Mark Danner's The Massacre At El Mozote

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The massacre at El Mozote was a tragic event that occurred at the beginning of the Salvadoran Civil War and it remains one of the most brutal moments in Latin American history. This essay seeks to explain the incidence of the massacre, the egregious level of violence involved, and the varied interpretations and uses of the story by different parties in its aftermath. By examining the historical contexts in the Modern Latin America (8th edition) textbook, primary accounts from Mark Danner’s The Massacre at El Mozote: A Parable of the Cold War, and the film Innocent Voices, this essay provides a comprehensive understanding of the massacre and its broader implications. The Salvadoran Civil War (1979-1992) was a conflict rooted in deep social, …show more content…

Danner describes the meticulous execution as part of a broader strategy to eliminate any potential support for the FMLN coalition group by instilling fear in the civilian population. Nevertheless, the act of violence highlights the role that U.S. military aid plays in enabling the entire “conduct of relations with” (Danner, 223) the government. The level of violence displayed in the massacre was shocking by the standards of the Salvadoran Civil War. The deliberate targeting of civilians, including children, underscores the brutality of the military’s tactics. This egregious violence can be understood as a form of psychological warfare aimed at breaking the will of the FMLN and their perceived supporters. By making an example of El Mozote, the government sought to deter other villages from aiding the FMLN. The film Innocent Voices, directed by Luis Mandoki, complements the accounts of Danner by providing a visual representation of the violence. The movie focuses on the experiences of civilians, particularly children during the Salvadoran Civil War. The film’s protagonist, Chava, is an 11-year-old boy living in a village similar to El

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