Accusing both of possessing communist sympathies and of allowing themselves to become tools of leftist propaganda, a staunch Reagan ally, Ambassador Rivas from El Salvador, argues that "'serious efforts' were being made to stem armed forces abuses and that this was the 'type of story that leads us to believe there is a plan' to discredit the ongoing electoral process in El Salvador, and to discredit the armed forces 'or to take credit away from the certification President Reagan must make to Congress." (Danner, 188) The claims here are unwittingly revealing in retrospect, tying the degree to which the massacre at El Mozote had discrediting the American cause in El Salvador with the concern now experienced by the Reagan Administration at gaining the necessary Congressional support to continue its war. The result would be a massive cover-up on the part of the Reagan Administration, which would never officially acknowledge the occurrence of any massacre at El Mozote. This would be fully consistent with its treatment of the conflict in El Salvador as a whole, which would support a brutal military dictatorship strictly in the tangible interest of preventing the spread of Soviet interests.

To the complicity of the U.S., "the human rights group Americas Watch noted in 1984 that 'thousands of noncombatants are being killed in indiscriminate attacks by bombardments in the air, shelling, and ground sweeps. Thousands more are being wounded. As best we can determine, these...

(Golden, 1) the exodus of so many poor Salvadorans helped to set the framework for an explosion of this population in the United States. The nation which had been so directly responsible for much of the violence in the Latin American state was now absorbing thousands of exiles, many of whom were ill-prepared to compete for employment, suitable living or the legal rigors of locales such as Southern California. Settling predominantly in the Los Angeles area, Salvadoran communities were frequently impoverished and subject to gang violence as well as active participation in the drug trade. El Salvador would also remain a nation deeply impoverished and torn by violence, with the scars of America's behaviors still visible on the surface of the small nation.
Works Cited:

Arnesen, E. (1986). El Salvador: Reminders of War. Monthly Review, Vol. 38.

Danner, M. (1994). The Massacre at El Mozote. Vintage.

Golden, R. (2000). Oscar Romero: Bishop of the Poor. Salt of the Earth. Online at

Harper, L. (2003). Colombia's Civil War: Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia. Online Newshour. Online at http://www.cocaine.org/colombia/farc.html