Death squads in El Salvador instance of death squad
Death squads in El Salvador (Spanish: escuadrones de la muerte) were far-right paramilitary groups acting in opposition to Marxist–Leninist guerrilla forces, most notably of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), and their allies among the civilian population before, during, and after the Salvadoran Civil War. The death squads committed the vast majority of the murders and massacres during the civil war from 1979 to 1992 and were heavily aligned with the United States-backed government.History
Pre-civil war
Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, many political groups arose in opposition to the military government of the National Conciliation Party (PCN). The Christian Democratic Party (PDC) was the chief opponent of the PCN, gaining significant influence in the Legislative Assembly. In the 1972 presidential election, PDC candidate José Napoleón Duarte, under the banner of the National Opposing Union (UNO), was declared to have won the election by 6,000 votes by the Central Election Board, but the result was canceled and the Legislative Assembly voted PCN candidate Arturo Armando Molina as president.
Other, less political groups which appeared included the United Front for Revolutionary Action (FUAR), Party of Renovation (PAR), Unitary Syndical Federation of El Salvador (FUSS), and the Christian Federation of Salvadoran Peasants (FECCAS). In order to combat the political and militant opposition to the government, President Julio Adalberto Rivera Carballo established the National Democratic Organization (ORDEN). The organization was headed by General José Alberto Medrano and placed under the administration of the National Security Agency of El Salvador (ANSESAL). ORDEN was a group of several government controlled death squads which were used to arrest and torture political opponents, intimidate voters, rig elections, and kill peasants. ORDEN claimed to have somewhere from 50,000 to 100,000 members at its peak in the late 1960s.During the civil war
During the Salvadoran Civil War, the Revolutionary Government Junta of El Salvador officially dissolved the National Democratic Organization, leaving its paramilitaries to break free and operate independently. The paramilitaries openly targeted members of the FMLN and civilians, notably workers of human rights organizations.Despite officially having no connection to the government, the death squads and paramilitaries were almost always soldiers from the Armed Forces of El Salvador, meaning the death squads were indirectly funded and armed by the United States. Further funding also came from right-wing politicians and businessmen. Several death squads held fascist ideologies.
type of example of manifestation of representation of