The El Salvadorian Civil War: Was US Involvement really necessary?

Kevin X HerreraHistory of Latin American & Caribbean Spring 2014

The El Salvadorian Civil war was fought between the years of 1979-

1992. It was a conflict between the military-led government of El Salvador and the

Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), a coalition or umbrella

Organization of five left-wing guerilla groups.[footnoteRef:1] Many historians agree on the fact [1: Armstrong, Robert, and Janet Shenk. El Salvador, the Face of Revolution. Boston: South End, 1982. Print. Pg#159]

that the war would have never lasted so long if the United States government had

not intervened. The government was able to continue its efforts against the

FMLN with help from the US, which had begun supporting the government with

financial and military aid as soon as the war started. [footnoteRef:2] Was the United States [2: Armstrong and Shenk, pg#160]

justified in providing financial and military aid to the El Salvadorian government?

This was always the question that was lingering around the citizens of the United

States back then, and also several historians of that time, and more years to

come. There are on going debates as to whether the US was right in doing so,

but many agree on the fact that because the US got involved, communism was not

able to spread further. The overall consensus for this argument is, that yes, the US

was indeed correct in backing the El Salvadorian government, although thousands

upon thousands were killed in the process and many human rights were violated. In

the end, about 75,000 people died as result of the civil war between 1980 and 1992. Most

of these people were civilians in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Historians agree on the fact that the tipping point towards the civil war was

that a coup on October 15, 1979, led to the killings of anti-coup protestors by the

government as well as anti-disorder protestors by the guerillas.[footnoteRef:3] By January 1980, [3: Kane, Maureen. "Civil War in El Salvador." Civil War in El Salvador. N.p., Dec. 2002. Web. 8 Apr. 2014.]

the left-wing organizations united to form the Coordinated Revolutionaries of the

Masses (CRM) and a few months later the left-wing armed groups united to form the

United Revolutionary Directorate (DRU) which, following its merging with the

Communist party in October 1980, was renamed the FMLN.[footnoteRef:4] [4: Kane]

The main causes of why these anti-government guerilla groups came about

were because of the tensions between the higher classes of El Salvador and the

lower classes. In the late 1880s, coffee became a major cassh crop for El Salvador,

bringing in about 95% of the countrys income. However, this wealth was only

confined within 2% of the population.[footnoteRef:5]5 As a result, in 1932, Augustin Farabundo [5: 5 ibid]

Marti formed the Central American Socialist Party and led peasants and indigenous

people against the government. In response, the government supported military

death squads that killed anyone who even looked Indian or may have been

supporting the uprising. [footnoteRef:6]6 The killings left more than 30,000 people dead and Marti [6: 6 ibid]

was eventually arrested and put to death, and years following, the FMLN was

formed (under his name), because he started the revolution.

With these tensions becoming a huge problem within El Salvador, the United

States saw the FMLN rebels as communist supporters. They accepted some weapons

from Cuba and had the verbal support of Cuban leader Fidel Castro. As said by

historian, Maureen Kane, of University of Maryland, the United states saw this as a

threat because acceptance of any Cuban support was viewed as acceptance of Soviet

support.[footnoteRef:7]7 She believes that this provided the United States with the opportunity to [7: 7 Kane]

intervene and support the El Salvadorian Government with money in order to cease

the spread of the guerilla groups.[footnoteRef:8]8 As said by ex coworker of North American [8: 8 ibid]

Congress on Latin America (NACLA), an organization founded in 1965 to examine

U.S. policy toward Latin America, Janet Shenk, and co author of El Salvador: The

Face of Revolution Americans fought to end the US aid to El Salvadors government

and argued that America was pouring money into an organization that committed

immense violations against human rights. [footnoteRef:9]9 During the height of the war, the US [9: 9 Armstrong and Shenk, pg#165]

sent about, on average, 1.5 million dollars daily to the government . It even went as

far as people going to El Salvador and holding signs saying Stop US Aid near

military bases that was occupied by the United States because of this flooding of

money into the government.

Some historians say that the US choose to remain ignorant to the violations

in order to justify its actions in Central America. Many argued that America had no

business in Central America as many regional countries, including El Salvador, were

ripe for internal unrest.[footnoteRef:10]10 Although, the United States did temporarily suspend funds [10: 10 ibid #pg166]

to El Salvador after the rape and murder of the churchwomen in 1980. The only

reason US began to support El Salvador again was because of the growing socialist

support in Nicaragua, so that encouraged President Reagan to reactivate support for

El Salvador. He believed that if the views of socialism continued to grow, it would

eventually reach the borders of United States.[footnoteRef:11]11 More Americans began to support [11: 11 ibid #pg168]

the governments decision to intervene when President Ronald Reagan stated What

we see in El Salvador is an attempt to destabilize the entire region and eventually

move chaos and anarchy to the American border. [footnoteRef:12]12 Kane states that she agrees [12: 12 Kane.]

with the fact that the United States supported the government, because if the United

States had not done so, there was a very high probability that communism would

have spread to all of central American countries. During the time of the uprising of

the civil war, there was already apparent growing socialist support in Nicaragua and

this pushed Reagan to reactivate support for El Salvador.[footnoteRef:13]13 [13: 13 ibid]

Also, as said by Mike Allison, associate professor in the Political Science

department at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania, is that most people dont

know that the FMLN was supported by the Nicaraguan government, and that

without the help of the Soviet support, Cuba and Nicaragua wouldnt have been able

to fuel the FMLN with new weapons and strategies to fight the El Salvadorian

government, but they did not receive as much help from these governments as did

the El Salvadorian Government received from the US. [footnoteRef:14]14 In his blog, he states that he [14: 14 Allison, Mike. "El Salvador's Brutal Civil War: What We Still Don't Know." - Opinion. N.p., 1 Mar. 2012. Web. 10 Apr. 2014.]

to, does agree with the United States in providing El Salvador with aid because the

FMLN were only growing bigger in numbers, and started to gain support from Costa

Rica and Mexico as well. [footnoteRef:15]15 The FMLN benefited tremendously from the opportunity [15: 15 Allison,Mike.]

to use Managua and Havana (Capital of Nicaragua and Cuba) for meetings of its

General Command. [footnoteRef:16]16 The FMLN was able to move weapons and personnel in and [16: 16 Allison,Mike.]

out of the country undetected via the Gulf of Fonseca and Nicaragua. [footnoteRef:17]17 Their [17: 17 ibid]

soldiers trained and received medical care in both countries and many family

members sought sanctuary abroad for the duration of the conflict to avoid falling

victim to the governments death squads. [footnoteRef:18]18 Allison states that because the FMLN [18: 18 ibid]

were increasing and getting support from several other governments, that the US

had no choice but to give aid to the military of El Salvador to fight off the guerillas. [footnoteRef:19]19 [19: 19 ibid]

Paul P. Cale, currently a senior program manager for SOCOM programs at

Exelis, but in the past was a Director of Special Operations and Faculty Instructor,

United States Army War College at U.S. Army, states, that in order for America to justify

its involvement with the El Salvadorian Army, they had to talk with the American

citizens and state this war will not be another Vietnam.[footnoteRef:20]20 He says that in order for the [20: 20 P. Cale, Paul. "The United States Military Advisory Group In El Salvador." - Opinion. N.p., 1 Apr. 1996. Web. 5 Apr. 2014.]

military aid to happen, the United States needed to teach the El Salvadorian Government

on how to be a professional military that respected human rights. [footnoteRef:21]21 It took several years [21: 21 P.Cale, Paul]

to do, but this had to be done in order to fight back the FMLN. He states that without the

United States teaching the El Salvadorian government on how to fight properly, they

would have never been able to resist the brutal attacks of the FMLN. What Americans

found when they arrived in El Salvador was an army without direction

and with little inclination to deal with the reality of the situation (war).[footnoteRef:22]22 They could be [22: 22 P. Cale, Paul]

characterized as a force of 11,000 without a mission and sought enjoyment by abusing

civilians.[footnoteRef:23]23 [23: 23 ibid]

The American MilGroup was the mechanism that tried to help the Salvadorian

government remold itself in a more positive image. The MilGroup provided three things:

material, training and advice that were necessary for the army to change its mission

focus.[footnoteRef:24]24 Cale is basically stating that the United States Army sent a group of military [24: 24 ibid]

officers and troops to help train the military of El Salvador in order to better itself and be

stable within itself to fight back. So, without the help of the United States in the El

Salvadorian Army, El Salvador would have completely fallen into the hands of

communism and maybe, end up like a second Cuba. Creating a new military would prove to be difficult. The Salvadoran government was on the verge of collapse, in the early 1980s, while the Army was on the verge of being defeated by the FMLN.[footnoteRef:25]25 Without the [25: 25 ibid]

military and economic assistance the FMLN may have taken over the country. The United States tied its military aid and economic assistance directly to the issue of human rights.[footnoteRef:26]26 If President Reagan could not tell the American people that the state of human [26: 26 ibid]

rights was gradually improving in El Salvador, Congress could force the American aid to be halted.[footnoteRef:27]27 Leaders within the MilGroup were able to effect change in the army by [27: 27 ibid]

leveraging the possible cessation of military aid to El Salvador.[footnoteRef:28]28 [28: 28 ibid]

Cale also has a counter-argument for why the United States shouldnt have

intervened. He states that what was happening in El Salvador was none of their

business.[footnoteRef:29]29 He also says that El Salvador would have eventually stop the FMLN from [29: 29 P. Cale, Paul]

taking over, but the result would have been that the civil war would have lasted much

longer, and many, many more lives would have been taken in the process. Also, that it

seemed unlikely since the government was close to crashing.[footnoteRef:30]30 Although this [30: 30 ibid]

was not a smart way to handle it, he states that El Salvadors military was probably

capable of stopping the FMLN but it would be risky in doing so.[footnoteRef:31]31 [31: 31 ibid]

So all in all, most historians and professors and critics agree that the US

intervention in the El Salvadorian government was justified in every single aspect. The

United States gained an ally during the civil war of El Salvador and helped reshape a

collapsing government and Army. The United States also proved the fact that intervening

in El Salvador would not result in another Vietnam. The United States, and the El

Salvadorian military helped stop the spread of communism into the whole of Central

America and basically defeated the idea of communism into the citizens of central

America. Very few to any scholars agreed that it was unjust for the United States to aid

the tiny country of El Salvador and had no real argument on why the US shouldnt have.

Today, the US currently sends about 30-35 million dollars annually to El Salvador

To help them boost their economy and grow in todays global economy. Whether the US

was right or wrong in supplying aid to the government is still being debated today, but

most scholars would agree that it was the right thing to do.

1