THE HISTORY OF EL SALVADOR ADVISORY BOARD John T. Alexander Professor of History and Russian and European Studies, University of Kansas Robert A. Divine George W. Littlefield Professor in American History Emeritus, University of Texas at Austin John V. Lombardi Professor of History, University of Florida THE HISTORY OF EL SALVADOR Christopher M. White The Greenwood Histories of the Modern Nations Frank W. Thackeray and John E. Findling, Series Editors Greenwood Press Westport, Connecticut • London Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data White, Christopher M., 1974– The history of El Salvador / Christopher M. White. p. cm. — (The Greenwood histories of the modern nations, ISSN 1096–2905) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978–0–313–34928–7 (alk. paper) 1. El Salvador—History. I. Title. II. Series. F1486.W46 2009 972.84—dc22 2008030539 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available. Copyright © 2009 by Christopher M. White All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2008030539 ISBN: 978 – 0 –313 –34928 –7 ISSN: 1096 –2905 First published in 2009 Greenwood Press, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881 An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. www.greenwood.com Printed in the United States of America The paper used in this book complies with the Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National Information Standards Organization (Z39.48–1984). 10987654321 For Rufina Amaya This page intentionally left blank Contents Series Foreword ix Preface xiii Timeline of Historical Events xvii 1 El Salvador Today 1 2 Pre-Columbian El Salvador 19 3 The Colonial Period, 1524–1821 35 4 The Struggle for the Nation, 1821–1871 53 5 Coffee and Militarization, 1871–1932 65 6 La Matanza and Beyond, 1932–1972 77 7 Revolution, 1972–1992 91 8 Reconstruction, 1992–2008 109 viii Contents List of Notable Historical Figures in El Salvador 123 Glossary of Selected Terms 129 Bibliographical Essay 135 Index 139 Series Foreword The Greenwood Histories of the Modern Nations series is intended to provide students and interested laypeople with up-to-date, concise, and analytical his- tories of many of the nations of the contemporary world. Not since the 1960s has there been a systematic attempt to publish a series of national histories, and as series advisors, we believe that this series will prove to be a valuable contribution to our understanding of other countries in our increasingly inter- dependent world. Some 40 years ago, at the end of the 1960s, the cold war was an accepted reality of global politics. The process of decolonization was still in progress, the idea of a unified Europe with a single currency was unheard of, the United States was mired in a war in Vietnam, and the economic boom in Asia was still years in the future. Richard Nixon was president of the United States, Mao Tse-tung (not yet Mao Zedong) ruled China, Leonid Brezhnev guided the Soviet Union, and Harold Wilson was prime minister of the United King- dom. Authoritarian dictators still controlled most of Latin America, the Mid- dle East was reeling in the wake of the Six-Day War, and Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi was at the height of his power in Iran. Since then, the Cold War has ended, the Soviet Union has vanished, leaving 16 independent republics in its wake, the advent of the computer age has radi- cally transformed global communications, the rising demand for oil makes x Series Foreword the Middle East still a dangerous flashpoint, and the rise of new economic powers like the People’s Republic of China and India threatens to bring about a new world order. All of these developments have had a dramatic impact on the recent history of every nation of the world. For this series, which was launched in 1998, we first selected nations whose political, economic, and socio-cultural affairs marked them as among the most important of our time. For each nation, we found an author who was rec- ognized as a specialist in the history of that nation. These authors worked cooperatively with us and with Greenwood Press to produce volumes that re- flected current research on their nations and that are interesting and informa- tive to their readers. In the first decade of the series, more than 40 volumes were published, and as of 2008, some are moving into second editions. The success of the series has encouraged us to broaden our scope to include additional nations, whose histories have had significant effects on their regions, if not on the entire world. In addition, geopolitical changes have elevated other nations into positions of greater importance in world affairs and, so, we have chosen to include them in this series as well. The importance of a series such as this cannot be underestimated. As a superpower whose influence is felt all over the world, the United States can claim a “special” relationship with al- most every other nation. Yet many Americans know very little about the histo- ries of nations with which the United States relates. How did they get to be the way they are? What kind of political systems have evolved there? What kind of influence do they have on their own regions? What are the dominant po- litical, religious, and cultural forces that move their leaders? These and many other questions are answered in the volumes of this series. The authors who contribute to this series write comprehensive histories of their nations, dating back, in some instances, to prehistoric times. Each of them, however, has devoted a significant portion of their book to events of the past 40 years because the modern era has contributed the most to contempo- rary issues that have an impact on U.S. policy. Authors make every effort to be as up-to-date as possible so that readers can benefit from discussion and analysis of recent events. In addition to the historical narrative, each volume contains an introductory chapter giving an overview of that country’s geography, political institutions, economic structure, and cultural attributes. This is meant to give readers a snapshot of the nation as it exists in the contemporary world. Each history also includes supplementary information following the narrative, which may include a timeline that represents a succinct chronology of the nation’s histori- cal evolution, biographical sketches of the nation’s most important historical figures, and a glossary of important terms or concepts that are usually ex- pressed in a foreign language. Finally, each author prepares a comprehensive bibliography for readers who wish to pursue the subject further. Series Foreword xi Readers of these volumes will find them fascinating and well-written. More importantly, they will come away with a better understanding of the contem- porary world and the nations that comprise it. As series advisors, we hope that this series will contribute to a heightened sense of global understanding as we move through the early years of the twenty-first century. Frank W. Thackeray and John E. Findling This page intentionally left blank Preface El Salvador = The Savior God, Union, Liberty —The Salvadoran National Motto In my country, there is no more God. —Salvadoran character from Oliver Stone’s film, Salvador El Salvador: the Land that God Forgot —Title of a speech by Central America specialist, University of Kansas Professor Emeritus Dr. Charley Stansifer El Salvador holds a special place in Latin American history. Its national motto of “God, Union, Liberty” speaks volumes of the people’s desires and of the problems they have faced since the days of the first Spanish arrivals in 1522. That is to say that the search for these three elements is of the utmost impor- tance to all Salvadorans, but in such conflicting ways that it has led to endless problems. Salvadorans have desperately sought a course to stability and peace xiv Preface for nearly 500 years and though they have not suffered war in the past 15, even the post–civil war era has witnessed violence and desperation on a level most Latin American nations would never accept. The Salvadorans only accept it because they have to in light of their recent as well as long-term past. My first encounter with the people of El Salvador was during my junior year of high school. The civil war that lasted from 1980 to 1992 was still raging and had compelled several million Central American refugees to flee, many hundreds of thousands of which ended up in the southern part of my home state of California. Salvadorans made up fully half of those refugees and many thousands of them lived in my hometown of San Jose, in northern California, which has a rich history of Hispanic settlement dating back to the late eigh- teenth century. I had just returned from a year in Mexico learning Spanish and becoming accustomed to Latin American culture, and because I spoke their language I became a tutor to a handful of Salvadorans with little knowledge of English. However, they knew everything about hardship, as I soon found out after hearing stories of fleeing the military and guerrilla forces that displaced over a million people and caused the deaths of tens of thousands. As I came to know more and more of them and I heard their harrowing stories about flee- ing the land they loved, I found myself feeling overwhelmingly interested in and concerned for a place I had only come to know through its refugees. Those Salvadorans became my close friends and my experiences with them taught me as much as I have learned in any book on the subject.