11. Salvadoran Civil War 1979-1992
The Salvadoran Civil War began on October 15, 1979 between the military-led government of El Salvador and a collection of guerilla groups called the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN). Over 12 years of war, extreme violence was committed on both sides. The United Nations has estimated that over 75,000 people were killed most of them civilians, and many more thousands disappeared. Both sides recruited children and trained them as child soldiers, targeted and killed individuals, and used death squads. Over 85% of the carnage came under the instruction of the military-led government, which was supported with military training, troops, and money by the United States government.
El Salvador engaged in a four-day war with Honduras in July 1969. After the war, El Salvador increased its military spending and purchased weapons from Israel, Brazil, West Germany, and the United States. El Salvador had been experiencing massive socioeconomic disparities, but when the 1973 oil crisis struck, food prices increased and agricultural production declined. Inequality and hunger led to anger and civilian unrest. On October 15, 1979, the United States backed a military coup, and later junta, that ousted President General Carlos Humberto Romero. In the aftermath of the coup, thousands of anti-coup protesters were killed by the new El Salvadorian regime.
Government backed forces implemented “widespread torture, mutilation and killings of noncombatant civilians” to defeat insurgency of the numerous guerilla forces, which were severely underfunded. Women and children fled to Honduras, only to be denied entry. As people were caught between the borders, El Salvadorian planes bombed the people caught between borders. In 1991, the United Nations brokered peace that required regulation of the El Salvadorian armed forces and established a civilian police force.