El Salvador: From Bloody Civil War to Devastating Criminal Violence During 1979-1992 El Salvador was engaged in a civil war, with the government fighting the rural indigenous citizens. Violence and gang culture were taking over the country and creating a cycle that can’t be easily broken. El Salvador’s citizens were searching for new power, opportunities, and a way out of poverty. El Salvador’s geography left their country and people extremely exposed to invasions. The people had to create a certain image in order to keep their country safe. “To survive, El Salvador had to develop tough-and often violent-stance toward the outside world” (37,38). This situation is one of the many reasons that gang violence is so present in El Salvador. The country is only connected to one ocean (the pacific) and is surrounded by …show more content…
its more overpowering neighbors Guatemala and Honduras. This leaves them in no position to expand their power, ship goods and gain a stronger presence economically and physically. As gang violence increased families, parents, and minors had to flee to the United States for safety. However, El Salvador’s people were greeted with more exposure to violence and with their higher tolerance to it created their stereotype as aggressive violent people. “…grandparents saw me as a burden, and never gave me a penny or, even worse, love. As a result, I left my home and bound for the streets” (55,56). When the parents fled the county to find a better life for their family, the children were left to be raised by the grandparents. The grandparents would often keep any money sent from the parents. The children could never get the support and love they needed, so they would turn to the streets, and friends, and gangs to be their family. “Gangs were the only place they felt safe, the only place they felt that they had a home and someone to call their family”-Maddy. In order for gangs to exist war must exist and as long as there is war in our lives there will be conditions that deprive children and families of a fundamental life style that will be sought by gangs. During the war in El Salvador received one billion dollars of support such as guns, training, and the essentials of war.
The U.S, entered El Salvador and trained young men in combat. They taught them how to win a war. After they left and left the country in chaos and the men with only one skill. How to fight. As Kris said in the discussion “The U.S. is training soldiers and then leaving the country with hundreds of men with only one skill”. The country was left in distraught after the war with families torn apart, and with no paying income for these men anymore they had to find a new way to earn a living. These men turned too gangs, gangs would allow them to use their strengths and earn money in their country. Yet because of El Salvador’s overpowering neighbors drug exports and imports wouldn’t be the more efficient way to make money. So again they moved to the U.S. where they hoped to dominate gangs and drug distributing. The El Salvadorian gangs were greeted by more violence in the U.S. and with a higher tolerance to violence they received their title as aggressive and violent people, when they were only trying to keep their image and defend
themselves. There are many situations that are necessary for war, gangs, and violence. An overpowering government can turn its own country against each other and influential countries, money, and motives. El Salvador is no longer engaged in a civil war but gang violence is still an occurring problem. In order to fix this problem, the country has to heal and trust the government to do its job. The U.S. also have gangs and if countries can’t learn to trust that the government is making the right decision really aren’t moving anywhere, we’re just stuck in a devastating cycle.
Before reading this, I, like I am sure so many others, had no idea of the magnitude of injustices that can occur during these conflicts. Also, this was not very long ago, nor far away, and it speaks volumes of the differences in government ideology and politics. El Salvador is an extreme case of how a government will treat its citizens. Massacre at El Mozote truly was an eye-opener and I doubt I will soon forget it.
When focusing on Nicaragua one will need to pay close attention to the rebel group called the Sandinistas who took over Nicaragua’s previous dictator, Anastasio Somoza in 1979, in which the United States Congress decided it would be best to provide them with aid that lasted till 1981.1 Nicaragua’s geographic location made it a big concern for President Reagan based on his philosophy that surrounded the Reagan Doctrine. At that point, President Reagan ended the aid deal and adamantly advised that support be sent to those who were trying to over throw the new socialized, Sandinista leadership.2 Furthermore, the Nicaraguan’s were dealing with some of the worst warfare ever, by the mass killings that took place, which were at the mercy of death squads.3 This gruesome realization allowed President Reaga...
The Civil War in El Salvador lasted from 1980 to 1992, and the El SAlvadoran government was doing their best to minimize the threat of their opposition. Their main opposition, The Frente Farabundo Marti Para La Liberacion Nacional; otherwise known as the FMLN, was a guerrilla group that was organized to fight the corruption in the country. 175). One of the main goals of the organization was to create a new society that is not degrading its citizens and promotes equality. Throughout El Salvador’s history, one organization to the next would run the country through repressive actions and social injustice. One of the main reasons that the FMLN fought the acting government were due to these social restraints on the lower- class citizens in El Salvador.
America had begun to indulge in the unilateral environment afforded to it during the Cold War. As the Soviet Union began to collapse in the 1980s, the United States was on its way to becoming a solo super power. This acquisition of complete power would inevitably lead the country into new problems, including those foreign and domestic. One of the main issues that came around in the 1980s for the Unites States was the Iran-Contra Affair, which involved the Reagan Administration. With the United States readily inserting influence across the globe, the Iran-Contra Affair proved how foreign intervention can lead to scandal and disgrace in the modern world. Along with detrimental scandals, the Iran-Contra Affair showed how America’s imperialistic behavior in South America was beginning to catch up. In order to remain a dominant influence in South America, the United States had no choice but to topple governments that did not align with American ideology. Using guerillas like the Contras insinuates America’s cornerstone of doing what is necessary in order to satisfy foreign interest.
...t years of the war started after 1980, and ended in 1992 with the Peace Treaty of Chapultepec, Mexico. This treaty did not bring the desired peace and progress to El Salvador. Instead, the fight continued in a way of political opposition without arms. The revolutionary forces became a political party that represents the rights of the workers. The right wing party, which was originally founded by D’aubuisson, stayed in power until the elections of 2009. The popular sectors of El Salvador still face extreme poverty and oppression caused by large companies. The church continues its work with the poor but in a more limited and conservative way. After 30 years of the death of Romero, the Salvadoran Church remembers him as the hero of the oppressed and the voice of the voiceless and cries on the fact that the church was never the same after the death of its major leader.
By the end of the 2000s, while it seemed to many that there was no end in sight to the violence, behind the scenes senior gang leaders in El Salvador admitted to having grown tired of the gang warfare. Many of them, reflecting on the destruction the inter-gang violence had wrought on the communities in which their mothers, wives, children and grandchildren lived, felt compelled to look for a solution.... ... middle of paper ... ... Having grown increasingly frustrated with these rampant displays of impunity by gangs, the Salvadoran public pressured its government to prioritize public security above all else.
To begin understanding the intricate sociopolitical situation faced in Honduras today and causing migration, the rich history of the nation must be understood. Honduras is a country with a
From the time of its colonization at the hands of Spanish Conquistadors in the early 1500’s, Guatemala has suffered under the oppression of dictator after dictator. These dictators, who ruled only with the support of the military and only in their own interests, created a form of serfdom; by 1944, two percent of the people owned 70 percent of the usable land.
April 9, 1948, was a tragic day in Colombia’s history. On this day, Jorge Eliécer Gaítán, a candidate for the presidency of Colombia, was assassinated. In the 10 hour period that followed the assassination, angry mobs marched throughout the city of Bogota, looting and burning down over 100 buildings. Before the night would end, nearly 3,000 people would die in the streets. This terrible event in Colombia’s history is today referred to as the Bogotazo. This paper examines some of the underlying reasons contributing to the outbreak of this violence and the events that transpired during the Bogotazo. The paper concludes that the events leading to the violence of the Bogotazo are still present in Colombia today and will hamper its prospects for peace in the future.
War and violence in Central America is a result of governmental injustice due to the United States’ foreign policies. The United States supported El Salvador with weapons and money throughout the civil war. As a result of enforcing these policies, El Salvador’s poverty, population and crime rate increased. The books “.After.” by Carolina Rivera Escamilla and “The Tattooed Soldier” by Hector Tobar give us a glimpse of the issues Central Americans face.
This was the US verse the USSR, with the idea of democracy against communism. Because of the mutual assurance of destruction, there was no direct fighting between Soviet Union and America, but instead other tactics were used to prevent the spreading of communism (The Cold War). In effort to prevent this, America went to extreme measures, becoming secretive in the way in which they handled situations. In the Red Scare, a time in which American’s feared communists in the country, citizens were analyzed to determine if they were spies for Soviet, or against America’s government values. Innocent Americans were accused of these assumptions, sent to jail, shunned from society, creating a large amount of mistrust with the citizens and government. Other events during the Cold War included Coup d’états led by the American government. These consisted of actions intended to change another country’s government, in a forceful way. In 1954, the Guatemalan coup d’état was carried out by the United States CIA to change Guatemala’s government, as they feared they were taking communist actions. This took place during the Guatemalan revolution, where the reforms happening included minimum wage laws, and increase in education funding. This affected the United Fruit Company; an American company ran in Guatemala. The United Fruit Company owned 47% of Guatemalan land, most of which was unused. During the reform, Guatemala’s government redistributed that unused land to citizens, causing America to become upset (1954 Guatemalan Coup D’état). With the minimum wage laws, the UFC would also have to pay their workers more in order to stay, and they were against that. The hope was to end foreign companies leading Guatemala, but because of events around the world, the US took this as a communist threat. America teamed up with dictator Carlos Castillo Armas, to scare Guatemala into thinking he had a huge army of men coming to potentially
El Salvador (The republic of The Savior) is known to be the smallest and most densely populated country in Central America. San Salvador has been announced as the Capital City. It is considered to an important cultural and commercial center for the whole Central America. It borders with Guatemala, Honduras, The Pacific Ocean and the Gulf of Fonseca. It’s the only country in this region not on the Caribbean Sea.
In El Salvador, in the late 1970’s, there was major political unrest. El Salvador had a military government, that oppressed the lower class, and tried to keep them poor. The military controlled everyone and everything in the country, and if someone opposed them, they would torture and murder the offender. The poor were fighting for their rights, but due to the militaries immense power, they labeled the poor as communists, causing others to think the country was in danger of communist influences. This caused a group known as Guerillas to rise up and fight the military. The Vatican appointed Oscar Romero, a bishop in El Salvador, to the position of Archbishop, as they believed his calm nature would prevent him from getting involved in the crisis.
El Salvador is in Central America and borders the Pacific Ocean. It is between Guatemala and Honduras. Its land area is 8,000 square mile, and its water area is 199 square miles. Most of El Salvador’s land is covered in mountains ranges. El Salvador's highest land elevation is a mountain shared with Honduras called Cerro El Pital and is 9,000 feet above sea level. The lowest land elevation in El Salvador is the Pacific Ocean at 0 miles below sea level. El Salvador is divided into three different land regions. The first region is on a hot, narrow, pacific belt. The second region is made up of the central plateau betwee...
The root cause of the conflicts that occurred before, during and after the civil war in El Salvador is the disparity between the rich and the poor. Built upon the backs of the colonial system introduced by the Spaniards during the colonial period, the hacienda system, sustaining unequal distribution of wealth and land, polarized the country. While the Spaniards acquired labor through the economienda system in which the Spanish crown gave a set number of natives to Spanish elites, the elites acquired land through haciendas. Attempting to exploit the production of cash crops and monopolize agriculture, the Spanish elites made haciendas, large landowning estates. (Kraft)