Massacres in El Salvador - El Mozote Massacre (Paperback)

Purchase includes free access to book updates online and a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: The El Mozote Massacre took place in the village of El Mozote, in Morazn department, El Salvador, on December 11, 1981, when Salvadoran armed forces trained by the United States military killed at least 1000 civilians in an anti-guerrilla campaign during the Salvadoran Civil War. As news of the massacre slowly emerged, the Reagan administration in the United States attempted to dismiss it as FMLN propaganda because it had the potential to seriously embarrass the United States government because of its reflection of the human rights abuses of the Salvadoran government, which the US was supporting with large amounts of military aid. On the afternoon of December 10, 1981, units of the Salvadoran army's Atlacatl Battalion (named after an indigenous fighter who fought the Spanish in the 16th century) arrived at the remote village of El Mozote after a clash with guerrillas in the vicinity. The Atlacatl was a "Rapid Deployment Infantry Battalion" specially trained for counter-insurgency warfare. It was the first unit of its kind in the Salvadoran armed forces and was trained by United States military advisors. Its mission, Operacin Rescate ("Operation Rescue"), was to eliminate the rebel presence in a small region of northern Morazn where the FMLN had a camp and a training center. El Mozote consisted of about twenty houses situated on open ground around a square. Facing onto the square was a church and, behind it, a small building known as "the convent", used by the priest to change into his vestments when he came to the village to celebrate mass. Near the village was a small schoolhouse. Upon arrival, the soldiers found not only the residents of the village but also campesinos who had sought refuge from the surrounding area. The soldiers ordered... More: http://booksllc.net/?id=367266