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I met a guy from El Salvador in the Evacuation Centre, and he told me some grotesque things about America doing things in his country. I'm not able to find any reliable info on what actually happened there. I also remember U2 having a song called 'Bullet the Blue Sky', which is apparently about the same thing. So what really happened there?
During the civil war? The US was supporting the Salvadorean military government against the left-wing militias that were trying to take over. The government was pretty clearly in the wrong (they sent out death squads to kill anyone who looked Indian and, thus, might be a socialist sympathizing peasant), but at the time the Cold War was going on and America was making a lot of questionable choices in efforts to keep the tide from turning in favor of communism. President Reagan was concerned about instability in the region and potential allies to the USSR.
El Salvador is pretty small and didn't have many resources, so couldn't have continued their civil war for as long as it did without support from the United States, but I'm unaware of any specific atrocities the Americans committed. Mostly it was just monetary support. It was monetary support to a horrific regime that violated many human rights and opposed pretty much any improvement in the lives of the peasants, but that's something those supporting US involvement tried very hard to pretend wasn't happening.
Yes, that was part of the US's "support any government that claims to be fighting against Communists, no matter how awful they are" phase. Not one of our shining moments.
This is very close to what the guy told me. It was obvious from how he was talking he wasn't embellishing or bullshitting, but I couldn't believe what I was hearing. From his descriptions, it sounds like such a beautiful country.Quote:
Originally posted by Peeta Mellark
Yeah, he wouldn't have to embellish at all for it to sound horrifying. That was a really ugly war. One thing I note that Peeta didn't mention is that the US did engage in some military efforts in the country, following a "scorched earth" approach.Quote:
Originally posted by spitz
Very educational. I had no idea any of this had happened.
It sort of reminds me of the situation in Egypt right now, at least from what I understand off of the news and what my mom has said when I've watched it with her. The guy in charge isn't great and is making his country suffer but we fear the country passing into the hands of enemies and so continue supporting him.