LeoGrande|first1=William M.|author-link1=William M. LeoGrande|title=Our Own Backyard: The United States in Central America, 1977-1992|date=1998|publisher=University of North Carolina Press|location=Chapel Hill, North Carolina|isbn=0807848573|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xBhSo7CBLMMC|page=49}}</ref>

On 7 May 1980, six weeks after the assassination of [[Óscar Romero]], D'Aubuisson and a group of civilians and soldiers were arrested on a farm. The raiders found weapons and documents identifying D'Aubuisson and the civilians as death squad organizers and financiers, and of planning a coup d'état to depose the JRG.<ref name="nordland"/> D'Aubuisson was soon released from prison, after 8 of the 14 military garrison commanders voted for his release, overruling the JRG.<ref>{{cite book|last1=LeoGrande|first1=William M.|title=Our Own Backyard: The United States in Central America, 1977–199 |date=1998|publisher=University of North Carolina Press|location=Chapel Hill, NC|isbn=0807848573|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xBhSo7CBLMMC|page=47}}</ref>

His opposition to the JRG gave him international infamy. In August 1981, ''[[The Washington Post]]'' reported that D'Aubuisson "openly talked of the need to kill 200,000 to 300,000 people to restore peace to El Salvador". Shortly afterwards, on September 30, he founded ARENA ([[Nationalist Republican Alliance]]), a [[far-right politics|far-right]] political party. D'Aubuisson accumulated much political capital among Salvadorans for his anti-[[leftist]] stridency and for his reputation as an effective [[counter-insurgency]] strategist. He often accused the JRG of being a [[Marxism|Marxist]] threat to El Salvador.<ref name="jenkins">Loren Jenkins, "El Salvador," ''The Washington Post'', 16 August 1981, ''Washington Post Magazine'', p. 10.</ref>

He praised Hitler to [[West Germany|West German]] journalists, out of belief in the [[Jewish Bolshevism]] conspiracy: "You Germans were very intelligent. You realized that the [[Jews]] were responsible for the spread of Communism and you began to kill them."<ref>{{cite news| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1984/07/01/daubuisson-who-me/7a20c778-1f3b-4105-b643-8441b3fb2fa5/| title = D'AUBUISSON Who, Me? - The Washington Post| newspaper = [[The Washington Post]]}}</ref> He also asked every [[Jesuit]] be murdered as instruments of Communism and threatened to kill [[James Richard Cheek]], a [[State Department]] official under Carter.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Bello|first1=Walden|last2=Herman|first2=Edward S.|date=1984|title=U.S.-Sponsored Elections in El Salvador and the Philippines|url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40208969|journal=World Policy Journal|volume=1|issue=4|pages=851–869|jstor=40208969|issn=0740-2775}}</ref>

== Political career ==

=== President of the Legislative Assembly ===

In the [[1982 Salvadoran Constitutional Assembly election|1982 legislative election]], the PDC won 40 percent of the vote but not a controlling majority in the legislature. Meanwhile, ARENA won 29 percent of the vote, the PCN won 19 percent, Democratic Action (AD) won 8 percent, and other parties won the remaining 4 percent. D'Aubuisson was among one of ARENA's 19 deputies in the Legislative Assembly. Representing the [[San Salvador Department]], he assumed office on 26 April 1982.{{sfn|Legislative Assembly|2006|p=125}}

Although ARENA and the PCN were held a majority and sought to elect D'Aubuisson as the country's president, pressure from the United States dissuaded the PCN which voted with the PDC to elect AD candidate [[Álvaro Magaña]] as the country's president.<ref name="ucsd">{{cite web|url=https://library.ucsd.edu/research-and-collections/collections/notable-collections/latin-american-elections-statistics/El%20Salvador/elections-and-events-1980-1989.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210323211406/https://library.ucsd.edu/research-and-collections/collections/notable-collections/latin-american-elections-statistics/El%20Salvador/elections-and-events-1980-1989.html|archive-date=23 March 2021|access-date=26 September 2023|work=[[University of California, San Diego]]|location=[[San Diego]], [[California]]|title=Elections and Events 1980–1989}}</ref> Rather than being elected as president of El Salvador, D'Aubuisson was instead elected as the [[List of presidents of the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador|president of the Legislative Assembly]], serving from 26 April 1982 to 20 December 1983.{{sfn|Legislative Assembly|2006|p=125}} The JRG's government ended on 2 May 1982{{sfn|Bosch|1999|p=114}}

On 31 March 1983, D'Aubuisson was allowed entry to the United States by the [[United States Department of State|State Department]] after deeming him not barred from entry any longer. When asked about D'Aubuisson's association with the assassination of Archbishop Romero, the [[United States Department of State|State Department]] responded that "the allegations have not been substantiated."<ref>{{Cite news|title=Salvadoran Rightist Leader Issued Visa|last=Knutson|first=Lawrence|date=6 April 1983|agency=Associated Press}}</ref>  In November 1993, documents by the [[United States Department of State|State Department]], [[United States Department of Defense|Defense Department]], and the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] were released after pressure by Congress increased. The 12,000 documents revealed that the administrations of [[Ronald Reagan]] and [[George H. W. Bush]] knew of the assassinations conducted by D'Aubuisson, including that of Oscar Romero, and still worked with him despite this.<ref>{{Cite news|title=U.S., Aware of Killings, Worked With Salvador's Rightists, Papers Suggest|last=Krauss|first=Clifford|date=9 November 1993|work=The New York Times}}</ref>

=== 1984 presidential campaign ===

On 25 March 1984, D'Aubuisson began his campaign for the Salvadoran presidency. On 2 May he lost the [[1984 Salvadoran presidential election|presidential election]] to former President of the Junta [[José Napoleón Duarte]] of the [[Christian Democratic Party (El Salvador)|Christian Democratic Party]], receiving 46.4 percent of the vote to Duarte's 53.6 percent. D'Aubuisson claimed fraud and U.S. interference on behalf of Duarte, who was later confirmed to have been a CIA asset.
In Washington D.C., a supporter of D'Aubuisson was Senator [[Jesse Helms]], who had close ties with D'Aubuisson's ARENA party.<ref name="Bronstein Jy 8">{{cite news | last = Bronstein | first =Phil | title=Jesse Helms and his arms-trading staff | work=[[San Francisco Chronicle]] | date=July 8, 2008 | url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/bronstein/detail?&entry_id=27938 | access-date=July 8, 2008}}</ref><ref name="McEwan Jy 7">{{cite news | last = Melissa McEwan | first =Melissa McEwan | title=Republican dinosaur: Although he fought every progressive cause, Jesse Helms aimed special enmity towards black people | work=[[The Guardian]] | date=July 7, 2008 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2008/jul/07/usa | access-date=July 8, 2008 | location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|work=National Catholic Reporter |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1141/is_n41_v30/ai_15802111 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080622192750/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1141/is_n41_v30/ai_15802111 |url-status=dead |archive-date=June 22, 2008 |date=September 23, 1994 |author=Arthur Jones |title=El Salvador revisited: a look a declassified State Department documents – some of what U.S. government knew – and when it knew it }}</ref>

Helms opposed the appointment of [[Thomas R. Pickering]] as [[United States Ambassador to El Salvador|Ambassador to El Salvador]],<ref name="Link 248">Link (2007), p. 248</ref> and alleged that the CIA had interfered in the 1984 Salvadoran election in favor of Duarte,<ref name="CIA role in El Salvador">{{cite news |first=Reginald |last=Dale |title=CIA role in El Salvador election criticised |work=[[Financial Times]] |date=May 10, 1984 }}</ref> claiming that Pickering had "used the cloak of diplomacy to strangle freedom in the night".<ref name="Link 248" /> A CIA operative testifying to the [[United States Senate Select Committee on Intelligence|Senate Intelligence Committee]] was alleged by Helms to have admitted rigging the election, but senators who attended stated that, whilst the CIA operative admitted involvement, the person did not admit to rigging the election.<ref name="CIA role in El Salvador" /> Helms disclosed details of CIA financial support for Duarte, earning a rebuke from fellow senator [[Barry Goldwater]], but Helms replied that his information came from sources in El Salvador, not the Senate committee.<ref>Link (2007), p. 249</ref>

In December 1984, D'Aubuisson travelled to Washington and was presented with a plaque by groups such as the [[American Foreign Policy Council]], the [[Moral Majority]] and the [[Young Americans for Freedom]] for “continuing efforts for freedom in the face of communist aggression which is an inspiration to freedom-loving people everywhere”.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Omang|first=Joanne|date=December 5, 1984|title=D'Aubuisson Honored by Conservatives at Capitol Hill Dinner|newspaper=Washington Post}}</ref>

=== Deputy of the Legislative Assembly ===

In 1985, D'Aubuisson was re-elected as a deputy of the Legislative Assembly from San Salvador.{{sfn|Legislative Assembly|2006|p=133}} In 1988, he was re-elected as a deputy of the Legislative Assembly, but instead from [[La Libertad Department (El Salvador)|La Libertad]].{{sfn|Legislative Assembly|2006|p=140}} In 1991, he was re-elected as a deputy of the Legislative Assembly, again from La Libertad.{{sfn|Legislative Assembly|2006|p=146}}

==Death==

[[File:Roberto d'Aubuisson.JPG|thumb|right|220px|D'Aubuisson's grave]]

D'Aubuisson died at 48 after a prolonged battle against [[esophageal cancer]] and bleeding ulcers on 20 February 1992.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-02-21-mn-2740-story.html|title=Roberto D'Aubuisson, 48; Reputed Head of Salvadoran Death Squads|date=21 February 1992|work=Los Angeles Times|author=Marjorie Miller}}</ref>

==Commission reports==
After the Salvadoran Civil War, the [[United Nations Commission on the Truth for El Salvador]] and the [[Inter-American Commission on Human Rights]] stated that D'Aubuisson "gave the order to assassinate the Archbishop" to military officers who also tried to kill judge Atilio Ramírez Amaya "to deter investigation of the case".<ref name="foster"/><ref name="un-ivD1">{{Cite web|url=https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/file/ElSalvador-Report.pdf |archive-url=https://archive.today/20240531004615/https://www.usip.org/sites/default/files/file/ElSalvador-Report.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=31 May 2024 |title=From madness to hope: the 12-year war in El Salvador|publisher=Truth Commissions Digital Collection: Reports: El Salvador. Provided by United States Institute of Peace|pages=119–130}}</ref><ref name="cidh-merits">{{Cite web|url=http://www.cidh.oas.org/annualrep/99eng/Merits/ElSalvador11.481a.htm |title=El Salvador, 11.481a: Irregularities in the investigation|publisher=Inter-American Commission on Human Rights|access-date=20 August 2008}}</ref> Views of him among  contemporary Salvadorans are mixed and often drawn across party lines. ARENA supporters revere him for his right-wing beliefs and steadfast opposition to communism. [[Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front|FMLN]] supporters vilify him for his alleged human rights atrocities and  involvement in Archbishop Romero's assassination.<ref name="lacey"/>

On January 20, 2007, President [[Antonio Saca]] of the ARENA party paid homage to D'Aubuisson upon the anniversary of his death, promising "to continue the ARENA party, based upon his ideologic legacy." Amid opposition  debate, ARENA tried to name D'Aubuisson a "meritorious son of El Salvador", a national honor, but failed due to the efforts of protesting Church leaders and human rights workers.<ref name="lacey">{{Cite news |last=Lacey |first=Marc |date=2007-02-21 |title=4 Salvadorans Killed in Way That Evokes '80s Conflict |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/02/21/world/americas/21salvador.html |access-date=2023-11-30 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

He was known as "Chele" (light-skinned face) and was alleged to have been a leader of anti-communist [[death squad]]s that were alleged to have [[torture]]d and killed thousands of civilians before and during the [[Salvadoran Civil War]]. To political prisoners he was known as "Blowtorch Bob", due to his frequent use of a [[blowtorch]] in interrogation sessions.<ref name="foster">Shawn Foster. "Window to honor slain church workers: window will stand in memory of assassinations," ''The Salt Lake Tribune'' (UT), 22 April 1995, Religion section, D1.</ref><ref name="nohero">Editorial. "No hero for El Salvador ...," ''The Salt Lake Tribune'' (UT), 24 February 1992, A10.</ref><!-- rm dead link to Americas.org --><ref name="armshaw">{{Cite web |title=Trial of Salvadoran generals opens in Florida |url=http://natcath.org/NCR_Online/archives2/2000d/102000/102000i.htm |access-date=2023-11-30 |website=natcath.org |first=Marianne |last=Armshaw}}</ref>

In 1986, ex-U.S. ambassador [[Robert White (ambassador)|Robert White]] reported to the [[United States Congress]] that "there was sufficient evidence" to convict D'Aubuisson of planning and ordering Archbishop Romero's assassination, describing D'Aubuisson as a pathological killer, as early as his 1984 Salvadoran presidential run.<ref name="nordland">Rod Nordland. "How 2 rose to vie for El Salvador's presidency," ''Philadelphia Inquirer'', 23 March 1984, A1.</ref> In April 2010, Alvaro Saravia, a former army captain who had admitted taking part in Romero's murder, testified in an interview with the Salvadoran newspaper ''El Faro'' that D'Aubuisson had given the order to proceed with the killing of the archbishop.<ref>{{Cite news |last=O'Connor |first=Anne-Marie |date=2010-04-06 |title=Participant in 1980 assassination of Romero in El Salvador provides new details |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |language=en-US |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/05/AR2010040503234.html |access-date=2023-11-30 |issn=0190-8286}}</ref> The report of the U.N. truth commission in El Salvador following the Salvadoran Civil War found that D'Aubuisson was arrested on a farm following the assassination of the archbishop, along with weapons and documents tied to the assassination.

==Sons==
In February 2007, D'Aubuisson's son Eduardo, along with two ARENA politicians and their driver, [[February 2007 Salvadoran congressmen killings|were killed in Guatemala]]. Investigators suggested that the murders may have been connected to drug-trafficking groups.<ref name="lacey"/><ref name="rosenberg">{{Cite web |last=Rosenberg |first=Mica |title=A Murder Spree in Central America -- TIME |url=http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1595944,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070307145151/http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1595944,00.html |archive-date=7 March 2007 }}</ref> In March 2015, D'Aubuisson's surviving son, [[Roberto José d'Aubuisson Munguía]], was elected mayor of Santa Tecla, a neighboring municipality of the capital San Salvador.{{citation needed|date=October 2019}}

== In popular culture ==
[[Tony Plana]] was cast as Maj. Maximiliano "Max" Casanova in the movie ''[[Salvador (film)|Salvador]]'' by [[Oliver Stone]], a thinly disguised depiction of D'Aubuisson.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Tunzelmann |first=Alex von |date=2009-04-09 |title=Salvador: Oliver Stone, lose the fast and loose approach |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/apr/08/salvador-oliver-stone |access-date=2023-11-30 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> In the 1989 film ''[[Romero (film)|Romero]]'', D'Aubuisson was depicted as Lt. Columa and played by [[Eddie Velez]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0098219/|title=Romero|date=25 August 1989|via=IMDb}}</ref>

== References ==

=== Citations ===

{{reflist}}

=== Bibliography ===

* {{cite book|last1=Bosch|first1=Brian J.|date=1999|title=The Salvadoran Officer Corps and the Final Offensive of 1981|language=en|location=[[Jefferson, North Carolina]]; [[London]]|publisher=McFarland & Company Incorporated Publishers|isbn=0-7864-0612-7}}
* {{cite book|url=https://www.asamblea.gob.sv/sites/default/files/2017-12/Tomo_IV_Historia_AsambleaLegislativa.pdf|title=Historia del Órgano Legislativo de la República de El Salvador 1824–2006: 1936–2006|trans-title=History of the Legislative Organ of the Republic of El Salvador 1824–2006: 1936–2006|language=es|edition=IV|publisher=[[Legislative Assembly of El Salvador]]|date=2006|access-date=25 September 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831201637/https://www.asamblea.gob.sv/sites/default/files/2017-12/Tomo_IV_Historia_AsambleaLegislativa.pdf|archive-date=31 August 2021|url-status=dead|ref={{harvid|Legislative Assembly|2006}}}}

== External links ==

* [http://www.derechos.org/nizkor/salvador/informes/truth.html "Report of the UN Truth Commission on El Salvador"] (1993)
* [http://jcgi.pathfinder.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,921635,00.html Democracy Among the Ruins: Citizens struggle with a turbulent campaign]{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} ([[Mario Vargas Llosa]]'s report on the 1984 presidential campaign), ''TIME'', 26 March 1984 (retrieved 6 November 2006).
* [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D0CE1DE1F3CF931A15754C0A967958260&sec=health&pagewanted=all Salvadoran Far-Right Leader Ill With Cancer], by Shirley Christian, ''The New York Times'', 22 July 1991 (retrieved 6 November 2006).
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/1891145.stm "US role in Salvador's brutal war"], BBC World Service, 24 March 2002.

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{{s-bef|before=[[José Leandro Echeverría]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[List of presidents of the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador|President of the Legislative Assembly]]|years=1982–1983}}
{{s-aft|after=[[María Julia Castillo Rodas]]}}
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{{Portal bar|Biography|El Salvador|Law|Politics}}
{{Presidents of the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:D'Aubuisson, Roberto}}
[[Category:1944 births]]
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[[Category:20th-century Salvadoran politicians]]
[[Category:Antisemitism in North America]]
[[Category:Candidates for President of El Salvador]]
[[Category:Captain General Gerardo Barrios Military School alumni]]
[[Category:Counterinsurgency theorists]]
[[Category:Deaths from cancer in El Salvador]]
[[Category:Deaths from esophageal cancer]]
[[Category:Far-right politics in North America]]
[[Category:Fascism in El Salvador]]
[[Category:Members of the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador]]
[[Category:Nationalist Republican Alliance politicians]]
[[Category:Neo-fascist politicians]]
[[Category:People of the Salvadoran Civil War]]
[[Category:People from La Libertad Department (El Salvador)]]
[[Category:Politicide perpetrators]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador]]
[[Category:Salvadoran mass murderers]]
[[Category:Salvadoran people of French descent]]
[[Category:Salvadoran war criminals]]
[[Category:Fu Hsing Kang College alumni]]