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El Salvador in the 1980s: War by Other Means

Donald R. Hamilton

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UNITED STATES NAVAL WAR COLLEGE

CENTER on IRREGULAR WARFARE andARMED GROUPS

United States Naval War College

Newport, Rhode Island

Draft as of 121916

Donald R. Hamilton

El Salvador in the 1980’s: War by Other Means
El Salvador in the 1980s: War by Other Means

Donald R. Hamilton
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

2

Center on Irregular Warfare & Armed Groups (CIWAG)

US Naval War College, Newport, RI

CIWAG@usnwc.edu

This work is cleared for public release; distribution is unlimited.

This case study is available on CIWAG’s public website located at 

http://www.usnwc.edu/ciwag
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

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Message from the Editors

In 2008, the Naval War College established the Center on Irregular 

Warfare & Armed Groups (CIWAG). CIWAG’s primary mission is 

twofold: first, to bring cutting-edge research on Irregular Warfare into the 

Joint Professional Military Educational (JPME) curricula; and second, to 

bring operators, practitioners, and scholars together to share their 

knowledge and experiences about a vast array of violent and non-violent 

irregular challenges. This case study is part of an ongoing effort at 

CIWAG that includes symposia, lectures by world-renowned academics, 

case studies, research papers, articles, and books.

It is important to note three critical caveats to this case study. First, 

the opinions found in this case study are solely those of the author and do 

not represent the views of the Department of Defense, the Naval War 

College, or CIWAG. Second, while every effort has been made to correct 

any factual errors in this work, the author is ultimately responsible for the 

content of this case study. Third, the study questions presented in all 

CIWAG case studies are written to provoke discussion on a wide variety 

of topics including strategic, operational, and tactical matters as well as 

ethical and moral questions confronted by operators in the battlefield. The 

point is to make these case studies part of an evolving and adaptive 

curriculum that fulfills the needs of students preparing to meet the 

challenges of the post-9/11 world and to show them the dilemmas that real 

people faced in high-pressure situations.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

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Author Biography

Donald R. Hamilton served as counselor for public affairs at the U.S. 

Embassy in El Salvador from May of 1982 through June of 1986—longer 

than any other member of the country team. During a 28-year Foreign 

Service career, Hamilton also served in Tel Aviv, Lima (twice), Caracas, 

the Sinai Field Mission, the Dominican Republic, and Mexico. In 

Washington, he served as director of Latin American affairs, public affairs 

director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, and deputy director 

in the State Department’s Counterterrorism office. After retiring he was 

asked to serve as a senior advisor to the National Commission on 

Terrorism and as a senior counselor at the Coalition Provisional Authority 

in Baghdad. He currently consults at the State Department. 
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

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Table of Contents

Message from the Editors 3

Author Biography 4

I. Introduction 7

II. A Moment in Time 10

III. The Carter Administration 16

IV. The Interregnum 22

V. The Reagan Administration 27

A. Personnel Initiative 28

B. Military and Diplomatic Initiatives 29

C. A Legislative Offensive 34

D. A Public Affairs Offensive 35

VI. Policy to Practice 40

A. The War Powers Act 40

B. “The 55-Man Limit” 43

C. Equipped for Combat? 46

D. “Where Is the Combat Zone?” 48

E. What Are Combat Operations? 52

VII. With Friends Like These 56

A. The Nuns 56

B. The El Mozote Massacre 58

C. The Las Hojas Massacre 59

D. The Sheraton Murders 60

E. The Jesuit Murders 64

VIII. Trust and Learning 71

A. A War in (and Sometimes With) the Media 71

B. Quivering Before the Camera 75

C. Embrace the Hacks 76

D. Shaming the Devil 87
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

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E. Crossing Swords 94

F. Helping Out 95

G. The Guest House 99

H. Graciousness from a Pillar of American Socialism 100

IX. Leverage? What Leverage? 102

X. Final Issues for Discussion 105

Annex A: Suggested Reading 108
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

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I. Introduction

Through the 1980s, the United States involved itself in a civil war1

in the smallest country on the mainland of the Americas. With a 

population roughly the equivalent of the Washington, D.C., metropolitan 

area and no clear geo-strategic benefit, El Salvador became an issue of 

constant concern at the highest levels of the U.S. government. U.S. 

President Ronald Reagan made televised addresses about El Salvador and 

spoke to a joint session of Congress about assistance to the tiny country.

For a few years, only Israel and Egypt received more assistance.

However, even with El Salvador prominent in the top tier of U.S. 

foreign policy concerns, a war going on there, and the United States 

committed to one side, we never had more than about 200 military 

personnel in that country on any given day. While the U.S. could have 

brought overwhelming force to bear, we put few boots on the ground. The 

U.S. military was nonetheless an indispensable element of U.S. policy.

The other part of the story is that the Salvadoran government was 

dependent on the performance of a military that was profoundly flawed—

murderous, corrupt, and attached to its historical impunity.

Although the Salvadoran conflict was a creation of the Cold War, 

it is not a historical oddity. Before and since, the United States has 

committed itself to a flawed ally. From Stalin through Diem and right on 

through to Karzai, our political leadership has repeatedly declared that one 

government or one cause is so important that we must find a way reform 

or tolerate or ignore the flaws of our friends. This is not always a bad thing.

Winston Churchill was known for his staunch anti-Soviet views but 

offered assistance to Stalin’s government when Hitler invaded the Soviet 

Union. Asked about this seeming inconsistency, Churchill is said to have 

 

1 Neither the Government of El Salvador nor the United States referred to the conflict as a 

“civil war.” The Salvadorans did not wish to extend combatant status to the insurgents, 

and the U.S. has never described itself as participating in anyone else’s civil war.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

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responded, “If Hitler invaded hell, I would make at least a favorable 

reference to the devil in the House of Commons.”

Nor was it the first time that the United States, with no apparent 

reason, declared a country or piece of territory of great value to national 

security. Consider Quemoy and Matsu. Given the age of serving military 

personnel, none of you may remember, but some of you may have read 

about it in a Cold War history or a study of the Kennedy-Nixon 

presidential race.

2 When these conflicts are reviewed in subsequent 

decades, they can seem silly and wrong-headed.

But while these incidents unfold, factors invisible in later years 

loom large. Few are possessed of the ability to understand the way the 

world will look in 40 years. Our national leaders are not specially blessed 

with foresight. Indeed, temporary political exigencies can narrow any 

politician’s viewpoint. One example may suffice. Lyndon Johnson 

mastered partisan politics and had a powerful sense of justice on racial 

matters.

3 Additionally, he foresaw terrible problems in Vietnam. But he 

also saw that the Republicans would make problems for him if he pulled 

out.4 We know which fear prevailed.

Please note: The viewpoint throughout this study is largely that of 

the U.S. executive branch.5 The viewpoints, aims, and ambitions of other 

 

2 These tiny islands in the Strait of Taiwan were heavily fortified by the Nationalist 

Chinese government in Taiwan, but were within artillery range of the People’s Republic 

of China. During the 1960 presidential race, Nixon accused Kennedy of being unwilling 

to commit to the use of nuclear weapons if Quemoy and Matsu were invaded by the 

People’s Republic of China.

3 He predicted that the Civil Rights Act of 1964 would drive the South into Republican 

hands.

4 See “Telephone Conversation Between President Johnson and Senator Richard Russell, 

Washington, May 27, 1964, 10:55 p.m.,” U.S., Department of State, Office of the 

Historian, Foreign Relations of the United States 1964-1968, Volume XXVII, Mainland 

Southeast Asia; Regional Affairs, Washington, DC, Document Number 52. 

https://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/vietnam/lbjrr.htm

5 Readers may rest assured the author knows that he hasn’t the moral or intellectual 

authority to speak for America. Even so, he will try to capture the main currents of 

thought at the time. 
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

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branches of government as well as those of other countries and 

organizations are referred to and assumed, but always from the viewpoint 

of the U.S. This is unavoidable, but if properly stated and understood, of 

value. Any use of whatever lessons may be taken from this study will all 

but certainly be undertaken in the same context. 

Discussion Questions

1. Can the U.S. military carry out an extended mission if a vocal 

minority of the American people oppose it, a quieter minority 

supports it, and most Americans are indifferent to or unaware of it?

2. Can our military prevail when its advantages in technology, 

maneuverability, firepower, communications, and mobility are 

irrelevant?

3. What is the role of a warrior who is forbidden to engage in, or even 

go near, combat? 

4. How does “civilian control of the military” play out when the 

civilian controlling the military (the U.S. ambassador) is not in the 

White House, but in the same building?

5. How do you, both as an individual and as part of a military 

organization, work with counterparts who are not just flawed, but 

criminal?

6. How candid can you be, should you be, must you be in 

communicating matters to other agencies, the media, the public, 

that do not reflect public policy expressions from the highest 

levels? What about communicating facts that contradict official 

assertions? How can someone on the ground voice dissent?
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

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II. A Moment in Time

In 1976, Manuel Rodriguez, chief of staff of the Salvadoran Army, 

made a deal to sell $30 million in American-supplied arms and aircraft to 

two individuals he thought were members of the American Mafia. The two 

“buyers” were cops. Rodriguez was convicted and sentenced to five years 

in prison—even though the military high command in El Salvador (with 

the overwhelming approval of the entire officer corps) spent over 

$100,000 on his legal expenses.6

Not long after taking office in January 1977, the Carter 

administration, citing egregious human rights abuses, ended military 

assistance to El Salvador.

Four years later, with Rodriguez out of prison and back in El 

Salvador, the Carter administration resumed military assistance.

What happened?

In spite of El Salvador’s proximity7to the United States, the U.S. 

had never taken much interest in the country. With only one coast, El 

Salvador could not be the site of an interoceanic canal. There was no oil or 

other extractable mineral. No United Fruit8stood astride the economy. The 

coffee industry is globally disbursed and has never been vertically 

integrated, so El Salvador’s largest crop was never owned or dominated by 

foreign companies. Historically, El Salvador was not an outward-looking 

country in any but a commercial sense. Even when Farabundo Martí led 

the Western Hemisphere’s first avowedly communist uprising in 1932,9

the broader world paid scant attention.

 

6

Information about the officer corps’ support of official funds for Rodriguez’s defense 

told to the author by (then) Lt. Col. Carlos Avilés at a social function in 1984.

7 As President Reagan often said, San Salvador (the capital) is closer to Houston than 

Houston is to Washington.

8 See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Fruit_Company.

9 Agustín Farabundo Martí, once an assistant to Nicaragua’s Augusto Cesár Sandino, was 

a founder of the Communist Party of Central America and a leader in the uprising against 

Salvadoran dictator Maxmiliano Hernández Martinez. The uprising was crushed with 
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

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At the beginning of the Carter administration (1977-1981): the 

United States had so little interest in El Salvador that, according to press 

accounts, the Central Intelligence Agency closed its station there and 

consolidated it into a regional one based elsewhere.

The sudden and surprising collapse of the Somoza regime in 

neighboring (but not quite contiguous) Nicaragua changed that. For three 

generations, the Somoza family had run Nicaragua as a dictatorship happy 

to demonstrate its fealty to the United States.

10 Following a brief armed 

rebellion, the Sandinista National Liberation Front overthrew Anastasio 

Somoza Debayle’s regime on July 19, 1979. The “Sandinista” part of the 

name came from Augusto Sandino, who had rebelled against a U.S. 

occupation of Nicaragua in 1927. Although the Carter administration tried 

hard to reach an amicable relationship with the new Sandinista 

government, it was always swimming upstream. The Sandinista anthem 

contained a line about the “Yankee enemies of humanity.”

The Sandinista victory caused many to believe El Salvador would 

soon fall to the existing leftist insurgency—one closely tied to the 

Sandinistas. The abrupt collapse of the Somoza regime surprised left as 

well as right. In mid-1978, many thought the insurgency in El Salvador 

stronger than the Sandinistas. They were almost certainly richer. By 1978, 

the FMLN had accumulated a war chest of some $80 million. That made 

them rich enough to invest $10 million in the Nicaraguan revolution. They 

gave the money to the Sandinistas in Costa Rica—in cash.11

On September 15, 1979, the Carter administration sent Assistant 

Secretary of State Viron P. Vaky to El Salvador to encourage Salvadoran 

 

about 30,000 people slaughtered. Hernandez had Martí shot after a perfunctory hearing. 

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farabundo_Mart%C3%AD.

10 Franklin Roosevelt is supposed to have said of Somoza, “He may be a son-of-a-bitch, 

but he is our son-of-a-bitch.” The story may well be invented. He is supposed to have 

said the same thing of Dominican Republic dictator Rafael Trujillo. True or not, the quote 

endures because it seems to encapsulate U.S. attitudes toward Latin American dictators.

11 James LeMoyne, “The Guerilla Network,” New York Times Magazine, April 6, 1986, 

http://www.nytimes.com/1986/04/06/magazine/the-guerrilla-network.html.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

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President Carlos Humberto Romero to call early elections as a means of 

preempting the insurgents. Romero refused. Everyone might have been 

better off had he followed the path Vaky suggested.

A month later, on October 15, reformist military officers overthrew 

President Romero in a bloodless coup.

12 They set up a military-civilian 

junta, the Revolucionario de Gobierno (Revolutionary Government Junta, 

or JRG). Reformist intentions notwithstanding, the various insurgent 

groups were not mollified and continued their fight. A disparate group of 

landowners, bankers, industrialists, and many military officers in El 

Salvador were furious. They believed the Carter administration, working 

with the JRG, was prepared to do to El Salvador exactly what they had 

done to Somoza’s Nicaragua—abandon it to the communists.

While these events constitute the launching pad for a major 

conflict in El Salvador and all of Central America, it is not possible to 

comprehend U.S. involvement outside the context of world events and U.S. 

politics and U.S. public opinion. Ten years before or after, events in El 

Salvador and Nicaragua would almost certainly have brought a very 

different response from any U.S. administration.

In the United States, the national mood was sour. At one point 

President Jimmy Carter gave what came to be called the “malaise 

speech.”

13 The Boston Globe prepared an editorial about the speech with a 

title along the lines of “Let Us All Pull Together.” Someone at the Globe 

inserted a new headline: “Mush from the Wimp.” A swath of the 

population was delighted with the headline. How did our national mood 

become so sour? Consider the approximately five years that ended the 

1970s:

 

12 Some have wondered if the U.S. engineered the October 1979 coup. In a sense, it did 

not matter if the U.S. reached out to the golpistas (Spanish for “coup makers”). The fact 

of the Vaky visit and knowledge of his message would have been understood as a 

message: “The U.S. is through with Romero and with 50 years of military presidents.” 

13 He never used the word “malaise.”
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

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 President Richard M. Nixon had resigned when it became clear 

that he would be convicted of “high crimes and misdemeanors” if 

he tried to remain in office.

 We left Vietnam in defeat, panic, and disorder. When our 

ambassador helicoptered off the U.S. embassy roof with our flag 

under his arm, he left behind untold thousands of Vietnamese who 

had trusted us. A few lucky Vietnamese loaded their helicopters 

with their families and flew offshore to U.S. carriers. The carriers 

had no place to put the helicopters, so carrier crews pushed the 

helicopters into the sea. It made for gripping television. Others 

crowded on to boats and barges and hoped for refuge.

 Oil shocks in 1972 and again in 1979 had run energy prices 

through the roof. Lining up for gasoline shocked Americans. As an 

energy-saving measure, the lights on the Capitol Dome and 

Washington Monument were turned off late at night.

 Following peaceful negotiations, the United States negotiated and 

signed a treaty that would eventually turn “our canal” over to 

Panama.

 Iran’s Ayatollah Khomeini, who described the United States as the 

“Great Satan,” led mobs that toppled our friend, the Shah. “Student”

supporters overran the U.S. embassy in Teheran and held our 

diplomats hostage.

14

 Just 17 days after our embassy in Teheran was seized, a mob in 

Islamabad burned our embassy there to the ground and killed a 

Marine Security Guard and an Army warrant officer.

15

 

14 In 1980, a bollixed military rescue ended in blood and flames in the desert. Secretary of 

State Cyrus Vance resigned in protest at President Carter’s decision to launch the rescue. 

Vance stayed in office to avoid hinting that something was afoot, but he was careful to 

make it clear at the time that he would leave regardless of the outcome. His view, roughly 

stated, was that this was such a bad idea that it did not matter if it succeeded.

15 The proximate cause of the rioting (to which the Pakistani authorities seemed to be 

deliberately slow to respond) was the violent occupation of the Great Mosque in Mecca. 
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

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 Anti-government forces kidnapped the U.S. ambassador in Kabul,

Adolf “Spike” Dubs. At the direction of Soviet advisers and over 

U.S. objections, the Afghan government launched an assault that 

killed Ambassador Dubs.

 The Soviets launched a full-scale invasion and occupation of 

Afghanistan.

 In Nicaragua, the Sandinistas threw out the thuggish but pro-U.S. 

Somoza family. The Sandinistas were cozy with Havana.

 The prime rate was about 15%; the “misery index” (unemployment 

rate plus inflation rate) was over 20%.

The United States had emerged from World War II as the richest, 

most powerful, and most respected nation in history. How had we come to 

this in one lifetime?

It is commonplace to attribute President Carter’s 1980 electoral 

loss to the Iran hostage crisis. But the broader sense that many things had 

gone terribly wrong came well before and then ran parallel to the hostage 

crisis. The Carter administration had always faced an uphill battle. By the 

1970s, the states west of the Mississippi were enough by themselves to 

win in the Electoral College. In 1976, Gerald Ford carried every state west 

of the Mississippi except Texas and California.

In light of national and international events, there was no reason to 

assume any state that went for Ford would vote for Carter. Nor did anyone 

believe Carter could keep Texas and California out of the hands of Ronald 

Reagan.

Running on a time-for-a-change platform, Ronald Reagan’s 

overwhelming victory gave him a mandate for a frankly assertive foreign 

policy, a policy that turned out to be not so much aggressive as defiant.

 

The rumor sweeping through Pakistan was that the occupation was the work of the 

Israelis. Ironically, the Muslim extremists who took over the mosque evolved into al 

Qaida. 
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

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Central America was close to home and there was little doubt of

communist involvement. The prospect of something like another Cuba 

close to our borders was a logical place to show this defiance.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

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III. The Carter Administration

Before the 1979 coup, the Carter administration had cut off all 

military assistance to El Salvador16 because of human rights abuses. But 

with the coming of land reform17 in March of 1980 and the advent of a 

second, completely civilian, junta,18 the U.S. began a $6 million program 

of military assistance. 

As these events occurred, Salvador exploded into civil war. The 

insurgency never stopped and its support from Cuba, overwhelmingly 

moving through Nicaragua after mid-1979, continued. Many of those 

whose land had been confiscated for agrarian reform (commonly called los

afectados—the “affected ones”) became death squad supporters. Some 

gave only emotional support, sympathy, or tolerance; other afectados gave 

direction, money, and political and public relations support. The rightwing opponents of the junta coalesced around Roberto D’Aubuisson, a 

former major in the Salvadoran Armed Forces. Short and slender, 

D’Aubuisson nevertheless brought a vibrant (and violent) speaking style 

and considerable charisma to the conservative cause.

As the guerrillas pursued more-or-less common urban guerrilla 

tactics such as kidnappings for ransom, robberies, Molotov cocktail 

attacks, and selective assassinations, the right responded with death 

squads.

19

 

16 As well as Guatemala and Argentina.

17 Designed in great part with assistance from the U.S. Agency for International 

Development and the AFL-CIO’s Latin American arm, the American Institute of Free 

Labor Development (AIFLD).

18 The first mixed civilian and military junta collapsed with the resignation of all its 

civilian members. All civilian cabinet members also resigned.

19 “Death squad” is an elusive term, but usually refers to police or soldiers committing 

murders while operating with no lawful authority or acknowledged chain of command. In 

El Salvador, most death squads consisted of soldiers or police operating under the 

instructions of their officers. The officers may or may not have received instructions from 

their legitimate chain of command. Selected officers may have been responding to 
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

17

This put the Carter administration in a bad place.

After having attempted to move Somoza out using “interference 

without intervention,”

20 the administration tried to propitiate the 

Sandinistas. They gave an immediate $15 million grant for reconstruction 

and pushed another $75 million through Congress. In September 1979, the 

president invited the nine-member Sandinista directorate to the White 

House. This pattern of embracing almost any group that replaces a tyranny 

is a recurrent theme for the U.S. Iraq, Egypt, and Libya come immediately 

to mind. Fear of doing this again is a major factor in our delicacy in the 

continuing21 Syrian civil war.

Through 1979 and into 1980, relations with the Sandinistas 

deteriorated. In El Salvador, chaos and bloodshed accelerated.

The Salvadoran Catholic Church became prominent in the war and 

remained so throughout. In February 1980, Salvadoran Archbishop Óscar 

Romero wrote to President Carter and asked that the president not increase 

military aid to the Salvadoran junta. Romero said such aid would 

“undoubtedly sharpen the injustice and the political repression inflicted on 

the organized people, whose struggle has often been for their most basic 

human rights.”

On March 23, 1980, the Archbishop’s sermon included a call to 

Salvadoran soldiers:

I want to make a special appeal to soldiers, National Guardsmen, 

and policemen: each of you is one of us. The peasants you kill are 

your own brothers and sisters. When you hear a man telling you 

to kill, remember God’s words, “thou shalt not kill.” No soldier is 

obliged to obey a law contrary to the law of God. In the name of 

 

instructions from former military personnel or wealthy patrons from as far away as 

Miami.

20 That is the description applied by Mauricio Solaún, President Carter’s final ambassador 

to Nicaragua, in a conversation with the author in San Salvador in 1986.

21 As of spring 2014.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

18

God, in the name of our tormented people, I beseech you, I 

implore you; in the name of God I command you to stop the 

repression.22

Archbishop Romero was assassinated the next day while saying 

mass in a hospital chapel, slain by a single rifle shot. D’Aubuisson was 

immediately and widely considered to be responsible for his murder.

23 The 

Archbishop’s funeral drew a huge crowd, but it was broken up when 

government forces fired automatic weapons into the mourners.24 Video of 

the panicked crowd made an important impression in the U.S.

By May 1980, the disparate bands of armed groups confronting the 

Salvadoran government came together after Fidel Castro brought them to 

Havana and insisted they unite. They became the Unified Revolutionary 

Directorate, but the only thing that really mattered was their military 

organization, Frente Farabundo Martí de Liberación Nacional (Farabundo 

Marti National Liberation Front): invariably shortened in English and 

Spanish to FMLN.

That same month D’Aubuisson was arrested and momentarily 

jailed in San Salvador. Perhaps to 300 demonstrators blaming the U.S. for 

the arrest blockaded the residence of U.S. Ambassador Robert White.

They shouted slogans and waved placards such as “Down with Human 

Rights!” “Long Live Reagan!” “Carter is a Commie!” and “White is Red!”

Eventually, the embassy’s Marine Security Guards dispersed the 

 

22 Romero, Archbishop Oscar, “The Last Sermon,” 

http://www.haverford.edu/relg/faculty/amcguire/romero.html

23 The UN Truth Commission for El Salvador later substantiated this, finding that “Major 

Roberto D’Aubuisson gave the order to assassinate the Archbishop.” See “D. Death 

Squad Assassinations,” Report of the UN Truth Commission on El Salvador, English p. 

127, March 15, 1993, http://www.derechos.org/nizkor/salvador/informes/truth.html

24 The Salvadoran Armed Forces said the armed left killed the demonstrators/mourners. 

The consensus among responsible analysts is that the FMLN set off some leaflet bombs 

or other demonstration explosions. After the explosions, the government forces opened 

fire.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

19

demonstrators with tear gas grenades so the ambassador could go to the 

embassy. Death squad killings continued to grow before reaching a 

monthly toll of 750 in October 1980.25

Rightist opposition to the (second) junta and U.S. involvement was 

strong and growing stronger throughout this period. The leftist opposition 

also opposed the junta and U.S. involvement. The U.S. Embassy in San 

Salvador was machine-gunned, rocketed, or otherwise attacked about 20 

times in 1980. Only one of the attacks on the embassy had the potential for 

major casualties: One afternoon, an RPG came through the window next 

to the ambassador’s office. Although one must suppose the ambassador 

was the intended target (he was not in the embassy): the rocket actually 

penetrated the ambassador’s conference room where the country team met 

several times weekly. The ambassador’s conference room was moved to 

the basement, but his office stayed on the third floor. None of the attackers 

was definitively identified individually or by organization.

These attacks on the embassy and the picketing at the 

ambassador’s residence are noteworthy only for their frequency and

presumed rightist origin. Throughout the Cold War and especially after the 

U.S. entered Vietnam in force, U.S. embassies were common targets for 

demonstrations, vandalism, and occasional violent attacks. While 

American diplomats, especially ambassadors, were and are frequent 

targets of terrorists, massive violence intended to kill large numbers of 

people at American embassies really did not start until the bombing of the 

U.S. Embassy in Beirut in 1983.

26

 

25 The count of death squad victims was neither accurate nor official. The U.S. embassy’s 

human rights office attempted to compile numbers based on press reports but freely 

acknowledged the defects of its own system. Most of the “death squad victims” were 

merely described as having been “found dead.” The embassy noted that the method all 

but certainly undercounted deaths in rural areas and also recorded deaths from ordinary 

criminality as “death squad killings.”

26 “Terrorism” has defied definition in international forums. One of the few and one of 

the first agreed-upon was that attacks on embassy personnel are terrorism because they 

are “internationally protected persons.” While the United Nations has never achieved a 
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

20

In this context, neither the American people nor their government 

became alarmed about the attacks on the embassy. The State Department 

sent dependents home and made San Salvador an unaccompanied tour for 

personnel of all agencies. Diplomatic Security changed the iron-barred 

fence to a concrete wall and placed sandbags and armor plates around and 

partially covering the windows. Diplomatic Security also instituted 

aggressive, roving armed patrols around the embassy. Anyone 

photographing the embassy or loitering was braced and asked to identify 

himself. Journalists with ID were permitted to photograph, but were asked 

to call ahead in the future.

Examining the options:

 Did the Carter administration handle the deteriorating security 

situation properly?

 What were other options were available?

 Why not just walk away? Some countries, including the Israelis 

and the Japanese, closed their embassies, wished the Salvadoran

government well, and went home.

 Alternately, instead of adding a small number of Marine Security 

Guards, why not bring in several dozen to show resolve?

 

broad definition of terrorism, UN diplomats quickly reached agreement that attacks on 

diplomats were forbidden “under all circumstances.” Terrorism itself has changed 

dramatically since the end of the Cold War. The State Department’s annual publication 

“Patterns of Global Terrorism” (now called “Country Reports on Terrorism”) always 

showed that the greatest number of terrorist attacks on U.S. interests took place in Latin 

America—but these attacks seldom caused casualties. Indeed, until the 1990s, most 

terrorist incidents were property crimes such as small bombs placed outside empty 

buildings. Most of the time, the purpose was to attract attention, to create “propaganda by 

the deed.” At the end of the 1990s, the number of terrorist attacks was down dramatically 

but the death count was going up. With the rise of mass-casualty terrorism and 

devastating attacks on the U.S. embassies in Dar-es-Salaam and Nairobi and on the UN 

compound in Iraq, petty attacks and vandalism against embassies seems to have 

diminished.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

21

 What should the U.S. do today when an administration sends an 

embassy to a very dangerous place with no U.S. combat forces in 

country?

27

 

27 It happens more often than you think. Since 1945, more American ambassadors than 

American generals have been killed by hostile action.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

22

IV. The Interregnum

No one familiar with El Salvador was surprised that Salvadoran 

conservatives preferred Ronald Reagan in the 1980 U.S. elections.

Virtually all well-to-do Salvadorans believed that the troubles afflicting 

their country should be charged to Jimmy Carter’s account. Even so, 

American diplomats who had been abroad during many U.S. elections did 

not expect the extensive celebratory gunfire in San Salvador’s better 

neighborhoods when it became clear that Reagan had won.

That gunfire signaled a changed dynamic in El Salvador. Those 

actively opposing the rebels had feared the Carter administration would 

leave them to the mercy of the communists. Now they were confident that 

a Reagan administration would set aside the Carter human rights policy, 

which they believed prevented progress against the communists. Reagan, 

they said and believed, would get down to the serious business of stopping 

communist aggression. Left and right in El Salvador shared one belief: A 

Reagan administration would stand against the rebels—no matter what.

Death squad killings dropped quickly and never returned to the 

October 1980 level. But if the number of systematic murders fell, the 

victims’ profile soared. Between the election and the inauguration of 

Ronald Reagan, the following events occurred:

 As soon as it became clear that Reagan would win, Americans 

claiming to have influence with the new administration began 

visiting El Salvador. They met with prominent members of the 

business community, right-wing politicians, and others unknown.

These self-proclaimed envoys of the incoming administration 

promised big changes in U.S. policy, including a house cleaning at 

the Department of State and the immediate departure of 

Ambassador White. People serving at the embassy at the time do 

not recall any of these individuals securing positions in the Reagan 

administration, but some already were or became staffers on 
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

23

Capitol Hill. Several people assigned to the embassy at the time 

told the author that the visitors’ Salvadoran contacts came to 

believe that the Reagan administration would be uninterested in 

human rights and that the administration would not be curious 

about how the left was to be defeated.

 On November 28, “heavily armed men dressed in civilian 

clothes”

28 kidnapped six leaders of the Democratic Revolutionary 

Front (generally known by its Spanish initials FDR) from a 

meeting in San Salvador. The FDR was an organization of 

socialists who believed in democracy and had not taken up arms.

They were tortured and murdered the same day, and their bodies 

were dumped in the streets of the capital.

 On December 2, two American nuns who were resident in El 

Salvador but visiting Managua returned to attend a memorial 

service for the FDR leaders. Another American nun and a female 

American lay worker went to the airport to pick them up. Shortly 

after they left the airport, all four were intercepted by a group of 

Salvadoran National Guardsmen. The Guardsmen murdered them 

all and burned their van. The Guardsmen probably raped them as 

well, but the forensic tests necessary to prove this were never run.

 On December 28, American freelance journalist John J. Sullivan 

arrived in El Salvador and checked into the Sheraton Hotel. About 

two hours later, he went out for a walk and disappeared. Foul play 

was assumed from the start, but his body was not discovered for 

some 18 months. The New York-based Committee to Protect 

Journalists later received highly credible and specific information 

that the Treasury Police had picked Sullivan up off the street, 

tortured, and murdered him. They chopped off his hands and put a 

 

28 The phrase “heavily armed men dressed in civilian clothes” was a euphemism that 

Salvadoran newspapers and radio used at the time. It really meant “military personnel not 

in uniform.”
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

24

grenade in his mouth to make identification difficult. It seems the 

Treasury Police had mistaken Sullivan for a rebel collaborator to 

whom he bore a slight resemblance.

29

 On January 3, 1981, two Salvadoran National Guardsmen, 

operating on orders and under threat, murdered Michael Hammer 

and Mark Pearlman, two Americans working for the American 

Institute of Free Labor Development. They also murdered Rodolfo 

Viera, the head of the Salvadoran Agrarian Reform Institute. The 

victims were just finishing dinner in the Sheraton Hotel when the 

Guardsmen opened fire with Ingram machine pistols. The 

commanders of the Guardsmen and prominent civilian friends of 

the officers were present at the hotel at the time.

30

 On January 5, a respected Salvadoran lawyer, well and favorably 

known to the U.S. Embassy, told Chargé d’ Affaires, a.i.31 Mark 

Dion that a gang of six Salvadorans living in Miami were behind 

most death squad activity. As Dion reported in a NODIS cable,

32

these six men had bribed military and government officials in El 

 

29 This author worked closely with the Committee to Protect’s executive director Anne 

Nelson when she came to San Salvador in an effort to meet the unnamed author of the 

letter containing this information. Ms. Nelson and I both thought the letter was authentic, 

or was at least written by someone who had access to accurate information. The letter 

described Sullivan very well and stated the approximate amount of money he was 

carrying, as well as the brand of his camera. I worked with Nelson and the Embassy 

Regional Security Office to set up a meeting with the letter writer at a location that could 

be watched and where an armed response would be possible were she to be threatened. 

No one showed up for the meeting, and I am not aware that the author was ever identified. 

In the letter, he said he was a corporal in the Treasury Police. 

30 This event is discussed in detail below.

31 “Chargé d’Affaires, a.i.” translates from the French as “In charge of business in the 

interim.” The embassy has only two positions with duties related to all activities of all 

agencies, the ambassador and his number two, the deputy chief of mission (DCM). When 

the ambassador is out of the country for any reason, the DCM automatically becomes 

Chargé.

32 NODIS is an exceptionally narrow diplomatic channel. The cable is dated 1981 San 

Salvador 0096, 6 January 1981; declassified and released, July 12, 2006.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

25

Salvador. Their aim was to “destabilize the country and overthrow 

the junta, and using their tactics, bombing factories and offices, 

kidnaping businessmen ... The object is to terrorize those who are 

still working for a moderate outcome ... and impose a rightist 

dictatorship.” According to Dion’s report, the grand plan was to 

wreck the economy and bring to power a “good military officer 

who will carry out a total cleansing, killing three or four or five 

hundred thousand people, whatever it takes to get rid of all the 

communists and their allies.” Then the country could be 

reconstructed on a new foundation with property rights secured 

forever. Dion closed his cable with a plea for Washington to do 

something about the fact that all this was taking place “in a major 

American city.” Dion’s cable had no discernable effect. Most of 

the individuals named continued to live in Miami.

 On January 10, 1981, the FMLN announced its “final offensive.”

Their aim most likely was to establish operational control over the 

Department of Morazán in the far northeast of the country. The 

FMLN believed they would spark a widespread uprising and, by 

declaring the northeast a “liberated zone,” secure international 

recognition. The mass uprising did not materialize and the final 

offensive fizzled.

 As incontrovertible evidence came in that Nicaragua was 

supporting the FMLN with arms, and with only days remaining in 

office, the Carter administration found itself astride a dilemma:

 On the one hand, they faced a Salvadoran government whose 

forces were involved in wholesale and egregious human rights 

abuses; these forces had murdered American citizens and were 

barely pretending to carry out investigations of the murders.

 On the other, it was no longer possible to believe this was a purely 

internal Salvadoran issue. Arms smuggled from Nicaragua into El 

Salvador were fueling the “final offensive.”
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

26

Figuratively on his way out the door, President Carter signed the 

finding that again permitted military assistance to El Salvador.

It was Reagan’s problem now.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

27

V. The Reagan Administration

Just as Ronald Reagan took the oath of office, the hostages from 

the U.S. embassy in Tehran left Iranian airspace. Although it was the 

Iranians who had timed this to inflict maximum humiliation on President 

Carter, it almost seemed that the sunny, optimistic President Reagan had 

made it happen.

The embrace of El Salvador’s junta was not an inescapable priority 

for Congress or the public. The Reagan administration chose to make it so. 

Yes, El Salvador was nearby, but the purely military case was hard to 

make. The administration effectively made El Salvador the global symbol 

of America leading the West, stopping or even rolling back communist 

totalitarians.

Since the Iron Curtain descended, the right-most elements of the 

Republican Party had denounced the actions of presidents Franklin 

Roosevelt and Harry Truman and their administrations as sell-outs to the 

Soviet Union and communism. To many, the subsequent gains of the 

communists in China, Cuba, and most recently Vietnam showed 

communism advancing inexorably. They saw an obvious line from Yalta 

to San Salvador.

The foreign policy team, headed by National Security Advisor 

Richard V. Allen, considered Carter’s foreign policy a failure on its face 

and intended to change things quickly. Secretary of State Al Haig spoke of 

“drawing a line in the sand” and “going to the source” (i.e., Cuba).

33

The overall view of the Reagan administration can be gleaned by

the following excerpts from talking points sent by National Security 

Council staffers Alfonso Sapia-Bosch and Oliver North to National 

 

33 Haig frequently used this term. The meaning was the Cuba was the source of 

revolutionary activity in Latin America. See “Why U.S. Has Cuba Jitters,” Christian 

Science Monitor, Nov. 18, 1981, 

http://www.csmonitor.com/1981/1118/111835.html/%28page%29/2.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

28

Security Advisor William P. Clark on April 13, 1983.

34 The points were 

intended for Clark to use in his effort to persuade U.S. Representative 

Edward P. Boland (D-MA) to revise pending legislation so as to permit 

funding for the Nicaraguan contras:

We have not added to instability in the region. The Nicaraguans 

began their activities shortly after assuming power in July 1979.

Had the U.S. not become involved, we would have already lost El 

Salvador; Honduras would be on the way; and Guatemala would 

be next. ...

If we withdraw our support from the Contras now, we stand to 

destroy the credibility we have been rebuilding since Vietnam.

Not only will we be accused of standing in the way of freedom, 

liberty, and democracy, but the Soviets and the Cubans will have 

new opportunities to step up their involvement in the area. This 

fact will not be missed on [sic] those in the Mideast and NATO, 

who are watching this situation closely as a measure of U.S. 

resolve and commitment.

A. Personnel Initiative 

The first order of business was to get Carter administration 

holdovers out of the way. Ambassador to El Salvador Robert White was 

removed almost immediately. All the Latin America staffers on the 

National Security Council were removed, and no Foreign Service officers 

were named to replace them.35 Several officers in the Office of Central 

American Affairs at the State Department were reassigned. The new Latin 

America team was headed by Assistant Secretary of State for 

Interamerican Affairs Thomas O. Enders, a career officer who had never 

 

34 Declassified July 25, 2013.

35 Many in the Reagan administration, especially on the National Security Council staff, 

considered Foreign Service officers to be unreliable liberals until proven otherwise.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

29

served in Latin America and spoke no Spanish. State’s new director of 

Central American Affairs, L. Craig Johnstone, was new to the region, 

having previously served in Laos, Vietnam, and Cambodia.

Within days of White’s removal, the administration dispatched 

Fredric L. Chapin (who had been on detail to the Department of Defense) 

as Chargé d’Affaires in El Salvador.36 Two weeks later, they nominated 

Senior Foreign Service Officer Deane R. Hinton, who had served on the 

National Security Council staff during the Nixon administration and who 

had previously served as ambassador to Zaire and as assistant secretary of 

state for economic and business affairs.

B. Military and Diplomatic Initiatives

Military teams were dispatched to El Salvador almost immediately.

Their purpose was to determine the scope and priority for assistance. The 

Reagan administration understood that military assistance was an urgent 

necessity; but also knew full well that military assistance alone would be 

insufficient. 

On February 17, 1981, four weeks to the day after the 

administration took office, Secretary of State Alexander Haig briefed the 

ambassadors of the NATO countries plus Australia, New Zealand, Japan,

and Spain.

Following are some excerpts from that briefing:

37

A well-orchestrated international Communist campaign 

designed to transform the Salvadoran crisis from the internal 

conflict to an increasingly internationalized confrontation is under 

 

36 This was understood to be temporary. White had been relieved and a new ambassador 

would have to gain Senate concurrence. A Chargé does not require Senate approval.

37 The following material appeared in the New York Times on 21 January 1981. The fact 

that the extended excerpts are verbatim and include off-the-record material indicates that 

this was almost certainly an “authorized leak.”
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

30

way. With Cuban coordination, the Soviet bloc, Vietnam, Ethiopia,

and radical Arabs are furnishing at least several hundred tons of 

military equipment to the Salvadoran leftist insurgents. Most of 

this equipment, not all but most, has entered via Nicaragua, and 

this morning we will be briefing you in some detail on the 

intelligence we have gathered and which we consider irrefutable. 

I want to emphasize that the Government in El Salvador is 

a coalition, headed by a true Christian Democrat, Napoleon Duarte. 

It includes moderate military and independent civilians. 

I also want to emphasize and know you are aware that El

Salvador and its Government have been plagued by dissension. 

Nevertheless, despite terrorist attacks from both left and right, it 

has proceeded with a reform program and does offer some hope for 

the future. ...

The extreme left has thus far failed to topple the existing 

Government in El Salvador. The revolutionaries' recent large 

military operation has failed. We have also seen the dwindling 

support in the popular sector for the revolutionaries. The left is 

increasingly under Marxist domination and Cuban influence, and it 

has clearly opted for a military solution. The Communist nations 

intervened in 1980 to provide the insurgents with large amounts of 

military supplies, and we have evidence outlining this in detail, 

which we will give you this morning. 

During the first weeks of this administration we have taken 

a number of steps to deal with this situation. After, and only after, 

the external intervention, we furnished the Salvadoran Government 

the additional military assistance it urgently needs to meet the 

threat of the Cuban-supported guerrillas. There were no lethal 

military supplies before that—none—until large-scale military 

attacks had been executed. We are also continuing to disburse the 

$63 million in fiscal year 1981 economic aid which was already 

programmed for El Salvador, and we are now conducting an 

extensive interagency study to determine what additional support 
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

31

may be necessary in the near future. We will be consulting further 

with you from time to time on this. We believe additional help is 

needed. ...

The Communist countries are orchestrating an intensive 

international disinformation campaign to cover their intervention 

while discrediting the Salvadoran Government and American 

support for that Government. 

As most of you know, we are sending representatives to 

Europe and Latin America to present the evidence of a Communist 

involvement and to seek support and understanding for our actions. 

Over the next few weeks I will be meeting with key foreign 

leaders, as they visit Washington, to discuss the issue in greater 

detail. 

Our most urgent objective is to stop the large flow of arms 

through Nicaragua into El Salvador. We consider what is 

happening is part of the global Communist campaign coordinated 

by Havana and Moscow to support the Marxist guerrillas in El 

Salvador. 

The policy implications are already clear: First, the U.S.G. 

[United States Government] supports and will continue to support 

the present Government in El Salvador. We intend to work with 

that Government with the objective of achieving social justice and 

stability in that strife-torn country. 

Second, the U.S.G. is convinced that neither stability nor 

social justice in El Salvador is possible as long as Communist 

subversion continues. 

Third, we will not remain passive in the face of this 

Communist challenge, a systematic, well-financed, sophisticated 

effort to impose a Communist regime in Central America. 

This effort involves close coordination by Moscow, 

satellite capitals and Havana, with the cooperation of Hanoi and 

Managua. It is a repetition of the pattern we have already seen in 
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

32

Angola and Ethiopia, and, I may add, elsewhere. It is a threat, in 

our view, not just to the United States but to the West at large. 

We have not yet decided on the precise steps we will take 

to deal with the situation; we will, however, in some way have to 

deal with the immediate source of the problem—and that is Cuba. 

Off the record, I wish to assure you we do not intend to 

have another Vietnam and engage ourselves in another bloody 

conflict where the source rests outside the target area. 

We believe in all sincerity we have no alternative but to act 

to prevent forces hostile to the U.S. and the West from 

overthrowing a government on our doorstep, particularly when that 

government offers the best hope of progress toward moderate 

democracy. 

Q. Will a copy of this briefing be made available to us? 

A. Not at the moment. We are in a consulting phase with many of 

your governments and the bipartisan leadership in Congress. We 

are faced with a four-legged stool: 

One leg is what we should do in manifesting support of and 

encouraging reform in El Salvador. 

The second leg is the problem of Nicaragua and the urgent 

need to put an end to the illicit arms traffic to El Salvador from 

Nicaragua—a country which has received millions of dollars in 

U.S. economic support. 

The third leg I would call the external disinformation 

campaign designed to paint the revolutionary effort as distinctively 

apart from outside interventionist activity. 

The fourth leg is the problem of Cuba. We do not anticipate 

dealing with that situation in the historic sense of what we did in 

Vietnam. We are studying a number of alternatives. I have nothing 

further to add on this except to assure you that we see happening 

here in El Salvador what happened in Africa and Southwest Asia—
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

33

and that is dangerous not only for the U.S. but for all nations that 

share our values. 

Obviously the purpose of this briefing is to share with you 

the facts we have uncovered. As you know, it has been my strong 

belief that we cannot hope to consult and coordinate unless we 

have the same basis of facts. Thus I hope that your governments 

would consider these facts and that they would not do anything 

against what the U.S. is trying to do until they had looked at this 

information. 

Q. You said that you would not repeat Vietnam, that you would get 

at the source of the problem. Could you elaborate? 

A. Only to emphasize that we are studying various sources of 

information. I would not want your reporting to show our position 

as overly dramatic. 

Q. Has Moscow been apprised of your concern? 

A. I think you know there have been exchanges. Yes, there have 

been a number of exchanges with Ambassador Dobrynin. There 

has also been—I say it because it has been in the press—with 

Gromyko. There is a growing concern over Soviet risk-taking. 

There is concern over the situation in Poland.

38

Q. You did not mention the adjacent countries. 

A. We have, for example, conveyed to the Government of Panama 

the information conveyed in this briefing, but without the same 

degree of specificity. I know that these governments are aware of 

our increasing concern about intervention—above all, Cuban. 

Q. Is there a time deadline? 

A. No, and I think it most appropriate that there not be. I think you 

are aware of the provision of the U.S. law, which is relevant to the 

case of Nicaragua, that countries that engage in external 

 

38 At the time Haig was speaking, the Solidarity movement was beginning to make a 

serious, concerted challenge to communist rule. –D.H.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

34

intervention must lose U.S. economic assistance and even must 

pay back what has been already provided. We have brought this to 

the attention of the Nicaraguans and given them time to consider. 

They have assured us they would stop infiltration, but given past 

history we are skeptical. 

Q. What is the balance between the guerrillas and the 

Government? 

A. The guerrillas have not achieved public support. There is a hard 

core of 4,000, about a quarter of the strength of Salvador's security 

force. The effort to overthrow the regime in January was a failure. 

Now the guerrillas are in nodes of resistance around the 

country, including in selective assassination of Government 

officials. The situation is under reasonable control, but there is 

always the possibility of further external intervention along the 

lines of what happened in Ethiopia.

39 And there is also the 

possibility of Nicaraguan intervention.

C. A Legislative Offensive

Congressional support was essential for the most basic of all 

reasons. For the executive branch to work on any problem requires that 

any administration have two things that only Congress can provide. The 

first is authorization to conduct an activity. Authorizations are generally 

broad, but every activity must be authorized and the authorizing 

committee(s) can shut down almost any program. The key authorizing 

committees for El Salvador were the same as for most international 

activities: foreign affairs/foreign relations, armed services, and 

intelligence.

The second, and perhaps even more important, is an appropriation.

The appropriations committees dole out money to the various departments 

 

39 In 1977, Cuba, with Soviet backing, put thousands of Cuban troops in Ethiopia. – D.H.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

35

of government. They can use their constitutional power40 to control federal 

policies and practices in as much detail as they wish. For example, they 

could say something like “no funds made available under this 

appropriation shall be used to arm, equip, train, or otherwise assist the 

police or armed forces of El Salvador.”

D. A Public Affairs Offensive 

Understandably, many Reagan administration officials were in the 

news. They blanketed the (then) three major networks and CNN. Secretary 

of State Haig was the most prominent, but none left anyone doubting that 

El Salvador was the administration’s number-one foreign policy priority.

While the Reagan administration moved quickly on the diplomatic, 

military (assistance): and political/congressional fronts, the 

political/congressional piece could not be sustained without the support of 

the American people.

41 Here, the left was way out front. Salvadoran Farid 

Handal founded the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El 

Salvador, better known as CISPES,42 while he was touring the U.S. to 

drum up opposition to Carter administration support for the junta. Farid 

Handal is the brother of Schafik Handal. Schafik was the head of the 

Communist Party of El Salvador and led it into armed opposition and 

participation in the Unified Revolutionary Directorate, which under 

Castro’s tutelage became the FMLN.

 

40 (art. I. § 9) says: “No money shall be drawn from the treasury, but in consequence of 

appropriations made by law.”

41 This is more than junior-high civics. If the American people will not support, or at least 

acquiesce to, a program, it will lose funding. 

42 It is hard to document Farid Handal as the founder, but there is no doubt that Handal 

was in the U.S. at the time CISPES was founded.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

36

Fueled by outrages such as the murder of Archbishop Romero and 

the American nuns,43 CISPES chapters opened in many cities around the 

U.S. The CISPES chapters became a potent (but not overwhelming) force.

They vociferously opposed support for the Salvadoran government and 

carried out classic protests, such as occupying the Chicago office of 

Illinois Senator Charles Percy. CISPES chapters were frequently 

associated with churches.

Most CISPES supporters were unaware of the organization’s links 

to Salvador’s Communist Party and the FMLN. The Federal Bureau of 

Investigation, which was aware of this link, twice investigated CISPES. At 

first, the FBI wanted to see if CISPES was an “agent of a foreign power”

and thus forced to register with the Justice Department. The other 

investigation looked into possible support for terrorism. In both cases, the 

FBI found no criminal activity. As an inevitable consequence of these 

investigations, a lot of perfectly innocent Americans ended up being 

identified in FBI investigative files.

44

Inside the National Security Council and in the foreign affairs 

agencies, “public diplomacy” strategies were being drafted, reviewed, and 

redrafted. Projects undreamed of for many years, such as adding Voice of 

America transmitters, were suddenly welcome.

The Administration had no ready mechanism to counterbalance 

CISPES. But they did have their bully pulpits, as with this March 19, 1981 

CNN interview of Secretary of State Al Haig:

What we are watching is a four-phased operation of which phase 

one has already been completed—the seizure of Nicaragua, next 

 

43 The U.S. Embassy always used the term “churchwomen” because three of the four 

murdered women were nuns. The fourth, Jean Donovan, was a religious lay worker. For 

reasons of familiarity and convenience, this paper will henceforward use “nuns.”

44 Predictably, it came to light that the FBI was taking down the license numbers in the 

parking lots of Unitarian churches. The FBI got slapped around for this, but they were 

doing their job. 
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

37

is El Salvador, to be followed by Honduras and Guatemala. It’s 

clear and explicit. ... I wouldn’t call it necessarily a domino 

theory. I would call it a priority target list—a hit list, if you 

will—for the ultimate takeover of Central America.45

What the administration did not have was a way of using official 

funds to conduct systematic lower-level outreach, as a political campaign 

might do—and as the FMLN was already doing via CISPES.

The government agency most capable of doing so was the U.S.

Information Agency (USIA).46 But USIA was forbidden by law to 

undertake any activity directed to American citizens.

47 In 1983, the 

administration created a special office at the State Department—S/LPD.

The “S” indicated that it was a direct bureaucratic dependency of the 

Secretary of State; the “LPD” stood for Latin American Public 

Diplomacy. Although the S/LPD was housed at the State Department, it 

was effectively controlled by Lt. Col. Oliver North’s office at the National 

Security Council. S/LPD worked to persuade the American people of the 

wisdom of supporting the government of El Salvador and of opposing the 

Sandinistas in Nicaragua. S/LPD was disbanded after the Iran–Contra 

affair, when investigators questioned the legal authority for S/LPD’s 

actions.

This public affairs offensive was not window dressing. With broad 

public outrage in the U.S. over the murder of the American nuns and all 

the other horror stories coming out of El Salvador, American public and 

congressional opinion, never far out of sync, were of profound 

 

45 For more information, see B. Gwertzman, “Haig Cites ‘Hit List’ for Soviet Control of 

Central America,” New York Times, March 18, 1981, 

http://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/19/world/haig-cites-hit-list-for-soviet-control-ofcentral-america.html

46Later absorbed into the State Department.

47 Forbidding programming directed to U.S. citizens was intended to prevent taxpayer 

funds intended to influence foreigners from being diverted to partisan advantage for any 

incumbent administration.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

38

importance. The Reagan administration had, with eyes wide open , chosen

to make El Salvador an issue. Theodore Roosevelt was right about the 

presidency being a “bully pulpit”; every president has the power to call 

attention to a subject. What a president cannot do is determine what the 

press and public will see and say once they start examining that same 

subject. The administration had to convince the American people that this 

was important, that it was the right thing to do, and that it was “winnable.”

At no point did public affairs take a back seat to the other elements of 

Salvador policy.

All the this activity provoked notice and a call for caution. A New 

York Times editorial summed up the situation:

Can it be that there’s method in the madness of tying 

President Reagan’s prestige to that of a junta in a coffee-bean 

republic? 

In a flash, the El Salvador junta’s struggle against 4,000 

guerrillas has been made front-page news. The Kremlin is told that 

fateful negotiations over nuclear arms depend on that junta’s 

success. Diplomats tour the world warning that whoever does not 

side with America in this effort invites retribution. Cuba has been 

threatened with blockade, and Mexico has been thus provoked into 

a show of sympathy for Cuba. All this for El Salvador? 

There can be only one rational explanation. Mr. Reagan 

foresees a quick win over the guerrillas and wants to advertise 

American muscle by making an exhibition game look like a World 

Series triumph ...

The junta may need more economic aid. But to lavish 

weapons on it now will only strengthen the right-wing extremists 

in its ranks, the ones who have been frustrating social justice and 

land reform and turning peasants into rebels ...

That effort requires not bellicosity in Washington but 

shrewd diplomacy by all the Caribbean democracies, notably 

Mexico and Venezuela. Without an effective political program, 
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

39

Mr. Reagan’s ostentatious strutting in a place of no strategic 

moment will indeed impress the world, but not in the way he 

intends.48

Who won the public affairs offensive? The Reagan administration 

has to be counted as the winner. The administration got what it wanted and 

needed from Congress to carry out its policies, and the policy was more of 

a success than a failure. But the costs in damaged credibility and proper

understanding of events linger. A cruise through the Internet will turn up 

thousands of pages of reporting and commentary outlining human rights 

abuses and war crimes in El Salvador and claims of misdeeds by U.S.

officials. There is scant discussion of the misdeeds of the left. The fact of 

communist countries supplying arms is skipped or treated as paranoid 

fantasy. Little is said of FMLN rights abuses—including the murder of 

surrendered soldiers. If El Salvador comes up in popular entertainment, it 

is invariably cited not as the place where communism stopped, but as a 

horror story of U.S.-supported death squads, dead priests and nuns, and

shorthand for U.S. misdeeds.

Communism has failed and El Salvador is a democracy, but 

CISPES still exists and has expanded its scope to include solidarity with 

Venezuela.

 

48 “Psychodrama in El Salvador,” New York Times, Feb. 27, 1981, 

http://www.nytimes.com/1981/02/27/opinion/psychodrama-in-el-salvador.html
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

40

VI. Policy to Practice

As the Reagan administration set out to reverse the grim situation 

in El Salvador, abstractions became actionable. How do you put concepts 

such as “a 55-man limit” or “equipped for combat” or “hostilities are 

imminent“ into practice?

A. The War Powers Act

Of all these vague issues, none was more important or urgent than 

clarifying the War Powers Act. The Act was enacted in 1973 over 

President Nixon’s veto. Its purpose was to limit any president’s powers to 

send U.S. forces into battle without the explicit consent of Congress. To 

give a president the authority to respond to immediate threats without the 

entanglement of immediate congressional approval, presidents were 

permitted to deploy troops for a time without reporting. Many of its 

provisions were unclear and had never really been tested in court—and 

still have not. A Congressional Research Service unclassified analysis49 in 

March of 2004 included a section on El Salvador:

El Salvador: When Are Military Advisers in Imminent 

Hostilities?

One of the first cases to generate substantial controversy 

because it was never reported under the War Powers Resolution 

was the dispatch of U.S. military advisers to El Salvador. At the 

end of February 1981, the Department of State announced the 

dispatch of 20 additional military advisers to El Salvador to aid its 

government against guerilla warfare. There were already 19 

military advisers in El Salvador sent by the Carter Administration. 

 

49 Perkins, Gerald M., ed., “The War Powers Resolution: After Thirty Years” 

(Hauppauge, NY: Novinka Books, 2005), pp. 11-12, 

http://www.fas.org/man/crs/RL32267.html.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

41

The Reagan Administration said the insurgents were organized and 

armed by Soviet bloc countries, particularly Cuba. By March 14, 

the Administration had authorized a total of 54 advisers, including 

experts in combat training. 

The President did not report the situation under the War 

Powers Resolution. A State Department memorandum said a report 

was not required because the U.S. personnel were not being 

introduced into hostilities or situations of imminent hostilities. The 

memorandum asserted that if a change in circumstances occurred 

that raised the prospect of imminent hostilities, the Resolution 

would be complied with. A justification for not reporting under 

section 4(a)(2) was that the military personnel being introduced 

were not equipped for combat. They would, it was maintained, 

carry only personal sidearms that they were authorized to use only 

in their own defense or the defense of other Americans. 

The State Department held that section 8(c) of the War 

Powers Resolution was not intended to require a report when U.S. 

military personnel might be involved in training foreign military 

personnel, if there were no imminent involvement of U.S. 

personnel in hostilities. In the case of El Salvador, the 

memorandum said, U.S. military personnel “will not act as combat 

advisors, and will not accompany Salvadoran forces in combat, on 

operational patrols, or in any other situation where combat is 

likely.”

On May 1, 1981, 11 members of Congress challenged the 

president's action by filing suit on the grounds that he had violated 

the Constitution and the War Powers Resolution by sending the 

advisers to El Salvador. Eventually there were 29 co-plaintiffs, but 

by June 18, 1981, an equal number of Members (13 Senators and 

16 Representatives) filed a motion to intervene in the suit, 

contending that a number of legislative measures were then 

pending before Congress and that Congress had ample opportunity 

to vote to end military assistance to El Salvador if it wished. 
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

42

On October 4, 1982, U.S. District Court Judge Joyce Hens 

Green dismissed the suit. She ruled that Congress, not the court, 

must resolve the question of whether the U.S. forces in El Salvador 

were involved in a hostile or potentially hostile situation. While 

there might be situations in which a court could conclude that U.S. 

forces were involved in hostilities, she ruled, the “subtleties of 

fact-finding in this situation should be left to the political 

branches.” She noted that Congress had taken no action to show it 

believed the President's decision was subject to the War Powers 

Resolution. On November 18, 1983, a Federal circuit court 

affirmed the dismissal and on June 8, 1984, the Supreme Court 

declined consideration of an appeal of that decision.

As the involvement continued and casualties occurred 

among the U.S. military advisers, various legislative proposals 

relating to the War Powers Resolution and El Salvador were 

introduced. Some proposals required a specific authorization prior 

to the introduction of U.S. forces into hostilities or combat in El 

Salvador. Other proposals declared that the commitment of U.S. 

Armed Forces in El Salvador necessitated compliance with section 

4(a) of the War Powers Resolution, requiring the President to 

submit a report. 

Neither approach was adopted in legislation, but the Senate

Foreign Relations Committee reported that the President had “a 

clear obligation under the War Powers Resolution to consult with 

Congress prior to any future decision to commit combat forces to 

El Salvador.” On July 26, 1983, the House rejected an amendment 

to the Defense Authorization bill (H.R. 2969) to limit the number 

of active duty military advisers in El Salvador to 55, unless the 

President reported any increase above that level under section 

4(a)(1) of the War Powers Resolution. Nevertheless, the 

Administration in practice kept the number of trainers at 55. 
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

43

As this ex post facto CRS compilation makes clear, the War 

Powers Act and the Reagan administration’s careful avoidance of its 

triggers guided military action in El Salvador in two critical ways. First, it 

created the 55-man limit on the size of the MILGRP. Although this limit 

never had the force of law, it became an informal but honored deal 

between the administration and Congress: Keep it at 55 and we the 

leadership will not seek a confrontation over the War Powers Act. The 

second was the administration’s pledge to Congress that U.S. military 

personnel “will not act as combat advisors, and will not accompany 

Salvadoran forces in combat, on operational patrols, or in any other 

situation where combat is likely.” This second pledge defined the 

operational boundaries for U.S. personnel.

B. “The 55-Man Limit”

Congress and the administration had agreed to this limit with little 

discussion or rancor. This was something like a handshake deal. When 

some members attempted to write it into law, they failed.

This seems like the way policy and politics ought to work.

Honorable individuals of two branches of government and two parties 

decide what the issue is—we want to avoid creeping from training and 

advice to full-scale involvement à la Vietnam. How do you do it? You 

keep the numbers too small to get into real trouble. What size is that?

The 55-man limit, in which so many put so much stock (and many 

thought was the law of the land) was arbitrary and had been reached in 

offhand fashion. The exchange, which took place in a public hearing, went 

something like this:

Congress: How many men do you plan on sending down there?

Administration: Not many.

Congress: How many are there right now?
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

44

Administration (after checking with staff present at the hearing):

About 55.

Congress: Do you think you can live with that?

Administration (after further checking with staff): Yes.

That was it. Rumors that the limit had been inspired by the 

previous nationwide speed limit of 55 mph were false.

So far, so good. 

But which military personnel were to be counted in the 55-man 

limit? 

Surely Congress did not mean to count the Defense Attaché’s staff, 

did they? Marine Security Guards? What about the MILGRP permanent 

party of six? If you counted all the military personnel in the embassy, you 

would already be close to the limit.

Rules about who counted were roughed out, mostly at the embassy,

and then vetted informally with the administration and Congress. Here is 

what emerged:

 Defense Attachés and their support staff did not count.

 Marine Security Guards did not count.

 Seabees, who periodically serviced or installed technical security 

equipment around the embassy, did not count.

 After a few years, permanent party at the MILGRP did not count.

 Brief moments during a single day did not count, but remaining 

overnight (RON) did.

That meant that the 55 men were TDY military personnel who 

came to El Salvador to conduct military training, essentially all MTTs.

MILGRP staff took this seriously. The executive officer kept the 

tally. From time to time, some MTT member (or entire team) would get an

urgent instruction: “We are up against the limit. We have got some 

personnel arriving this afternoon on an urgent mission. Go to Ilopango Air 
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

45

Base and take the C-130 to Panama. No mistakes, if you miss the flight we 

are over the limit. Stay at Southcom until we send for you.”

With time, the rules were eased.

The six-man permanent party in the MILGRP was insufficient to 

support all the movement of all the supplies and MTTs flowing into the 

country. Congress was notified, did not object, and the staff was increased 

to 12.

After about 18 months, it became obvious that Salvadoran soldiers 

injured on the battlefield were dying or becoming permanently disabled 

because Salvadoran battlefield medics were insufficient in numbers and 

deficient in training. The U.S. had the capacity to train them, but did not 

have a means to do so within the 55-man limit. Eventually Congress 

informally agreed to exclude members of a medical MTT from the count.

All this was possible because it became clear the administration 

was operating in good faith. MTT members were not being sent on combat 

missions (and when a few did, they were disciplined and sent home).

Similarly neither the MILGRP nor the broader mission50 was attempting to 

sneak in off-the-books personnel.

In time, the 55-man limit ceased to be a topic of anything more 

than minor administrative interest. Congress became confident that their 

insistence on this point was respected, and its demands for head-count 

reports dwindled.

El Salvador specialists at State and Defense came to regard the 

limit as a blessing. The hard ceiling on personnel effectively and 

permanently closed off any chance of “Americanizing” the fight. No 

bureaucratic or political blood was spilled trying to ward off unwelcome 

 

50 The “mission” spoken of here and henceforward, unless context makes another 

meaning clear, follows State Department usage and means the embassy as a whole, the 

“diplomatic mission.” Understanding that all executive branch personnel were part of the 

embassy—that is, the diplomatic mission—is essential. Everyone at the mission worked 

for the ambassador before anyone else. The term of art is “under chief-of-mission 

authority.” 
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

46

pressures for American troops to do more. The Green Berets, Rangers, and 

SEALs who ran the program knew of T.E. Lawrence’s dictum about 

“eating soup with a knife,”

51 and the 55-man limit removed the temptation 

to ignore Lawrence’s rule “just this once.”

The limit also brought an even subtler but perhaps more valuable 

benefit: The military personnel assigned to the MTTs, especially the most 

senior officers, were generally excellent. With a ceiling of 12 permanent 

party and 55 with non-medical MTTs, MILGRP commanders were able to 

request, and often received, the very best our military had to offer. At least 

in the early going, the caliber of MTT personnel, including Spanishspeakers, was clearly exceptional.

52

C. Equipped for Combat?

February 14, 1982

U.S. TELLS OFFICER WHO CARRIED RIFLE TO LEAVE 

SALVADOR

After CNN aired video of five U.S. military personnel dressed in 

Hawaiian shirts or guayaberas, carrying M-16 rifles, the fat was briefly in 

 

51 As the story goes, T.E. Lawrence (a.k.a. Lawrence of Arabia) said that it was important 

to let foreign forces do things themselves. He acknowledged that this might be messy, 

“like eating soup with a knife.”

52 This view is not universal. On March 29, 1988, the John F. Kennedy School at Harvard 

University sponsored the “Small Wars Symposium: The Case of El Salvador.” This 

seminar was based on a paper presented by LTC A.J. Bacevitch, LTC James D. Hallums, 

LTC Richard H. White, and LTC Thomas F. Young entitled “American Military Policy 

in Small Wars: The Case of El Salvador.” The paper (sometimes called “The Four 

Colonels Report”) suggested that the military did not properly recognize those who 

served in El Salvador. See Bacevitch et al., “American Military Policy in Small Wars: 

The Case of El Salvador” (Institute for Foreign Policy Analysis, 1988).
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

47

the fire—and the flames reached the Oval Office. On February 12, 1982, 

President Reagan ordered an investigation of the incident.

On February 13, Ambassador Deane Hinton, acting on his 

authority as the president’s personal representative in El Salvador, ordered 

Lt. Colonel Harry Melander to leave El Salvador. Hinton said that Lt. Col. 

Melander was “a first-class officer who made a mistake.” Melander had 

been in Usulután province with four other officers to visit and perhaps to 

help Salvadoran soldiers repair a bridge that had been blown up by the 

FMLN. The other officers were given what Ambassador Hinton described 

as “firm, oral reprimands.”

53

While swift public action kept this from becoming a major incident, 

two ill effects were created: First, the U.S. military’s media-averse habits 

were reinforced, and, second, the idea was established in the press corps 

and other places that a soldier carrying an M-16 was on a combat mission.

It seemed to go right over everyone’s head that no professional soldier 

would voluntarily go into combat wearing khakis and a Hawaiian shirt.

Taped to the inside of MILGRP Commander John Waghelstein’s 

door was an 8′′×10′′ photo of Senator Nancy Kassenbaum (R-Kansas) 

walking down a Salvadoran street. She was in El Salvador to observe the 

March 1982 elections. Walking alongside her was a bodyguard from the 

State Department’s Diplomatic Security bureau. He wore a fine pinstriped

suit and carried a loaded M-16 with his hand on the pistol grip and the butt 

cradled in his elbow. Stuck to the photo was a red ribbon impressed with 

the embassy’s official seal (borrowed for the occasion from the consul 

general). The caption below the photo read: “State Department Award for 

who gets to carry M-16s in El Salvador.”

As things played out in practice, MILGRP personnel were the only 

members of the mission whose armaments were restricted by anything 

 

53 Bonner, Raymond, “U.S. Tells Officer Who Carried Rifle to Leave Salvador,” New 

York Times Feb. 13, 1982, http://www.nytimes.com/1982/02/14/world/us-tells-officerwho-carried-rifle-to-leave-salvador.html.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

48

other than common sense. Many, perhaps most, mission members carried 

handguns with varying degrees of concealment. Long guns at home or in a 

vehicle were commonplace. 

Sometimes participating in a farce is the price you pay for doing 

your job.

Most military trainers and MILGRP staff carried a pistol in one of 

the barely big enough “man purses” widely available at the time. The 

small bags were, at a time when sexual orientation was completely 

unprotected in the military (and almost everywhere else): called “fag 

bags.” They were popular not only with the MILGRP but with many 

Salvadoran civilians. Sitting in a restaurant, one might see conservatively 

dressed businessmen put their small bag down on the table and hear a 

resounding THUNK from the completely obvious contents.

By early 1983, the question of M-16s or other personal weapons 

was coming to be recognized for its essential silliness. During one of his 

regular meetings with the press, MILGRP Commander Waghelstein was 

asked if he felt a .45 was sufficient protection. He responded by saying, “I

carry a gym bag. There is a piece of Israeli steel in the bag. When that 

steel gets nervous, it stutters in Hebrew.” None of the journalists thought it 

newsworthy to write that our soldiers did not limit themselves to pistols.

All discussions about how MILGRP members might be permitted 

protect themselves ended on May 25, 1983. That is when MILGRP 

Executive Officer Lt. Cmdr. Albert A. Schaufelberger, Jr. was 

assassinated on the campus of the Central American University. From then 

on, MILGRP personnel armed themselves as they saw fit.

D. “Where Is the Combat Zone?”

U.S. MILITARY ADVISERS ARE FOUND IN A COMBAT ZONE 

IN EL SALVADOR

By RAYMOND BONNER 
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

49

SAN MARCOS LEMPA, El Salvador, June 23—In an 

apparent violation of restrictions governing their activities in El 

Salvador, American military advisers were encountered in a 

combat area on the Lempa River here today.

Salvadoran soldiers said they had seen the Americans carry 

M-16 automatic rifles. State Department regulations prohibit them 

from carrying automatic rifles or being in combat zones.

Two Salvadoran soldiers guarding the Lempa River Bridge

here, 40 miles southeast of San Salvador, said the armed 

Americans were seen at the bridge Tuesday and this morning. 

There was sporadic firing of automatic weapons and the thud of 

mortars as an O-2 spotter plane circled overhead. 

Salvadoran soldiers patrolled in the fields and along the 

highway where a bus was burning. They said guerrillas had 

attacked the bus in the morning. The rebel radio said Tuesday that 

traffic along the highway would be subject to attack beginning 

today.54

The final two paragraphs of the story carried the embassy 

response:

In San Salvador, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy, Don 

Hamilton, said on being told by the reporters what the had seen on 

the Lempa River:

“We are now investigating. If the guidelines have been 

violated, appropriate action will be taken.” In February, an Army 

officer, Lieut. Col. Harry Melander, was sent home after he had 

 

54 Bonner, Raymond, “U.S. Military Advisers Are Found in a Combat Zone in El 

Salvador,” New York Times, June 23, 1982, 

http://www.nytimes.com/1982/06/24/world/us-military-advisers-are-found-in-a-combatzone-in-el-salvador.html.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

50

been seen carrying an M-16, and four other Americans received 

reprimands.55

This story raises a number of issues about fair reportage and 

government honesty:

 Tendentiousness (“in apparent violation”): The facts in the story 

(aside from technical assertions noted below) are narrowly correct, 

but the article as a whole seems designed to demonstrate that U.S. 

soldiers were in combat.

 Questionable assertions (“encountered in a combat area”): What 

is a “combat area”? The U.S. Embassy itself had been rocketed and 

strafed about two dozen times at this point. On the other hand, the 

bridge on the Rio Lempa was unquestionably more volatile than 

the capital.

 Lack of precision: There was never a “State Department 

regulation” prohibiting U.S. military personnel from “being in 

combat zones.” This is a technicality, but technicalities matter.

Regulations on these issues came from the U.S. ambassador and 

amounted to embassy regulations conveyed from the president’s 

personal representative down through the chain of command. No 

area of El Salvador was off-limits to military personnel or anyone 

else. They were under orders to avoid combat. The best test was 

simple: Were American soldiers going “in harm’s way”? Were 

they accompanying Salvadorans on combat operations?

 Sourcing: One must read the article closely to discover that while 

reporters saw two U.S. soldiers in fatigues in military camp, 

accounts of the soldiers firing weapons are secondhand.

 

55 Ibid.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

51

 Man on a mission: One element of the story says a “van with 

reporters” pulled up to the military camp. No other reporters 

considered the “story” to be worth reporting.

Several weeks later, at the farewell party for the MILGRP exec as 

he left for onward assignment, he confessed to the PAO that he had lied.56

There had been an attack by the guerrillas and the sergeant had 

participated in repelling the attack.

The PAO did not conceal his anger. His credibility and that of the 

embassy had been at stake. There had been nothing to hide; the sergeant 

was defending himself when he came under attack in the course of training 

Salvadoran military personnel. But now there was something to hide—

misleading the New York Times.

The lieutenant colonel was apologetic, but defended his action: “I 

did not know you then ... was not sure I could trust you.” He went on to 

say that the sergeant had reported the incident, but that he, the lieutenant 

colonel, had decided to shelve the matter, to say nothing to anyone.

The PAO was hardly assuaged: “If you play straight with me, I can 

handle just about anything short of criminality. You have put the mission 

at risk by lying to me. We could have announced self-defense and stood 

our ground.”

Nothing further happened with regard to the incident, which passed 

as simply another case of he-said/she-said.

If the PAO had known before Bonner’s call and perhaps after, he 

could likely have persuaded the ambassador to let him make a preemptive 

announcement, something like: “While conducting training, a U.S. soldier 

and his Salvadoran trainees came under fire. He and his trainees returned 

fire. There were no casualties.” Such an announcement, either 

preemptively or in response to a question, makes a circumstance seem less 

secretive and sinister. Were a formal announcement made, it would have 

 

56 Source is direct personal experience of the author.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

52

gone to all available media, taking away the Times exclusive—an 

announcement is less interesting than a media “discovery.”

Flare-ups about American military personnel being in “combat 

zones” notwithstanding, the media, Congress, and everyone else came to 

understand within about a year that there were no “combat zones” in El 

Salvador.

There were areas where guerrilla activity was very high or 

persistent, but the Salvadoran Army could and did go anywhere in the 

country. When they entered an area of strong guerrilla influence, they 

might encounter small, improvised land mines, booby traps really, but the 

FMLN had no intention of letting the Salvadoran army maneuver them in 

a set piece battle. They knew the army would pin them down with infantry 

and then hammer them with air and artillery.

When they saw the army out in strength, they did what sensible 

guerrillas do—they melted away.

As the “combat zone” non-issue faded, the real question began to 

emerge: What are combat operations? This is a sensible and important 

distinction. From President Reagan on down, no one wanted our troops 

involved in operations.

E. What Are Combat Operations?

The War of Stanley’s Leg

With perhaps 30,000 dead in El Salvador at the time, it is hard to 

believe that an E-6 with a leg wound would make news around the United 

States. But it happened. This story, from the Spokane Chronicle of 

February 5, 1983 is typical:

3 Relieved of Duties in El Salvador Injury

WASHINGTON (AP) – Two U.S. warrant officers and a 

sergeant have been relieved of their duties in El Salvador because 

of an incident in which another American military adviser was
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

53

wounded during a helicopter mission, a Pentagon spokesman said 

today.

A statement initially released this morning by the U.S. 

Embassy in El Salvador also disclosed that another American 

military trainer went on a separate “operational” flight which took 

ground fire at about the same time. U.S. military advisers have 

standing orders not to participate in such operations.

Lt. Col. Richard Rapp provided the text of the embassy 

statement dealing with Wednesday’s incident, in which Staff Sgt. 

Jay Thomas Stanley, 25, of Towson, Md., suffered a leg wound 

from ground fire.

Stanley was the first American soldier wounded in El 

Salvador since U.S. military advisers were sent to the Central 

American nation in 1981. The force is limited to 55 personnel, but 

there were 37 advisers in the country Thursday. ...

The embassy said that “as a result of our findings, two 

warrant officers and one master sergeant have been relieved of 

their duties by the USMILGROUP (U.S. military advisory group 

in El Salvador) commander and will leave the country on the next 

available military aircraft.”

57

Issues for Discussion:

 Why were the MILGRP and the embassy so forthcoming about a 

minor injury and administrative relief of two warrant officers and a 

master sergeant?

 This was a minor thing; why not keep it secret?

 

57 “3 Relieved of Duties in El Salvador Injury,” Spokane Chronicle, Feb. 5, 1983, p. 9, 

http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1345&dat=19830205&id=5epWAAAAIBAJ&s

jid=c_kDAAAAIBAJ&pg=3937,1869902.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

54

 Why publicize punitive reassignments at this level?

 Wouldn’t it have been easier to just give everyone involved a good 

talking to? They would keep their mouths shut.

The ambassador, the MILGRP commander, and the public affairs 

counselor instinctively knew and agreed that a one-day splash with plenty 

of facts was better than a story coming out in dribs and drabs. Were the 

story to get into the press from a non-government source, or worse yet, an 

unidentified government source, the embassy and by extension the 

administration would appear to be covering up combat operations by 

American soldiers. After having assured the Congress and the public that 

our military was trying to avoid combat, this could affect the entire policy 

by embarrassing the ambassador and the State Department, the White 

House, and supporters in Congress.

Keeping it secret would have been harder than it seems. Dozens of 

Salvadoran personnel, over whom we had no authority, knew of the 

incident. Some of them had probably been planted on the Salvadoran 

military by the FMLN. No one wanted them to announce the incident.

The country was crawling with journalists. For U.S. news media,

El Salvador was hottest international story. All major U.S. media 

maintained offices in El Salvador. Not just CBS, NBC, ABC, and CNN, 

but AP, UPI, National Public Radio, The New York Times, The 

Washington Post, Time, and Newsweek kept correspondents there. Many 

other news organizations, such as The Wall Street Journal, The Chicago 

Tribune, The Dallas Morning News, and the Los Angeles Times spent 

weeks at a time staffing El Salvador. The Salvadoran elections in 1982 

drew about 1,500 foreign journalists on top of those always present. There 

were no legal constraints on their movements or contacts. Members of the 

embassy staff encountered journalists in every part of the country, and 

many journalists embedded themselves with the insurgents for days on end.

Journalists also had wide-ranging contacts in the Salvadoran government 
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

55

and could count on hearing from fellow correspondents at the State 

Department, the Pentagon, and other bureaus around the world.

These mostly forgotten incidents raise interesting issues:

 Does any element of the U.S. government owe a straight answer to 

a reporter who shows evidence of bringing bias to a story?

 What about a friendly reporter?

 What were the options for the MILGRP exec?

 What would have happened had he originally come clean with the 

PAO?

In the charged atmosphere of the time, critics of the policy might 

have claimed that shooting back showed the inevitability of U.S. personnel 

becoming involved in combat and drawn into someone else’s war.

Panicked bureaucrats in Washington might have demanded even tighter 

restrictions on where trainers could operate. The lack of flexibility would 

have reduced the effectiveness of the meeting.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

56

VII. With Friends Like These

Everyone assigned to El Salvador, civilian or military, shook 

bloodstained hands. Sometimes they knew who was a murderer;

sometimes they did not. Knowing just how to react was not easy. Further 

complicating the matter was that individuals seemed to change their 

behavior with the passage of time. In 1980 and 1981, things were 

especially violent and, as noted above, the period between Ronald 

Reagan’s election and inauguration was shockingly violent. From 1981 

through the end of 1983, murders58 were still absurdly high—about 250 

death squad killings monthly.

On December 11, 1983, Vice President George H. Bush visited El 

Salvador for several hours on his return from a visit to Argentina. He met 

with the Salvadoran High Command and showed them a letter from 

President Reagan. The vice president did not leave a copy of the letter, and 

it has not been published. Even so, it is widely known that the letter 

specified steps the Salvadoran military and government must take to curb 

death squad violence. Death squad activity dropped precipitously, as did 

reports of army massacres. In spite of sporadic outrages, death squad 

murders never again reached the levels of 1982 and 1983.

A. The Nuns

Colonel Eugenio Vides Casanova was commander of the 

Salvadoran National Guard when the four American churchwomen were 

raped and murdered by junior59 enlisted Guardsmen. Not long after the 

investigation began, it became clear that the women had been followed 

from the airport and murdered well before they got to the city. The 

 

58 As distinct from legitimate combat deaths.

59 The most senior was a sub-sergeant.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

57

embassy quickly determined that the National Guard was organizationally 

responsible for security at the airport and its environs.

Nor was the nuns’ case the only black mark on the National Guard 

while it was under Colonel Vides’s command. The intelligence section of 

the National Guard was known to the U.S. to be, in effect, a death squad60

financed by wealthy Salvadorans who bankrolled multiple murders, 

including the “Sheraton murders,” discussed below.

When the individuals were identified and the U.S. asked for their 

weapons, the National Guard initially tried to play a shell game with their 

G-3 rifles. The game failed, and Colonel Vides became extraordinarily 

helpful with the investigation. Eventually, he was promoted to general and 

became defense minister. As time went on, those Americans who dealt 

General Vides found him understanding and helpful. Uniquely among the 

highest levels of the Salvadoran military, General Vides would privately 

acknowledge that there was significant corruption in the officer corps and 

that some officers were involved in death squads.

Immediately following the critical 1984 El Salvadoran presidential 

elections, now Defense Minister Vides, with the rest of the high command 

lined up behind him, announced that the military stood 100 percent behind 

the official results—even though it was widely known that winner José 

Napoleón Duarte stood to the left of most officers. Vides put it this way in

a nationally televised address when he said (approximately): This is not a 

game of cards where, if you do not like your cards, you can ask for a new 

deal. We in the Army have put up the blood for these elections and they 

will stand.

 

60 The Mano Blanco
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

58

Discussion Questions

 Did Defense Minister Vides come to recognize that there was a 

better way? That continuous, rampant human rights abuses 

strengthened the rebels?

 At what point does a person, having failed to lead with integrity, 

become trustworthy?

 Was Vides simply clever enough to tell the Americans what they 

wanted to hear?

 Did the U.S. have any choice in this matter?

 Could we have demanded a different defense minister? 

 Would it have mattered if we had?

B. The El Mozote Massacre

The Atlacatl Battalion, trained and equipped by the United States 

and stood up as an “Immediate Reaction Battalion,” was a fierce combat 

unit. But under its first commander, it was responsible for a major war 

crime.

In late 1981, the Atlacatl Battalion, operating under the command 

of Lt. Col. Domingo Monterrosa, murdered about a thousand people, 

mostly women and children, in the northern town of El Mozote. The 

massacre has been investigated many times, and there is little doubt of its 

scope or the battalion’s responsibility.

61

About three years after El Mozote, Monterrosa was promoted to 

colonel and given command of the eastern third of the country, the area 

where guerrilla concentrations were highest and where most of the battles 

took place. It was hard to believe this man was the author of El Mozote. 

 

61 “The Report of the Truth Commission to the United Nations” of March 15, 1993 cites 

then Battalion Commander LTC Domingo Monterrosa Barrios as one of those 

responsible. The Truth Commission puts the number of those murdered as “over 200.”
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

59

His troops routinely passed out soccer balls to kids in villages.

When he entered a village, he spoke of the guerrillas not as “communist 

terrorists” as did most of his fellow officers, but as “errant brothers.” He 

took prisoners and treated them well. He was eventually killed when the 

FMLN set a very clever trap for him.

Discussion Questions

 How should Americans respond to Monterrosa, the war criminal?

 How should they respond to Monterrosa, the savvy commander 

who respected the populace?

C. The Las Hojas Massacre

In early 1983, Colonel Elmer Gonzalez Araujo ordered the 

battalion he commanded to massacre the inhabitants of Las Hojas, an 

indigenous agricultural commune in a very quiet area of the country. This 

massacre had nothing to with the ongoing war. Colonel Gonzalez was paid 

by a nearby rancher to take revenge on villagers who objected to having 

cattle driven across their crops. According to U.S. Embassy Human Rights 

Officer Eduardo Baez,

62 up to 74 people were murdered with close-range 

shots to the head. Gonzales, along with all those charged, was cleared of 

all wrongdoing.

Colonel Gonzalez was removed from troop command and made

chief of procurement for the Salvadoran Army. In that position, he 

conspired with three American businessmen to repackage expired

Yugoslav ammunition as U.S.-manufactured in order to make it eligible 

for purchase as military assistance. The ruse was discovered when some of 

the ammunition failed in combat. He was never charged for the murders or 

for corruption.

 

62 Direct conversation with the author on the day of the event.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

60

Discussion Questions

 Should the U.S. have made representations to the Salvadorans 

demanding that Col. Gonzalez be prosecuted for the murders?

 Would such demands have been honored?

 How do you keep working with Salvadoran officers who worked 

against the prosecution of Col. Gonzalez—even after his corrupt 

procurements led directly to the deaths of Salvadoran soldiers?

D. The Sheraton Murders

The Sheraton murders stand as a signal event in El Salvador’s war.

These murders, of two Americans and one Salvadoran, illuminate much of 

the country’s dark side. This single case involves death squads, military 

officers directly involved in cold-blooded murder, and the impunity from 

prosecution of military personnel and their collaborators for even the most 

dreadful crimes. The case reveals political interference with the judicial 

process, the intimidation of witnesses, and the refusal of the military, upon 

whom we were spending about a half-million dollars every day, to yield to 

U.S. pressure.

Two American military officers played significant roles in solving 

the murders.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

61

2337 Saturday 3 January 1981

Salon Las Americas, Hotel Sheraton

San Salvador, El Salvador63

Three men sat alone in the dining room in the Sheraton Hotel.

Mark Pearlman and Michael Hammer64 were American attorneys working 

for the American Institute of Free Labor Development (AIFLD). They 

were guests at the Sheraton and were finishing dinner with José Viera, 

president of the Salvadoran agrarian reform institute. All were involved in 

implementing the largest agrarian reform in the history of Central America.

The first phase of the reform had been implemented, with huge chunks of 

the largest estates in the small country turned over to the peasants who had 

worked the land.

At the entrance to the restaurant, a tall, pale, blond man with wavy 

hair pointed at the three and gestured with his head. Seconds later, two 

men dressed in windbreakers came in and pulled two Ingram machine 

pistols, one 9 mm, the other .45 caliber. They opened fire on the three and 

hit all of them multiple times. Pearlman crawled away from the table. One 

gunman stood astride him and fired a burst to his head. Amazingly, the 

bullets missed, but Pearlman died en route to the hospital.

The U.S. government knew a great deal about the Sheraton 

murders from the beginning. Salvadoran Captain Ernesto Ávila Ávila, 

who had secured the weapons, got very drunk after the murders and told 

the whole story to a U.S. military officer assigned to the MILGRP. That 

 

63 Unless otherwise noted, all information about the Sheraton murders is drawn from (but 

not a quote of) the unclassified “Case Impression Memorandum” prepared by A. Carlos 

Correa (undated, but prepared in early 1984). Correa was a Justice Department prosecutor 

detailed to the embassy in San Salvador to follow the judicial processes concerning the 

death of U.S. citizens there. He provided the author with a copy of the memorandum in 

May 2013.

64 On June 21, 2013, President Barack Obama nominated Michael Hammer’s son, also 

Michael Hammer, to be U.S. ambassador to Chile. 
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

62

officer reported the information through channels straightaway. With the 

basic story understood, things started to clarify very quickly.

By May 1981, a U.S. government agency was reporting details 

about those at the heart of the conspiracy. In a cable dated 30 May 1981,

65

the agency reported:

Responsibility of “death squad” run by businessman 

Ricardo Sol Mesa and National Guard Major Dennis Moran for 

murders of Rodolfo Viera and U.S. citizens Michael Hammer and 

Mark Pearlman; use of the death squad to conduct bombings in 

San Salvador. [redacted]

1. A mid-level National Guard Officer [redacted] said on 

27 May 1981 that Moran directed a “death squad” payrolled by 

Salvadoran businessman Ricardo Sol Mesa, and that Sol Mesa 

and Moran used this death squad to kill Rodolfo Viera, former 

head of the Salvadoran Agrarian Reform Institute (ISTA) at the 

Sheraton Hotel in San Salvador on 4 January 1981. [redacted] 

(Comment: U.S. citizens Mike Hammer and Mark Pearlman of 

the American Institute for Free Labor Development (AIFLD) 

were killed along with Viera because they happened to be with 

Viera at the time and because they supported Viera’s agrarian 

reform activities. Hammer and Pearlman apparently were not 

targets in their own right.) 

2. Viera was a longstanding target of the Sol Mesa and 

Moran group, and they took advantage of his lengthy presence in 

the Sheraton Hotel for dinner on 4 January to assassinate him. 

The assassination was not preplanned; the decision to murder 

Viera was made on the spur of the moment.

3. The death squad described above is responsible for the 

majority of bank bombings that have taken place in recent 

 

65 Approved for release with excisions in November 1993.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

63

months in the capital city of San Salvador, as well as for the 

assassinations of many individuals thought to support leftist 

causes. The payroll of the death squad is estimated 20,000 

colones monthly (U.S. $8,000): with members normally paid 100 

colones daily (U.S. $40) during the periods they are assigned to 

work for the squad. [redacted] (Comment: Although not directly 

stated it is believed that the majority if not all members of the Sol 

Mesa and Moran death squad are members of the National 

Guard.)

4. The Sol Mesa and Moran death squad operates on its 

own but is thought to have connections through former Army 

Captain Eduardo Alfonso Avila with another rightist group which 

is involved in similar activities.

The first officer’s information was verified through another U.S. 

military officer and his wife. The chain of events that led to this

confirmation began with a phone call from the Contadora Island Resort to 

the U.S. Embassy in Panama on May 8, 1982. The resort said a U.S. 

diplomat staying there had attempted to kill himself with an overdose. It 

turned out that the individual in question was not an American, but a 

Salvadoran military attaché assigned to Costa Rica—Captain Ávila. By 

coincidence, the American Defense Attaché (DATT) in Panama had 

known Ávila since 1977, when the attaché was assigned to San Salvador 

and Ávila worked at the Salvadoran general staff. The American attaché 

took Ávila, who was in distress and seemed to be having some kind of 

nervous breakdown, into his home. 

Over May 8 and 9, Ávila told the attaché’s wife the story of what 

had happened at the Sheraton. (He would not discuss this with the DATT 

present.) The account was rambling and disjointed, but confirmed what 

Ávila had said right after the murders. Ávila’s admissions and statements 

were quickly reported through interagency channels.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

64

The actual shooters were two enlisted men from the Salvadoran 

National Guard. Major Mario Denís Morán, chief of Section 2 

(intelligence) of the Guard, was present. Lieutenant Rodolfo Isidro López 

Sibrián gave the orders to the triggermen. Ricardo Sol Meza, an afectado, 

a principal owner of the Sheraton whose land had been confiscated for 

land reform, was present, as was his brother-in-law, Hans Christ, also an 

afectado.

66 Christ fingered the three victims. Captain Ernesto Ávila Ávila, 

who was AWOL from his post in Costa Rica, retrieved the Ingram 

machine pistols from the National Guard’s armory.

American military officers had certainly done their job in passing 

information along. Even so, the combined efforts of the U.S. Departments 

of State, Defense, and Justice have never been able to get at any of the 

intellectual authors of these murders. The peace treaty that ended the war 

included an amnesty that put them beyond the reach of the legal system.

This case is simple and straightforward. Powerful individuals often 

operating in the open got away with a very public murder of two 

American citizens and a prominent official of their own country. 

Here is a lesson to write on the palm of your hand: Military and 

economic assistance usually buy you cordiality, but often fail to give you 

leverage.

There are plenty of examples, but four words will serve for the 

moment: Israeli settlements; Hamid Kharzai.

E. The Jesuit Murders

6 PRIESTS, 2 OTHERS SLAIN IN SAN SALVADOR

FIGHTING INTENSIFIES FOR CONTROL OF CAPITAL

 

66 A Salvadoran told that author in the spring of 1984 that Christ, with whom he had gone 

to the American School, had been expelled from the American School for painting antiSemitic slogans on the lockers of Jewish students.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

65

By Lee Hockstader and Douglas Farah67

SAN SALVADOR, NOV. 16—Six prominent Jesuit priests, 

including the rector and vice rector of El Salvador’s most 

prestigious university, were killed early today along with two other 

persons at the house where they slept in the capital.

At least two U.S. Army officers knew who did it and sat on the 

information before reporting it to their chain of command.

68

On November 16, 1989, some four days into another a final 

offensive in El Salvador, six Jesuit priests were murdered, along with their 

maid and her daughter, at their home on the University of Central America 

(UCA) campus. The story was front-page news worldwide. The murders 

led the news on all U.S. broadcast networks and on CNN. People with 

even passing knowledge of events in San Salvador suspected the right.

UCA Rector Ignacio Ellacuría, one of those murdered, had been critical of 

the Salvadoran government and military and spoken and written of the 

FMLN and FDR in sympathetic terms. He was known to many foreign 

journalists and to some present and past officers of the U.S. Embassy. The 

U.S. government and the Salvadoran government, including President 

Alfredo Cristiani, feared blame would attach to the Salvadoran military or 

the government at an unusually sensitive time:

 El Salvador’s president was seeking legitimacy for himself and his 

party.

 Cristiani was the first president from the Alianza Republicana 

Nacionalista (Republican Nationalist Alliance, or ARENA).69

 

67 Lee Hockstader and Douglas Farah, “6 Priest, 2 Others Slain in San Salvador,” 

Washington Post Foreign Service, November 17, 1989, p. A01.

68 Unless otherwise indicated, all information in this account has been verified by 

William J. Dieterich, who was Chargé d’ Affaires, a.i. at the U.S. Embassy in San 

Salvador at the time of the events. 
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

66

Many considered ARENA to be a front for the death squads. Party 

founder Roberto D’Aubuisson, widely considered to be “Mr. Death 

Squad,” had been its first presidential candidate. The party had 

specifically selected Cristiani as its candidate because he was 

financially and politically conservative, but not linked to rights 

abuses. Cristiani wanted to polish his party’s and his country’s 

image on human rights.

 The Cold War was ending. The Soviet bloc was crumbling; the 

Berlin Wall had come down exactly one week before the murders.

No one knew what this would mean for El Salvador, which all 

understood to be, at least in part, a proxy war between the U.S. and 

the Soviet Union. The Cold War was ending and that could end 

outside arms support for the government and the rebels.

 Peace talks had begun. The first direct talks between the 

Salvadoran government and the FMLN had opened in Mexico City 

in September. There was promise here of a genuine negotiated 

settlement—but the murder of the Jesuits might well kill the peace 

talks.

There was nothing solid at first, but the assumption that 

Salvadoran military or police forces were involved was widespread. The 

government was reaching out around the world for ideas on how to 

respond to worldwide outrage.70

 

69 In Spanish, arena means “sand,” which refers back to the original Latin and survives in 

English as a place where sand is figuratively, and sometimes literally, spread.

70 The Salvadoran press attaché in Washington called the author of this paper. The attaché 

had left El Salvador over three years before and was then press secretary to Drug Czar 

William J. Bennett. The attaché told the author that he was calling on instructions from 

President Cristiani, relayed through Salvadoran Ambassador Miguel Salaverría, to ask 

what the government should say. The author’s advice was twofold: (1) Do not deny that 

your armed forces are responsible. They may be. If they are, the civilian government then 

looks complicit; and (2) seek (and publicly announce that you are seeking) detailed 

outside investigation by a foreign country other than the U.S. The U.S. is too close to El 
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

67

In mid-December, Salvadoran Army Colonel Carlos Avilés, who 

had been well and favorably known to U.S. embassy officers for many 

years, privately told a U.S. Army major that the priests were killed by a 

small group from the Salvadoran Army’s Atlacatl Battalion.71

The major knew, he had to know, that he was holding explosive 

information—information that could end U.S. assistance to El Salvador 

and give fresh impetus to the FMLN. There was really no way to gauge 

what might happen if the Salvadoran Army were found to have committed 

these murders. Salvador might become a new Cuba. Ten years of battles 

between two administrations and five Congresses might be rendered moot.

On January 2, 1990, the major reported to his boss, the MILGRP 

commander, a U.S. Army colonel. Even more than the major, the 

MILGRP commander had to know the potential impact of this information.

The colonel reported directly to the U.S. ambassador and met with him 

several times weekly. He had one-on-one access to the ambassador 

whenever he wished.

The MILGRP commander’s options included, but were not limited 

to, the following:

 Report this information immediately to Chargé d’Affaires, a.i. 

William J. Dieterich—the senior U.S. official in El Salvador.

(Ambassador William Walker was not in El Salvador.) As Chargé, 

Dieterich had extensive authority over every individual in every 

U.S. executive-branch agency in the country. Dieterich thus was 

the MILGRP commander’s lawful and immediate superior.

Reporting this information to Chargé Dieterich would have meant 

an immediate report to the State Department. Regardless of the 

 

Salvador and if it finds the Government of El Salvador or the military blameless, no one 

would believe it. 

71 There is another version of events suggesting that the major learned of the murders in 

October 1989—some weeks before they occurred. The major is reported to have given 

contradictory statements to the FBI about almost everything related to the case.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

68

channel in which Dieterich reported the information to State, the 

National Security Council staff and quite possibly President 

George H. Bush would know within hours. With information 

rocketing around the executive branch, Congress and the media 

would probably know within 24 hours.

 Immediately report to and seek guidance from the Commander in 

Chief, U.S. Southern Command. This would have skirted the 

responsibility of informing the Chargé, but that loop would have 

closed within the hour.

 Inform an intelligence officer within the embassy. This might 

permit quiet investigation and a considered response before the 

whole world knew of this information.

 Make discreet inquiries with the Salvadoran armed forces to gauge 

the credibility of the major’s report.

 Arrange to speak directly with Colonel Avilés to judge his 

credibility and learn something of his sources.

How did this play out in real life?

The immediate actual steps followed by the MILGRP commander 

are not clear. It is certain that he did not report the information to the 

Chargé d’Affaires, to Southcom, or to some intelligence officer in the 

embassy.

72 The MILGRP commander did, however, communicate the 

information to Colonel René Emilio Ponce, chief of staff of the 

Salvadoran armed forces.

The day after the major informed the MILGRP commander, there 

was a meeting in Colonel Ponce’s office. Those present were Colonel 

Ponce and Colonel Avilés, the American major and the commander of the 

MILGRP, and perhaps one fairly junior State Department officer.

What happened at the meeting?

 

72 Telephone interview with Chargé d’Affaires William J. Dieterich, May 14, 2013.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

69

 The essential story was repeated; Avilés told the American major 

that the Atlacatl Battalion was responsible.

 Avilés flatly denied that he had ever said a word to the American 

major about the murders of the Jesuits.

Five days later, on Sunday, January 7, 1990, President Cristiani 

announced that elements of the Salvadoran military were involved in the 

murder of the Jesuits. He said a “Special Commission of Honor” had been 

created to expose the truth about the murders in detail.

* * *

We have no idea why the MILGRP commander behaved as he did.

His actions put a confidential source’s life at risk. He totally ignored his 

chain of command. His career could have ended right there. The Chargé 

considered immediately relieving him of his command and ordering him 

out of the country—he had the authority to do so. Had there been any 

question about that authority, a phone call to Southcom would have 

resolved the matter.

Only two individuals were ever convicted of the murders. In 1991, 

Colonel Guillermo Alfredo Benavides, then commandant of El Salvador’s 

military academy (sited in the same complex as the ministry of defense 

and high command) was convicted of giving the orders. Lieutenant 

Yuhssy René Mendoza, an officer in the Atlacatl Battalion, was convicted 

for his participation. A civilian court sentenced the two to 30 years in 

prison. The other seven, many of whom had acknowledged their roles,

were acquitted. The jury is thought to have freed them because they were 

“following orders.” Benavides and Mendoza were set free on April 1, 

1993 as a result of the amnesty law that was agreed to in the peace 

agreement. They served less than two years for these mass murders.

What happened with the Jesuit murders? Why did two American 

officers behave in such an unorthodox fashion?
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

70

Consider the following questions:

 Why might the major have delayed reporting, even for a few days, 

his information about the most notorious murders in the world?

 The MILGRP commander burned a favorably known source to an 

organization he well knew capable of murder. Why?

 The MILGRP commander was born in El Salvador and knew his 

way around Salvadoran society better than most Americans.

 Had he come to over-identify with the Salvadoran military? 

 If you reach this conclusion, does a policy then have to be set that

limits the possible assignments of foreign-born personnel? 

 Should the MILGRP commander have been relieved? By the State 

Department? By U.S. Southern Command?
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

71

VIII. Trust and Learning

Collectively and singularly, the actions of these counterpart 

officers ranged from obstruction of justice to multiple murder to war 

crimes. But these cases do not represent the first or last time we have 

faced such issues. From the genocidal Joseph Stalin during World War II 

to Saddam Hussein during the Iran-Iraq War in the 1980s to various 

figures in Afghanistan today, the U.S. government has sent military and 

civilian personnel out to find a way to work with awful people. Sometimes 

our unsavory friends move up to a higher standard, sometimes they never 

get better, and sometimes they improve for a while and then go back to 

their old ways.

What may make El Salvador a bit more poignant is its relatively 

small scale. Anyone assigned to the U.S. Embassy, military or civilian, 

had a fair chance of meeting some or all of the people involved in the 

above actions. Some of them, like General Vides Casanova and Colonel 

Monterrosa, were charming and seemed to move in the right direction as 

we spent more time with them. Others never displayed any redeeming 

qualities.

How do you learn who is trustworthy? How do you trust someone 

who has ordered the murder of a thousand people? Covered up a 

massacre? Helped a fellow officer evade justice?

A. A War in (and Sometimes With) the Media 

In popular memory, the American people were united as never 

before during “Good War,” World War II, the one fought by what reporter 

Tom Brokaw called “the Greatest Generation.” There had been no 

question about going to war: Japan had attacked us and then declared war 

(although the ex post facto declaration arose from error and not malice); 

Hitler declared war on us. We were in it, and Rosie the Riveter stood sideby-side with John Wayne, big business, and everyone else. And yes, the 
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

72

media were in it too, and there is no doubt about whose side they were on.

War correspondents wore American military uniforms and, when attached 

to the troops, were subject to military law. The media submitted to 

military censorship with little complaint. Some scandals were reported and 

military officials criticized (think of Patton slapping the soldier73). Other 

disasters were known to the media, but never until much later—as when 

German E-boats slaughtered U.S. troops training for the invasion at 

Normandy.

74

Vietnam changed all that. Even when the U.S. presence was very 

small, the frictions between the media and first the military and then the 

broader government started to show. Why? What was different?

 To begin with, there was no real argument about the need to fight 

World War II. Japan hit us with a sneak attack. Hitler declared war 

on us. The stakes and the sides were clear.

 Vietnam was fuzzier. Americans were concerned about communist 

expansion, and Munich had taught us that concession to dictators 

just made things worse.

75 Even so, Vietnam was a long way away

from the United States. Then, as now, most Americans could not 

find it on a map.

 

73 During the last days of the campaign in Sicily in 1943, then-Lt. Gen. George S. Patton 

slapped a hospitalized soldier. The incident drew national attention and to some extent 

overshadowed Patton’s fine leadership. General Eisenhower reprimanded Patton and 

ordered him to apologize to 7th Army troops. Richard Sommers (ed.), Vignettes of 

Military History, Vol. III (Carlisle Barracks, PA: U.S. Army Military History Institute, 

February 1982).

74 In the early morning hours of April 28, 1944, German E-boats operating from France 

attacked LSTs practicing for D Day (Operation Tiger) and killed 198 Navy and 441 

Army personnel. Because the incident could have revealed D Day plans, it was not 

reported until August 1944. Stars and Stripes [European Edition] 4, no. 237 (7 Aug. 

1944).

75 In 1938, France and Britain reneged on a commitment to Czechoslovakia, permitting 

Hitler to seize much of that country and its arms works. British Prime Minister Neville 

Chamberlin negotiated this agreement in Munich; explaining his cave-in, he told the 

British people that the Czechs were “a faraway people of whom we know little.”
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

73

 Reporters on the ground in Vietnam were speaking to field and 

company-grade officers. Their journalistic reports were about a 

different war than the one the generals were briefing in Saigon and 

Washington. Not only were these young journalists reporting a 

different war, they were also highlighting the differences between 

what they saw and heard and what the brass was saying.

 At one point, the national security establishment was so frustrated 

with the reporting of New York Times correspondent David 

Halberstam that President Kennedy called Times publisher Arthur 

Ochs “Punch” Sulzberger to the White House. The president 

demanded that Halberstam be pulled from Vietnam. President 

Kennedy’s demand backfired. Sulzberger instead cancelled 

Halberstam’s upcoming vacation. He did not want Halberstam’s 

departure on vacation to be taken by the president as a sign that the 

Times had caved to him.

76

 In 1966, Harrison E. Salisbury, a distinguished journalist with a 

solid record of objectivity, went to North Vietnam. The essence of 

his reports was that bombing in the North caused terrible damage, 

but did not harm the communist government’s will or ability to 

fight.

77 The Johnson administration and President Johnson himself 

were furious, as were many on the American right.

 As the war progressed, the Nixon administration joined its two 

predecessors in laying the blame for declining public support on 

the media. In 1977’s two-volume The Big Story, Peter Braestrup 

argued that media preconceptions and prejudices tainted reporting 

 

76 Jones, Alex, “The Best of Times,” blog post, The New Yorker, September 29, 2012, 

http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/newsdesk/2012/09/the-best-of-times.html; and 

Spencer C. Tucker, ed., The Encyclopedia of the of the Vietnam War: A Political, Social 

and Military History, p. 446 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2001). 

77 No Americans reported from Berlin during World War I, Berlin, or Tokyo during 

World War II, or from wherever the North Koreans happened to be during the Korean 

War. 
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

74

on the psychologically and politically critical Tet Offensive of 

1968.78 Braestrup’s book argued that the U.S. government was 

telling the truth when it said that Tet had been a crushing defeat for 

the communist Viet Cong. As Braestrup explained it, the tainted 

reporting caused both supporters and opponents of the war in the 

U.S. to regard it as a defeat and played a major role in reducing 

support for the war. Braestrup’s book remains well respected by 

all—including many of the correspondents he blamed for alarmist 

reporting.

 As things went on, the military kept telling the politicans that we 

were winning, and the media kept telling the American people that 

we were losing. That the military establishment came to mistrust, 

even hate, the media was not just unsurprising—it was inevitable.

To put it simplistically, after the war was lost, liberals mused about 

how Kennedy might have pulled out after the 1964 election and griped 

that the Johnson administration’s false account of the Gulf of Tonkin 

incident79 had led us into a war we could not win. Conservatives spoke of 

how the media and left-wing politicians kept the United States from 

prevailing in a war that was completely winnable. After all, we were not

defeated on the battlefield.80

 

78 Braestrup, Peter, The Big Story: How the American Press and Television Reported and 

Interpreted the Crisis of Tet 1968 in Vietnam and Washington (Boulder, CO: Westview 

Press, 1977). 

79 We now know this was no incident at all. The Navy reported that U.S. ships had been 

attacked by the North Vietnamese in the Gulf of Tonkin. This purported attack led 

President Johnson to ask permission to expand the war in response. Congress gave him 

that permission with the “Gulf of Tonkin Resolution,” which became the legislative basis 

for the war. Almost all serious historians of the period agree there was no such attack. It 

is not clear if Johnson knew the report was at best wildly exaggerated.

80 This paragraph, like the preceding one, is but a sketch of arguments often more 

nuanced and thoughtful than put forward here. Nevertheless, I believe that left and right 

may be fairly described as making their arguments align with these rhetorical stick 

figures. 
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

75

By 1981, the U.S. military was again finding its way following the 

decade-plus of debacle in Vietnam. The military did find its way, but was

nearly unanimous in declaring that journalists were prejudiced against it

and that nothing good would come from dealing with them.

B. Quivering Before the Camera

The March 10, 1981 New York Times story “U.S. Advisers Taking 

Care in El Salvador” began: “The military advisers here live cautiously, 

avoiding publicity with almost as much care as they avoid the Marxist 

guerrillas who might want to shoot them.”

81

The article describes how a group of “several hundred journalists”

had been “hounding them for pictures and interviews.” In an effort to 

satisfy the constant pressure from the media and demystify the U.S. 

presence, the embassy set up a press conference to expose some of the 

trainers to the press.

The article described the encounter:

At a news conference arranged by the United States Embassy 

today, one adviser, a helicopter maintenance instructor, said: 

“What makes you nervous—and I'll be honest with you guys—is 

the press. We have more problems with the press than with these 

people we are supposed to be aware of.” ...

The two officers who met with the press today at Ilopango Air 

Force Base on the outskirts of San Salvador declined to give their 

names, ages, or places of birth or to speak of their families.

The story went on to report:

 

81 Schumacher, Edward, “U.S. Advisers Taking Care in El Salvador,” New York Times, 

March 10, 1981, http://www.nytimes.com/1981/03/10/world/us-advisers-taking-care-inel-salvador.html.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

76

they always carry a pistol. Their orders are not to get involved in 

any combat, but they are authorized to shoot in self-defense or to 

protect a fellow adviser.

This odd little story makes the maintenance instructor look 

somewhat silly, but the story and his press statements accurately reflect 

two military preoccupations: (1) No one was to have any reason to believe 

our personnel were going into combat; and (2) nothing good could come 

from dealing with the media.

C. Embrace the Hacks82

This apprehension and mistrust of the press continued for the better 

part of a year. Things finally turned for the better with the arrival of 

MILGRP Commander Colonel John D. Waghelstein, a Special Forces 

officer who never served a tour in the Pentagon and had very limited

experience in other branches or disciplines. In the following section, Col. 

Waghelstein, a faculty member of the U.S. Naval War College since his 

retirement from the Army, describes how he came to grips with the 

MILGRP’s morbid fear of the media.

“Full Contact Media Relations,” by Col. John Waghelstein

Prior to my assumption of command of the U.S. Military Group in 

El Salvador, I spent a month at Monterrey’s Presidio (U.S. Army language 

school). In addition to brushing up on my Spanish, I had an opportunity to 

 

82 Eventually, the media and the embassy press officers were on good enough terms with 

one another to turn normally pejorative terms into ironic terms of endearment. Press 

office “flaks,” slang for a PR person whose job is to keep journalists away from facts (or 

at least principals), and “hacks” (taken from “hack writer”) began openly using the terms 

in one another’s presence in a friendly way.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

77

read the press coverage, both Latino and American. I was struck by just 

how bad the situation appeared in the press. The embassy traffic was more 

optimistic, but not by much.

It seemed to me that press relations were not just a matter of 

making the Salvadoran Army, the U.S. Army, or President Reagan, or 

anyone look good. This was a substantive issue and had to be addressed as 

such. The American people, the Congress, and much of the administration 

took their understanding of El Salvador from the media. With clear 

skepticism about administration policy afoot, getting a fair shake from the 

press was of major importance.

My brothers-in-arms did not universally accept my view on this 

matter. Upon arrival I had a brief exchange with the outgoing MILGRP 

commander who, when asked about his relations with the press,

responded, “I don’t talk to those bastards, they’re all a bunch of 

communists....”

About a week after taking command, I got a request from the 

outgoing embassy public affairs officer. Would I consent to an interview 

by a Christian Science Monitor correspondent whom I knew from 

Vietnam? For the price of lunch, I consented, with the caveat that anything 

I said was on background and not for attribution. 

The word got out that I would talk to the press, and my dance card 

quickly filled. Because the care and feeding of the Fourth Estate was not 

my primary function, some management was required. Don Hamilton, the 

new embassy public affairs officer, solved the problem with a once-aweek session for as many non-Salvadoran media as wished to come.

They could ask anything they wished, but by ground rules, I could 

be identified as a “foreign military observer” or a “western observer,”

83

 

83 This coyness had its purpose. Of course the Salvadorans knew I was the “observer.” 

But if they were not confronted with the fact that an American officer was making the 

comments, they would not have to demand an explanation of us. –J.W.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

78

but not both. While any question could be asked, not all would be 

answered. I made it very clear that I would not answer questions about 

intelligence or current Salvadoran operations. These weekly 

backgrounders continued for the remaining 18 months of my tour and, 

from what I understand, through the tours of at least the next two 

MILGRP commanders.

There were a number of concerns that occupied our efforts to 

support the El Salvadorans. The human rights issue was by far the most 

vexing. The issues were real and horrifying and there was ample reason to 

believe that the amorphous blobs referred to as “the right” and “the death 

squads” were responsible for much of the damage. Beyond that, there 

were obvious if not specific overlaps between the military and the security 

forces84 and the “death squads.” The military’s 50-year human rights 

record inspired no confidence. No military officer had ever been convicted 

of a human rights violation or other serious crime.

There were plenty in Washington in and out of government who 

believed the whole effort to save the Salvadoran government85 was bad 

policy and immoral to boot. Our security assistance was specifically and 

generally linked to human rights.

I knew I could not “brief away” the human rights issues. Nor could 

I “win over” the press. There would have to be palpable improvement for 

that to happen. At a minimum, the death squad count, which had fallen to 

about 250 monthly from its October 1980 high of 750, could not rise 

again.

But even as we waited for further improvement on human rights, I 

resolutely believed that we could tamp down fears that the U.S. was 

beginning another Vietnam with a handful of “advisors” who would 

 

84 All the different police, paramilitary, and military (National Police, Treasury Police, 

National Guard, Army, Navy, Air Force, and even the Fire Department) were led from 

the same pool of military school graduates. –J.W.

85 The junta was replaced by an elected Constituent Assembly as I arrived in country in 

1982. –J.W.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

79

eventually become combatants. If we could clear that hurdle, we could 

have a basis for more balanced reporting. 

Our first break in the advisor/combatant issue came when the PAO 

told me that LIFE was eager for a story, with photos, on the trainers. At 

that time, LIFE was still a monthly magazine that covered news and had 

an important audience. The PAO and I talked it over, vetted it with the 

embassy front office, and set it up.

The conditions were simple. No current or intelligence operations.

Access would be limited to coverage of a SEAL Mobile Training Team 

(MTT) working with the Salvadoran Marine Commandos in Usulután 

Department and to a Special Forces MTT training the El Salvadoran 

Airborne unit at the Air Force Base at Ilopango.

My charge to officers and men in the MTTs was straightforward:

Tell the truth, but do not discuss current or future ops. Emphasis should be 

on our mission as trainers, not advisers. 

The headline alone justified the effort: “Tutors of War.” The 

embassy and State Department loved it. My other boss, SOUTHCOM 

Commanding General Wallace Nutting, viewed the article differently. I 

received a heavily marked-up copy by courier noting the following sins in 

red marker: One of the SEAL trainers was reported as saying one of the El 

Salvadoran troops he was working with was not the smartest; one of the 

photos showed one of the SEALs carrying a handgun in his belt; one of 

the Special Forces NCOs was photographed in a T-shirt, not wearing his 

uniform jacket.

An Army general was not the only one with heartburn. My 

executive officer, SEAL Lt. Commander Albert A. Schaufelberger, who 

loved the assignment and had already been approved for an extension,

received the following letter from his detailer:

Mar 4 1983

Dear Al,

I’m writing to discuss two subjects. One is personal, the 

other (albeit related) is professional.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

80

Let me begin by saying that I felt the article you and Petty 

Officer G.L. Stubblefie allowed to be written in Life Magazine is 

the most damaging written item against the community since the 

Washington Post article in 1978. Even worse, it may result in 

SEALs being removed from El Salvador and damage our 

continued presence in Central America. It was exactly the kind of 

article our liberal public needs to use as ammunition to get us out 

of that country. It also shows why the SF’s should replace us as the 

sole advisors. At least they wear uniforms, have regulation on 

military appearance standards, don’t degrade their counterparts, 

and don’t parade sidearms openly & dangerously like a Saigon 

Cowboy. You have both been compromised. IF you were any kind 

of target before, you are a bigger one now.

This has already resulted in further degradation of our 

efforts in that a Senator came on the 11:00 Niteline commentary 1 

March 1983 to berate SEALs in El Salvador. I’m sure there is 

more to come.

My second reason for writing is to let you know that I am 

in the process of attempting to line up a relief for you as quickly as 

possible. I intend to program the first qualified individual available 

to come through the training pipeline into your position. Your 

original PRD is still August 1983, but it will likely slip to a later 

date. As soon as an individual is identified, we will notify the 

replacement officer to run through the chain for approval.

Regards,

Signed

G.L. Stubblefied

Lcdr USN

Special Warfare Assignment

When Al came to me with that bit of news, I decided I needed to 

do what I could to prevent his forced relief. The first consideration was 

that he was a fine officer making an outsized contribution. He was trusted 
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

81

by and popular with the Country Team86 and with his Salvadoran 

counterparts. His extension would provide continuity after I rotated out in 

June. The other part of the equation was that I thought Al was getting a 

raw deal. He did not dream up this article and certainly did not “allow” it 

to be published in LIFE. 

Given a sense that a personal and professional error was in train 

and that I was absolutely furious, I did what any self-righteous hot head 

would do. I jumped channels and wrote a letter to someone with the 

authority to help:

16 March 1983

Admiral James D. Watkins

Chief of Naval Operations

Navy Department

Washington, D.C. 20350

Dear Admiral Watkins:

LCDR Schaufelberger shared the enclosed March 4 letter 

with me as it deals with a possible curtailment of his tour. I find 

the letter erroneous both in fact and conclusion. While all Special 

Forces troops shown in the LIFE magazine are in uniform, it is by 

no means true that they “wear uniforms having regulation military 

appearance standards and they don’t parade their sidearms 

openly...” The only time military personnel under my command 

wear uniforms is when they are in large numbers working with 

large groups of Salvadoran trainees. In San Salvador we all wear 

civilian clothes. When they are in small groups outside the capital 

it becomes a judgment call depending on training areas, population 

 

86 The Country Team consists of the ambassador, DCM, all State Department section 

chiefs, and the heads of all other agencies at post. The team meets at least weekly. 
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

82

density, type of training, and the threat. This applies to SEALs as 

well as soldiers. Nothing would compromise personnel faster than 

appearing in U.S. uniform in La Union or any other town. The 

same applies to “regulation military appearance.” It was with some 

reluctance and at the specific urging of the Regional Security 

Officer that I gave up my “high and tight,” “airborne” haircut and 

allowed my hair to grow to a less conspicuous length. As for 

parading side arms openly, there is nothing conspicuous about that 

here in the capital, much less in a departmental capital that hosts a 

military base.

Then there is the matter of conclusions. While the Navy 

Military Personnel Command Staff may find the LIFE magazine 

article “the most damaging written item against the community 

since 1978,” the consensus of this mission is that it has been 

helpful to our efforts in El Salvador. The article had its genesis in 

the contacts between our PAO and the associate editor of LIFE 

magazine. The idea was then approved by me and had the full 

knowledge and consent of the Ambassador.

The Ambassador and his deputy and the PAO monitor the 

coverage of El Salvador in all major U.S. news organs. It is their 

opinion as well as mine that the LIFE article was positive and 

helped further public understanding of our policies in El Salvador.

Our PAO, whose judgment I respect since he has served in 

Public Affairs at six overseas missions, ranging through 

Kissinger’s Shuttle Diplomacy, three overseas presidential visits, 

and the Sinai Field Mission, has explained to me that even if you 

can persuade a reputable publication to print something entirely 

favorable on a controversial topic, the effect is to make readers 

somewhat suspicious. Yes, some of our trainers are quoted making 

remarks that are a bit embarrassing, but that is the price you pay 

for giving journalists access to individuals. From the point of view 

of our mission in El Salvador one thing was made very clear: Our 

trainers do not go on combat missions. Especially in the aftermath 
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

83

of the wounding of SSGT Stanley87 this is a message we are most 

happy to get across.

As for the Senator’s report on the ABC Late Evening News, 

it concerns us very little. He is no friend of our policy here and 

those are the licks we have come to expect. Had it not been for the 

LIFE article it would have been another issue. Our PAO has 

already taken Chris Whipple88 to task for having said that trainers 

are “much closer to combat” than was generally supposed. When 

the PAO pointed out to Whipple that everyone, including the PAO, 

Vice Consuls, and our secretaries are much closer to combat than 

was generally understood, Whipple readily conceded that he 

should have said just that and has promised that in any future 

comment he might make on the subject he will make that clear.

From the general tone of the letter, it sounds like someone 

is expecting something more like an “All Hands” article. Those of 

us in daily contact with a vigorous, inquisitive corps of 

professional journalists know and understand what is possible and 

what is not. My Ambassador is not upset, the Deputy Chief of 

Mission is not upset, the PAO is not upset, and most importantly 

for LCDR Schaufelberger, I am not upset. Given that the 

individuals most directly concerned with and most closely 

monitoring press coverage of El Salvador (and the military trainers 

here) believe the article to have been a plus for U.S. policy, I am a 

little surprised that the Naval Military Personnel Command is so 

excited.

I find LCDR Schaufelberger to be a dedicated and capable 

officer and I maxed his last fitness report to reflect my satisfaction 

with his performance. In view of his valuable contributions to our 

mission here, I recommend that he be permitted to stay as long as 

 

87 Noted elsewhere

88 Author of the story in LIFE
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

84

he wishes. He was given a verbal OK by his detailer for a one-year 

extension prior to the LIFE magazine article. I would appreciate 

your taking a hand in this matter.

(Signed)

JOHN D. WAGHELSTEIN

COL, Inf Commanding

In due course, I received a nice response:

THE CHIEF OF NAVAL PERSONNEL

25 April 1983

Dear Colonel Waghelstein,

Admiral G.L. Stubblefie asked that I respond to your recent 

letter to him concerning Lieutenant Commander A.A. 

Schaufelberger, USN. The letter by Lieutenant Commander 

Stubblefield contained his personal views about the contents of the 

LIFE magazine article. His concerns were made as a member of 

the Naval Special Warfare community and should more 

appropriately have been made in a separate personal letter; he has 

been so counseled.

As previously agreed upon between Lieutenant 

Commander Schaufelberger and his detailer, his original rotation 

date of August 1983 has been extended one year until August 1984.

He will be kept informed of his future assignment as well as plans 

for his relief via the normal Navy channels. I appreciate the fine 

work of you and your men.

With kindest regards.

The letter took five weeks to get back because the vice admiral 

sent his mail through channels. I was pleased with the letter; 
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

85

SOUTHCOM’s General Nutting was fine with the contents but less 

pleased with me. I had jumped channels and written a cheeky letter to a 

four-star in another service. Although incensed, he came to recognize that 

better-informed journalism advanced our efforts.

There was much more work to be done with the El Salvadoran 

military’s relations with the media. An opening came when an NBC 

television reporter asked to cover our training. An MTT working in nearby 

San Juan Opico provided the opportunity. The base commander very 

reluctantly agreed to allow NBC to cover our work.

His reluctance evaporated when he met correspondent Bonnie 

Anderson. Bonnie, a former tennis professional on the Virginia Slims tour,

was blonde, tall, fit, attractive, and spoke flawless Spanish. The 

Salvadoran base commander was smitten. He personally gave her the 

grand tour and as much time and access as she and her crew wanted. In 

addition to our trainers, Ms. Anderson’s crew filmed the commander’s 

new clinic and focused on a locally developed prosthetic leg they were 

using to outfit maimed soldiers. 

The night the piece aired, the Salvadoran embassy in Washington,

alerted by the State Department, had their Betamax recorder rolling during 

the NBC Nightly News. When the tape got to San Salvador, the Armed 

Forces were shocked and pleased. Although they repeated mistakes with 

the media, we began to see movement toward a more accommodating 

ESAF. The assistant Chief of Staff was designated as spokesman when 

they decided to give interviews to important journalists. Media access 

improved, especially away from the capital.

Author’s Comment on Colonel Waghelstein’s Account

Colonel Waghelstein did more than accommodate the press. He 

trained them. Most of them were too young for the draft, for Vietnam, and 

knew as much about insurgency and irregular warfare as, to use one of his 

favorite phrases, “a pig knows about Sunday.” Patiently, Waghelstein 

walked the journalists through it:
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

86

 Most wars ended neither with the government delivering a 

knockout punch to the insurgents nor with a guerrilla takeover. The 

ends of most wars are negotiated.

 The guerrillas have to be persuaded, almost always militarily, that 

they cannot shoot their way into power. Only then are meaningful 

negotiations and a political solution possible. 

 How do you know who is winning in a war without front lines? 

 Wars like this one are for “sergeants and lieutenants.”

 The Salvadoran military wanted, but had limited use for, ground 

attack aircraft and almost none for high-speed aircraft, armor, or 

artillery.

This educational effort helped.

It personalized our military personnel. From these official but 

informal contacts came invitations to social events, embassy-vs.-

journalists softball games, and personal friendships. This was not as hard 

as it might seem. West Point might not be Yale, but our military and 

diplomatic officers are not as different from journalists as some suppose.

Most came from the broad American middle class and attended the same 

high schools, played on the same sports teams. If you took family portraits 

of the military officers and the journalists right before high school 

graduation, you probably could not tell the future officers from the future 

correspondents. And both groups are bound by patriotism. Military 

officers’ patriotism is on constant display, and their duty to country is a 

sworn obligation. But journalists are patriots, too. Most of the journalists 

who covered El Salvador have seen the world, seen it and examined it—

and they have come home to America. Friendly contacts are actually fairly 

easy if you define patriotism more broadly and give people the benefit of 

the doubt.

Yes, a handful of journalists regarded playing shortstop in a 

softball games as derogation of the First Amendment; but then again, 
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

87

some official personnel regarded social contact with journalists as akin to 

fraternizing with the enemy.

D. Shaming the Devil

Most of the foreign correspondents in El Salvador were American 

citizens. This gave us an extra duty: The U.S. government, especially the 

State Department, has a positive duty to try to protect American citizens 

abroad. Most of the journalists rightly believed they knew how to take 

care of themselves and that if they got in trouble their news organization 

would help. This was true of the most experienced correspondents 

working for the big news organizations. But greener correspondents or 

those working for smaller and poorer media outlets often needed help, 

especially when they felt threatened by the Salvadoran army. This

happened a few times a year. The public affairs officer usually let such 

journalists stay at his well-guarded house and had his bodyguard and 

driver take them to the airport so they could leave the country to “cool off”

for a few days. In one case, it was not the PAO, but the Naval Attaché, a 

Marine lieutenant colonel, who took in a threatened journalist.

Cordial or formal, the concept that drove relations with the press 

missionwide was straightforward: Tell the truth and shame the devil.

There was little chance of deceiving anyone making an effort to 

inquire about conditions in El Salvador. During the 1982 elections, the 

Salvadoran government accredited over 1,500 journalists— in a country 

the size of Massachusetts and with a population of 5 million. The press 

was everywhere, and collectively they had cultivated sources throughout 

Central America, including with the FDR and FMLN (with whom they 

sometimes traveled).

The candor policy meant that when the Salvadoran Armed Forces 

falsely announced that they repulsed a guerrilla attack and inflicted scores 

of casualties, we did not back them up. We did not go out of our way to 

blab it around, but if someone asked us we would tell the truth: “Well, we 
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

88

know nothing of FMLN casualties, but the Army lost 18 killed and 34 

wounded.”

The tone for this unparalleled official candor was set by 

Ambassador Hinton, who made some of the least diplomatic public 

statements ever by a senior American diplomat, including the following:89

Hinton: “Graduates of the Salvadoran Military Academy get a 

first-rate high-school education.” (1982)

* * *

Joan Didion90: “Did you prevent Roberto D’Aubuisson from 

becoming interim president after his ticket won a plurality in the 

elections?”

Hinton: “We stopped that one on the one-yard line.” (1982)

* * *

NBC Producer: “When you were ambassador in Zaire, didn’t 

Mobutu declare you persona non grata, expel you from Zaire?”

Hinton: “Yes.”

NBC Producer: “Didn’t he say you were planning to assassinate 

him?”

Hinton: “Yes, he did.”

NBC Producer: “Well, were you?”

Hinton: “If I wanted to kill the son-of-a-bitch he would be dead!”

NBC Producer: “Is that on the record?”

 

89 All these statements were made in the presence of the author. In June 2013, 

Ambassador Hinton confirmed his statements.

90 Writing for the New York Review of Books
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

89

Hinton: “Damned right it is, ‘If I wanted to kill the son-of-a-bitch, 

he’d be dead!’” (1982)

* * *

Christopher Dickey91: “Why do you spend so much time with the 

press?”

Hinton: “I want to be sure our story gets told, told to everyone. Do 

you know how hard it is to get a piece of paper onto the president’s 

desk? He gets a press briefing before he gets his intelligence 

briefing.” (1983)

Gob-smack candor became a hallmark of the entire embassy.

Formal, written mission press guidance was issued by the Public 

Affairs Officer in the summer of 1983. The guidance began:

Ambassador Hinton’s policy on dealing with the press is quite 

clear: Any member of the mission may speak to the press, but no 

member of the mission is obliged to speak to the press.

The benefits of such a policy are manifest—a better 

understanding of mission activities and policies is in the best 

interest of the U.S. Government and the U.S. public.

This mission guidance contained caveats about following the 

instructions of one’s supervisor, how to avoid having words put in one’s

mouth, and being careful to confine remarks to one’s own area of 

knowledge or expertise. It concluded: 

The vast majority of journalists with whom we deal are 

responsible professionals, doing their best to report a difficult and 

 

91 Then with The Washington Post
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

90

confusing story at considerable personal risk. Many of these 

reporters are more knowledgeable about developments in the 

region than most Foreign Service personnel. We want to help 

journalists and others understand what is happening here, but we 

do not owe any journalist a juicy quote or a voyeur’s peek at 

policy formulation.

After Ambassador Hinton left, Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering 

was similarly candid (though less colorful in his language). Waghelstein’s 

successors as MILGRP commander continued the weekly briefings and 

the pattern of candor.

In time, this institutional candor paid off.

Truth was not easy to find in El Salvador. For all its improvements, 

the ESAF never took onboard the idea that candid descriptions of setbacks 

would help in the long run.

92 The FMLN had Radio Venceremos, a 

clandestine station that offered the news with classic communist 

flamboyance, distortions, exaggerations, and outright lies. The human 

rights office of the archdiocese was constantly ready to accept FMLN 

versions over those of the Army. This led to several odd outcomes, but we 

in the embassy came to know one of them very well.

In a meeting with Ambassador Pickering, Aryeh Neier, then head 

of the human rights group Americas Watch, recommended that the 

embassy give more weight to the numbers from the Church’s human rights 

office. According to Neier, all of that Church office’s numbers were 

supported by eyewitness testimony. Ambassador Pickering took Neier up 

on his suggestion. The embassy human rights officer examined their 

 

92 One commander, a lieutenant colonel, in charge of the Armed Forces Press Committee 

(known by its Spanish acronym COPREFA) told the embassy PAO, who had urged more 

candor: “We have lied so much for so long that if we suddenly step up and say, ‘We 

suffered 32 casualties today,’ people with think it is really 3,200. We have trained them 

to believe that everything is worse than we say.”
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

91

records and found several discrepancies in their records and an interesting 

example.

When the FMLN overran an important Salvadoran Army garrison 

in Sensuntepeque, the Army lost several killed, wounded, and missing.

The Army was not known to have inflicted any casualties. To save face, 

the ESAF announced that they had killed some 200 attackers. The 

Church’s human rights office records showed that the army had murdered 

some 200 unarmed civilians at that place and time—so much for 

eyewitness accounts.

93

In a world where no one could count on the government, the

guerrillas, or even the Church for facts, the embassy emerged as the most 

reliable source of information. Skeptics and opponents of U.S. policy 

knew we did not tell them all we knew. They knew we had a viewpoint, 

but they could not afford to accept anyone’s assertions without checking 

with us. The cumulative effort was of vast importance. It gave us two 

things seldom obtained: (1) knowledge of developing stories, and (2) a 

chance to tell our side of the story.

This trust had huge value over time, and it was not that hard to 

obtain. We had to set aside preconceptions about the media. We had to 

accept that a few reporters and news organizations were a lost cause; they 

hated the policy and were out to demonstrate that it was wrong. We had to 

work hard to acknowledge the flaws of our Salvadoran counterparts yet 

not paint the policy goals as hopeless. The very hardest thing to do was to 

avoid comment on some of the profoundly stupid things U.S. politicians of 

the left and right sometimes said.

 

93 On the whole, the Roman Catholic Church in El Salvador played a salutatory role 

during the Civil War. Archbishop Romero had been confrontational, but his successor 

Archbishop Rivera y Damas was less so. Although the Church’s human rights office, 

Tutela Legal, was regularly manipulated by the FMLN, it was more straightforward than 

its predecessor, which Archbishop Rivera y Damas abolished for its flagrant bias toward 

the FMLN.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

92

There was another element to the media piece: All sides were 

trying to turn the media to their advantage. The FMLN allowed media to 

join them in their camps and sometimes on their movements. The FMLN 

treated visiting journalists well, although they were severe with 

unexpected visitors, fearing penetration attempts. Even then, they did not 

harm them, but kept them isolated until their bona fides as journalists 

could be verified.

The embassy tried to use the media, too, making every reasonable 

effort to get our story told. Once again, Colonel Waghelstein tells the 

story:

We wanted to highlight the work of Colonel Sigifredo 

Ochoa, commander in Cabañas. He was by far the most effective 

Departmental Commander at the time. His counterinsurgency 

methods were worthy of cloning and included widespread civic 

action, extensive civilian–military cooperation, and effective 

intelligence operations. We knew the Salvadoran military followed 

themselves in the U.S. press. If Ochoa came off well, his 

colleagues might try to emulate him.

We got a press visit to Cabañas set up. Before they left, I 

briefed them on things to look for and questions that would 

demonstrate their grasp of counter-insurgency MOE. They 

returned from the trip suitably impressed. 

At the other end of the spectrum was the Usulután 

Department Commander, who should have been replaced long ago.

We encouraged the press to go to Usulután and (if they could find 

the commander sober and vertical) they could ask him the same set 

of questions they had asked Colonel Ochoa. The press came 

through with some embarrassing coverage and there was a change 

of command in Usulután. 

The worst at dealing with journalists was COPREFA (Comité de 

Prensa de las Fuersas Armadas, or Press Committee of the Armed Forces).
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

93

This official media source for the Salvadoran military was originally 

staffed by a pair of alcoholic officers. The international press referred to 

them as “bottle caps”—either on the bottle or on the floor. Their alcohol 

problems were the least of it.

When a photo in the New York Times miscaptioned Salvadoran 

soldiers as guerrillas, they called the embassy public affairs officer over to 

give some advice: “What can we do about this disinformation? This makes

the guerrillas look as well-equipped as we are. How can we punish the 

photographer?”

The PAO responded, “It is a mistake, not disinformation. The 

photographer does not write the caption. I would let it go, but if you want 

to do something, write a letter to the New York Times ridiculing them for 

their error. The Times will hate that. They take themselves very seriously.”

No one wrote a letter to the Times. The next night, persons never 

officially identified broke into the photographer’s apartment while he was 

not at home. The intruders assaulted his Salvadoran girlfriend and trashed 

the apartment.

The Salvadoran military and security forces relied almost wholly 

on intimidation and, on at least one occasion, murder. It is almost certain 

that the Salvadoran Army tricked four Dutch journalists into thinking they 

were being led to a rendezvous with the FMLN. They were actually being 

led into an “ambush” in which they were “accidentally” killed by the 

Army.

94 It seems likely this was intended to prevent other journalists from 

attempting to travel with the FMLN.

 

94 The official version of the journalists’ death was that they had been stuck by rounds 

from Army machine gun fire from a distance of at least a hundred meters—far enough 

that it was not possible to determine that their cameras were not weapons and that their 

appearance was nothing like that of the typical Salvadoran. In 1982, the author discussed 

the matter with MILGRP officers who had seen the bodies. They said that they, who had 

all seen combat in Vietnam, did not see how the Salvadoran Army’s version could be true. 

The dead had been hit too many times in the torso. According to these American officers, 

someone hit in the torso from a hundred meters or more usually goes down immediately 

and is hardly ever hit more than twice. 
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94

Most of the Salvadoran press was of little moment. There was 

almost no substantive political or military coverage in Salvadoran press by 

1982, and several journalists had been murdered. The last element of what 

might be described as an opposition paper had been bombed out in 1980.

Salvadoran television literally carried no news programs until about 1986,

when a new station opened. The two leading papers sent no 

correspondents to cover the war. Nor did the papers publish hard news 

items not derived from press releases. The Miami-dwelling publisher of 

the reactionary El Diario de Hoy reviewed every word of the first 12 

pages via computer and modem (which was very advanced for the early 

1980s). Salvadoran radio was vibrant and active, on the other hand, and 

was the primary information source for most Salvadorans.

Over the years, embassy relations with the media, even those 

skeptical of U.S. policy, were handled with great civility. Even when the 

disagreements became pointed, voices were seldom raised.

E. Crossing Swords

Of course there were exceptions.

Ambassador Thomas R. Pickering, famously even-tempered and 

widely regarded as the most accomplished American diplomat of his 

generation,

95 gave an early 1984 interview to Christian Science Monitor 

Central America correspondent Dennis Volman. During the interview,

 

95 Pickering came to El Salvador having already served as executive secretary of the State 

Department, ambassador to Nigeria, and ambassador to Jordan. He left El Salvador to 

become ambassador to Israel. Later on, he was ambassador to India, to the United 

Nations (during the first Gulf War), and to Russia. He ended his State Department career 

as under secretary for political affairs, the number-three position in the State Department. 

After retiring, he became senior vice president for international affairs for Boeing, where 

he was deeply involved in multiple Boeing/Airbus issues. In 2012, he and former 

chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mike Mullen chaired the State Department’s 

Accountability Review Board that examined the death of U.S. Ambassador Christopher 

Stevens in Benghazi, Libya.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

95

Volman said that the embassy’s deputy chief of mission had cavalierly 

endangered the life of the Monitor’s resident correspondent, Christopher 

Hedges. Ambassador Pickering said that his deputy had done nothing 

more than send a clipping of a Monitor article written by Hedges. Volman 

said that he believed that neither the ambassador nor the mission as a 

whole had a sufficiently sophisticated understanding of Salvadoran society 

to understand that sending a clipping might be seen by the recipient (who 

was the Salvadoran colonel commanding the National Police) as an 

“signal” that Hedges should be “taken care of.”

Ambassador Pickering did not raise his voice, but interrupted 

Volman to ask, “Are you speaking for the Christian Science Monitor or 

for yourself?”

Long pause.

“For the Monitor,” answered Volman.

“I do not believe you. I will be in Boston96 next week and I will 

make a point of seeing Charlotte Sakowski97 to verify that you are 

speaking for the Monitor.”

That ended the interview.98 Volman continued as Central America 

bureau chief, but never again asked a question or sought an interview with 

anyone at the embassy in San Salvador.

F. Helping Out

On Saturday, March 26, 1983, Col. Waghelstein and PAO Don 

Hamilton were having coffee on the back terrace of the PAO’s residence 

when the phone rang.

The caller was Joan Ambrose-Newton, BBC radio correspondent 

and a legal, permanent U.S. resident. The Treasury Police were at her 

 

96 Home of the Christian Science Monitor.

97 Executive editor of the Monitor.

98 The author was present during the interview.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

96

home, arresting her and another U.S. reporter, T.J. Western. They would 

not tell her why but said they were taking them to jail at Treasury Police 

headquarters. No, neither of them had been hurt or roughed up. Yes, they 

said they were Treasury Police, but only one showed an ID. It was 

expired.

“I’m on my way,” said the PAO. The colonel and the PAO took 

the PAO’s light-armored vehicle and headed for Treasury Police HQ. Both 

knew the Treasury Police’s reputation. 

All uniformed Salvadoran personnel—Army, Navy, Air Forces, 

National Guard, Police, Treasury Police, even the fire department—were 

led by graduates of the Salvadoran Military School. They sometimes 

moved from service to service during the course of a career. All these 

organizations (except the fire department) had a terrible reputation for 

human rights abuses, but the Treasury Police had the worst reputation of 

all. They were said to have “arrested” hundreds, maybe thousands, but to 

hold few prisoners. 

Neither Hamilton nor Waghelstein had ever been to Treasury 

Police headquarters. Strictly speaking, both were veering outside the scope 

of their duties by going to the Treasury Police. Protection of U.S. citizens 

is the work of the consular section of the embassy. Such liaison as the 

embassy maintained with law enforcement agencies was conducted either 

by the Defense Attachés or (for matters relating to the protection of the 

embassy) by the State Department’s Regional Security Office. Thus, the 

PAO had never had occasion to visit any police headquarters, and U.S. 

law forbade the MILGRP Commander to offer equipment, training, or

counsel to a law enforcement agency.

99 He had never exchanged more 

than pleasantries with Treasury Police officers.

They were mindful of their departure from established norms and 

while en route each radioed the the Marine on Post One in the embassy

 

99 This prohibition originated some years before, when police organizations in several 

countries had been involved in wretched human rights abuses.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

97

with a request that the Marine notify others. Their choice not to wait make 

to the calls themselves was deliberate: They did not wait because they did 

not trust the Treasury Police. Yes, the Treasury Police had acted with 

unusual deference by permitting Ms. Ambrose-Newton to call an embassy 

official. That was encouraging, but Salvadoran military and security 

personnel had acted with brazen brutality in the past. Both men considered 

it important to put official American eyes on the arrested reporters to 

establish beyond doubt that both were alive and unharmed before they 

went into Treasury Police cells.

Delay at Treasury Police headquarters occasioned but a phone call 

from the gate. A U.S. Embassy first secretary and a colonel in the U.S. 

Army (out of uniform) had come to visit two reporters who had been 

arrested.

When their vehicle arrived at the main building, Treasury Police 

Commander Colonel Nicolás Carranza and two other Salvadoran men 

were waiting. Carranza, tall, thin, and greying, was immediately 

recognizable. One of the other men wore the uniform and rank of a 

Salvadoran major. The third man was in civilian clothes but had a Colt M1911 A-1 pistol, cocked and locked, stuck in the center of his belt in front.

Carranza was polite but aloof. The man in civilian clothes scowled and 

made no secret of his anger at the presence of the Americans.

Col. Carranza politely but without warmth asked Colonel 

Waghelstein, “What brings you to our headquarters today?”

The American colonel, mindful of the strictures under which he 

operated, introduced himself and directed the question to Hamilton.

“We have come to inquire into the matter of the arrested reporters.

We want to know the charges and to meet with them to inquire as to their 

treatment.”

The man in civilian clothes was not having a bit of it.

“They are detained on matters related to the internal security of El 

Salvador. This is not a matter of concern to the embassy.”

Hamilton came back levelly, “Almost every nation, including the 

Republic of El Salvador and the United States of America, have signed a 
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98

treaty promising to facilitate inquiries concerning the welfare and 

whereabouts of their countries’ citizens when those citizens are in the 

territory of another signatory.”

He was hoping no one would raise the fact that Ms. AmbroseNewton was a South African citizen. U.S. consular access rights might not

extend to residents who are not citizens. He did not know where the 

nearest South African consulate might be, but he was confident it was not 

close. Nor did he believe, in those days of apartheid, that they would be 

anxious to jump to the defense of a “colored” South African.

Postures and voice tones were getting stiff between Hamilton and 

the man in civilian attire. Carranza stepped in, keeping his tone even.

“Why does the American embassy want to check on these people? Surely 

you do not believe anything would befall them while they are with us?”

The PAO guessed that Carranza was trying to calm things without 

appearing to undercut his subordinate.

“Well, my colonel,” he replied. “According to one of the reporters, 

none of the men making the arrest was in uniform, and only one had 

identification and it was expired. We merely wish to be certain that they 

are securely in the hands of the Treasury Police. I am sure you know that 

people pretending to be Treasury Police have committed lamentable acts.”

Pointed though the exchange had been, things were now calmer. In 

the meantime, the Naval Attaché, Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel 

Phillip Ray, who was well known to the Treasury Police, and the Vice 

Consul in charge of U.S. citizen services had arrived.100

Further introductions were in order and pleasantries of a sort were 

exchanged. After several minutes, all the parties came to an agreement:

Ms. Ambrose-Newton was to be released to the custody of Lt. Col. Ray.

 

100 The attachés played an interesting role throughout. By definition, their primary duty 

was to gather and report information on the host country military. And because they did 

not offer military assistance, they were not banned from dealing with local law 

enforcement. The Defense Attaché’s office assigned the Treasury Police to the naval 

attaché, who was always a Marine.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

99

She would live in his house and could leave only to go to the homes or 

offices of other official Americans. Mr. Western would remain in custody, 

but consular officials could visit him at any time.

This situation continued for a few weeks. Eventually, Mr. Western 

was released to the custody of his congressman, James Oberstar of 

Wisconsin, who escorted him from the country. Cynics within the 

embassy suggested that the ambassador had asked the Salvadorans to 

release the prisoner to Oberstar as a means of winning his support for the 

administration’s Salvador policy.101 At the same time, Ms. AmbroseNewton was released from the benign custody of the Naval Attaché and 

left the country. She later returned to El Salvador, where she worked 

without incident for over a year.

This small episode illustrates not just mission efforts to be friendly 

and helpful to the media, but also the high degree of coordination and 

cooperation within the embassy family. This kind of deliberate, thoughtful 

departure from assigned lanes helped make the entire mission function 

more smoothly.

G. The Guest House

The problems of Western and Ambrose-Newton were far from the 

only ones faced by American reporters and news agencies. From 1982 to 

the fall of 1986, the embassy public affairs officer freely offered the 

protection of his diplomatic status to any journalist who sought it.102

Because his official residence, purely by coincidence, had a separate 

guesthouse, this was not a significant sacrifice. The PAO guesthouse

provided temporary shelter to journalists from Newsweek, Reuters, UPI, 

AP, the Guardian, and several other news organizations.

 

101 Ambassador Hinton denies he did this.

102 A 1986 earthquake made the embassy chancery uninhabitable and moved press 

operations to the residence of the public affairs officer. 
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100

H. Graciousness from a Pillar of American Socialism

On the eve of the 1985 municipal and legislative elections in El 

Salvador, a group of Americans strongly opposed to U.S. support for the 

(by then) constitutionally elected government got themselves accredited as 

election observers, with help from the U.S. embassy. They asked the 

embassy for a briefing, and Ambassador Pickering invited them to his 

residence to get an informal brief from the principal team members.103

The group was emphatically not persuaded by the country team 

arguments to the effect that the government was legitimate, that the 

elections were honest, and that human rights abuses were down 

dramatically from a few years before. Even so, the activists were mostly 

polite and attentive—mostly. 

As Defense Attaché Colonel L.C. “Chan” Duryea was describing 

the Salvadoran military, a woman of perhaps 50 rose to her feet and began 

to speak with trembling and almost tear-filled voice: “I am a New England 

Quaker and I cannot believe what I am hearing here. I do not believe what 

you people are saying. You are covering up for murder! And when I look 

at you, Colonel, with your short hair ...”

She stopped for breath.

Almost immediately, 70-year-old Bayard Rustin,104 who had 

organized Martin Luther King, Jr’s. famous 1963 March on Washington, 

stood and, leaning on his cane, spoke in a quiet, steady voice, “I am a New 

York Quaker. In our congregation we do not disparage people. Not for the 

color of their skin; not for their grooming standards. Colonel, I ask you to 

believe that Quakers do not condemn anyone for their appearance.”

Rustin went on to thank the embassy staff for efforts to provide 

them our view of the circumstances. His quiet dignity and gentle rebuke 

 

103 The author was present at this briefing.

104 Rustin was African-American.
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deflated the self-righteous among his companions and effectively closed 

the briefing.

Military or civilian personnel assigned to execute controversial 

policy should expect at least verbal abuse and negative stereotyping from 

those opposing the policy. On the bright side, even those clearly on the 

other side of the issue can be gracious.
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IX. Leverage? What Leverage?

By 1984, the U.S. was giving the Salvadoran government $1.5 

million daily, two-thirds as economic assistance; the rest was military.

That should have given the embassy enormous leverage. It 

sometimes seemed to. Salvadoran politicians and military personnel would 

devote endless hours talking to U.S. congressmen, administration officials, 

and so on. They would offer flawless talking points fine-tuned to resonate 

in American ears. The military renounced any claim to direct political 

power.

But there was one thing the Salvadoran military would not give 

up—their impunity from criminal prosecution. Scores of thousands of 

people were killed through El Salvador’s civil war. Most of them were 

murdered—not killed in combat, but murdered. Although the FMLN and 

its predecessors did plenty of killing outside combat, there is no real doubt 

that military and other security forces were responsible for an 

overwhelming majority of the murders.

Even with constant pressure from the United States to hold 

individuals accountable for their criminal acts, those who sought judicial 

process and punishment were terribly disappointed by the results. Even in 

the highest-profile murders, justice could not be wrung from the officer 

corps, as the following examples show:

 Charges were never brought in the murders of the FDR 

(democratic socialist) leaders.

 The murder of the American nuns brought jail for the junior 

enlisted men involved. These men were pardoned in the general amnesty 

of 1993. In spite of profound suspicions that the enlisted men would not 

have done this on their own, no one up the chain was ever seriously 

investigated.
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 There was never a Salvadoran investigation into the murder 

of American journalist John Sullivan. One legislator from the far-right 

ARENA party tried to prevent a forensic examination of the remains.

 The Sheraton case, where many details are known, may be 

the most frustrating:

o The Salvadoran Supreme Court justice who appointed the 

investigating magistrate was the uncle of one of the prime 

suspects, Captain Ernesto Ávila. 

o Lt. López Sibrián went for a lineup in full dress uniform 

with his hat on, his very distinctive bright red hair dyed 

black, and his mustache shaved off. He had not been in 

uniform the night of the murders. 

o Sheraton Hotel owner Ricardo Sol Mesa told hotel staff 

members they might “end up under the hotel” if they 

testified.

o Hans Christ, who fingered the victims, was arrested but 

released for lack of evidence.

o Major Denis Morán, who was with all the other suspects 

except the triggermen, was never charged.

o The two triggermen were jailed until released by a general 

amnesty in 1993. 

o Lt. López Sibrián was never held accountable for the 

Sheraton murders. The military did permit the criminal 

justice system to jail him for several years for participating 

in a kidnapping-for-profit ring. That group, pretending to 

be FMLN guerrillas, kidnapped wealthy and powerful 

Salvadorans. The wealth and power of the Salvadoran 

victims may have brought him down. U.S. power, leverage,

and influence certainly did not.

 Only two people, Colonel Guillermo Alfredo Benavides 

and Lieutenant Yuhssy René Mendoza, were convicted for the Jesuit 

murders. They were released in the 1993 amnesty after serving two years.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

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Over the course of more than a decade, hundreds of military and 

diplomatic officers attempted to bring justice and democracy to El 

Salvador.

They succeeded in bringing democracy.

But when the war ended, the Salvadoran officer corps had 

maintained their solidarity and their impunity to punishment. That

solidarity in the face of so much pressure is perversely impressive. With 

the military and security forces responsible for thousands of murders, 

perhaps a dozen enlisted men and a handful of officers were imprisoned—

none for more than 12 years. 
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

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X. Final Issues for Discussion

These are the personal thoughts and cautions of the author, who 

makes no claim of omniscience.

Did the United States “win” in El Salvador? 

We aligned with a flawed, beleaguered government and prevented 

a takeover by forces hostile to the United States. For the first time since 

the 1950s,

105 we confronted armed forces supported by communists from 

around the world and denied them a victory. We said we wanted honest 

elections with participation by all parties, and honest elections took place.

For the past 30 years, electoral results have been honored by all parties.

Thus, we can fairly be said to have done our part to help bring 

about democracy in a country that had never seen it. That must count as a 

victory.

But it is a victory with an asterisk. Could we have gone the 

distance had the Soviet Union not collapsed? There is certainly reason to 

raise the question. Few of the injustices that drove the insurgency were 

ended. The military’s impunity was merely scratched.

To this day, millions of people in the United States and around the 

world equate our involvement in El Salvador as a blot on our national 

copybook. The misdeeds of the Salvadoran military are well known and 

documented.

The FMLN got away more or less clean. The U.S. government 

carefully documented and demonstrated that the FMLN was getting its M16s from Vietnam and not capturing them from the Salvadoran military, as 

the FMLN claimed. When getting ammunition for M-16s became too hard, 

the FMLN switched to AK-47s, which the Salvadoran military never had 

from any source. Even so, any search on Google of the subject of arms 

smuggling turns up a nearly solid wall of articles all but denying 

communist arms supplies. No one mentions that the FMLN press-ganged 

 

105 Except for the invasion of Grenada.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

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young teens to fill the ranks. No one remembers that the FMLN celebrated 

the deaths of the “war criminals” aboard the space shuttle Challenger106 or,

in at least one little-known case, that the FMLN murdered Salvadoran 

soldiers after they had surrendered.

107 At the rate things are going, 

everyone will “know” that the U.S. created and trained the death squads 

we tried so hard to get rid of.

What can we take from the experience in El Salvador and put to 

use?

 When any president repeatedly insists that a particular 

government must not “fall” because major U.S. national security 

interests are involved, he casts away leverage. The Salvadoran military 

knew that we would not walk away after we linked their success to our 

security. All the arguments that put us into Iraq and Afghanistan might be 

keeping us there with more personnel for longer than we would otherwise 

stay. The U.S. no longer seeks combat in Iraq or Afghanistan, but how 

many troops remain? How long will they stay there?

 Once we commit to one side, many will hold us 

responsible for all that side does. From murders in El Salvador to opium 

in Afghanistan, we own it all.

 Money and arms do not buy loyalty. They rent lip 

service. Consider Iraq, Afghanistan, Israel, and Egypt.

 

106 The author well recalls that Radio Venceremos, the official voice of the FMLN, on the 

morning after the Challenger blew up on launch, described the entire crew as war 

criminals.

107 In 1983, an officer from MILGRP photographed the bodies of several Salvadoran 

soldiers. When I personally showed the 8×10 photos to a physician from Amnesty 

International, he told me it was clear that they had all been murdered after they had taken 

off their uniforms. He told me it was easy to determine this because the blood trails on 

their bodies showed they were not clothed (all were wearing underwear). He noted that 

almost all were dead from high-velocity rifle wounds to the head and that the severity of 

the wounds indicated they had been shot from no more than a few feet. We displayed 

these photos to the U.S. press, and no one doubted they had been murdered. Even so, a 

two-hour Internet search in 2014 found no record of this event.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

107

 When people complain about human rights abuses, we 

should listen carefully. This does not mean that we should blacklist 

countries willy-nilly, but we need to pay attention. The Reagan 

administration spent millions of dollars and wasted significant prestige in 

El Salvador before recognizing that right-wing violence was feeding the 

insurgency.

 We tend to believe people who parrot our talking 

points—especially if they speak English. President Karzai speaks 

beautiful English and 10 years ago spoke glowingly of democracy. Ahmed 

Chalabi, an Iraqi exile who had spent most of his life in London and the 

U.S., was a strong advocate for U.S. intervention. He proved very 

persuasive in Washington before the war in Iraq started and during the 

occupation. Iraqis give him significant recognition, but almost no support.

 T. E. Lawrence was right about eating soup with a knife.

It is sloppy when you force host country personnel to undertake difficult 

and unfamiliar tasks, but worth it. Such success as we achieved in El 

Salvador came about because the political situation in the U.S. would not 

permit us to send hundreds or even thousands of trainers and advisers.

 Treat training a foreign army with skepticism. How 

much training does an army need? We recruited, trained, equipped, 

deployed, and demobilized roughly 10 million men and women between 

1939 and 1945. We have been training Iraqi and Afghan soldiers longer 

than that.

 Most importantly, understand that you are unlikely to 

find a fair, just, and benevolent government beset by an insurgency.
HAMILTON: EL SALVADOR IN THE 1980s

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Annex A: Suggested Reading

El Salvador

Allison, M.E. and Alvarez, A.M. (2012). Unity and disunity in the FMLN. 

Latin American Politics and Society, 54(4): 89–118.

Bracamonte, J. A. M., & Spencer, D. E. (1995). Strategy and tactics of the 

Salvadoran FMLN guerrillas: last battle of the Cold War, 

blueprint for future conflicts. Westport, Conn.: Praeger.

Kruijt, D. (2008). Guerrillas: war and peace in Central America. London; 

New York: Zed Books.

Lungo, M., & Schmidt, A. (1996). El Salvador in the eighties: 

counterinsurgency and revolution. Philadelphia: Temple 

University Press

McClintock, C. (1998). Revolutionary Movements in Latin America: El 

Salvador’s FMLN and Peru’s Shining Path. Washington, D.C.: 

U.S. Institute of Peace Press.

Moore, S. W. (1997). Gold, not purple: Lessons from USAID-USMILGP 

cooperation in El Salvador, 1980-1992 (Master’s thesis). 

Monterey, CA: Naval Postgraduate School. 

http://www.dtic.mil/get-tr-doc/pdf?AD=ADA341399

Peceny, M., and Stanley, W. D. (2010). Counterinsurgency in El Salvador. 

Politics & Society, 38(1): 67–94. doi:10.1177/0032329209357884

El Salvador Civil War. (n.d.). GlobalSecurity.org. 

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/war/elsalvador2.htm 

Teppermam, J. (2005, April 5). Salvador in Iraq: Flash back. Council on 

Foreign Relations. http://www.cfr.org/iraq/salvador-iraq-flashback/p7988

Wood, E. J. (2003). Insurgent collective action and civil war in El 

Salvador. New York: Cambridge University Press.
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U.S. Foreign Policy, Central America, and the Cold War

Armony, A. C. (1997). Argentina, the United States, and the AntiCommunist Crusade in Central America, 1977-1984. Athens: Ohio 

University Center for International Studies.

Arnson, C. (1993). Crossroads: Congress, the President, and Central 

America, 1976-1993. University Park, Pa.: Pennsylvania State 

University Press.

Brands, H. (2012). Latin America’s Cold War. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard 

University Press.

Drumm, R. (1992). Saint, Sinner, or Soldier – Liberation Theology and 

Low-Intensity Conflict (Master’s thesis). School of Advanced 

Military Studies, Fort Leavenworth Kansas. 

http://www.dtic.mil/dtic/tr/fulltext/u2/a251314.pdf 

Greentree, T. R. (2009). Crossroads of Intervention: Insurgency and 

Counterinsurgency Lessons from Central America. Annapolis, 

Md.: Naval Institute Press.

Jamail, M., & Gutierrez, M. (1986). “Israel in Central America: Nicaragua, 

Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica.” MERIP Middle East Report, 

(140): 26–47. doi:10.2307/3012027

Kruijt, D. (2008). Guerrillas: war and peace in Central America. London; 

New York: Zed Books.

LaFeber, W. (1993). Inevitable revolutions: the United States in Central 

America. New York; London: W. W. Norton.

LeoGrande, W. M. (1998). Our own back yard: the United States in 

Central America, 1977-1992. Chapel Hill, NC: Univeristy of North 

Carolina.

Lynch, E. A. (2013). The Cold War’s last battlefield: Reagan, the Soviets, 

and Central America. Global Academic Publishing. 

Mackin, R. S. (2012). Liberation Theology: The radicalization of social 

catholic movements. Politics, Religion & Ideology, 13(3): 333–351. 

Maechling, C., Jr. (1981). The Argentine pariah. Foreign Policy, (45): 69–

83. 
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McPherson, A. L. (2013). Encyclopedia of U.S. military interventions in 

Latin America. Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO.

Rabe, S. G. (1999). The most dangerous area in the world: John F. 

Kennedy confronts communist revolution in Latin America. Chapel 

Hill: University of North Carolina Press.

U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian.(2013, Oct. 31). Central 

America, 1981-1993. http://history.state.gov/milestones/1981-

1988/central-america

Wickham-Crowley, T. P. (1991). Guerrillas and revolution in Latin 

America: a comparative study of insurgents and regimes since 

1956. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.

Covert War in Central America – Legal Aspects and Controversies

Cohn, G., Thompson, G., Matthews, M. (1997, Jan. 27). Torture was 

taught by CIA: Declassified manual details the methods used in 

Honduras. Baltimore Sun. http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1997-

01-27/news/1997027049_1_training-manual-torture-methodscounterintelligence-interrogation

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