Pre-Columbian Era: The Three Native American Kingdoms

Prior to the Spanish conquest, the territory that is now El Salvador was divided into three large indigenous states:

– The Payaquí kingdom in the north: this confederation of Mayan origin was very strongly influenced by the Pipile culture.

– The kingdom of Cuzcatlan in the west: it was composed of a pipile population and organized in a cacique system, it was the most important state in the region when the Spaniards arrived. The dominant cacique was that of Cuzcatlan (located in the region of San Salvador) and the other caciques (from the kingdoms of Izalco, Apaneca, Ahuachapán, Guacotecti, Īxtēpetl, Apastepeque and Tehuacán) paid him tribute.

– The principality of Najochan to the east: bringing together a Mayan and Lenca population, this principality was strongly influenced by the city of Copán.

The majority indigenous population was Pipile, a nomadic tribe of Nahuatls long established in central Mexico. Early in their history, they became one of the only indigenous groups in Central America to have abolished human sacrifice. Their culture is close to that of their Aztec and Mayan neighbors. Remnants of Native American culture can be found in certain ruins such as Tazumal (near Chalchuapa), San Andrés, and Joya de Cerén.

Spanish conquest (1524-1530)

The first conquistador to discover what is now Salvadoran land was Gil González Dávila, who traveled along the Pacific coast of Central America in search of a maritime passage that communicated with the Atlantic. But the first expedition to conquer the territory was led by Pedro de Alvarado, coming from what is now Guatemala, who decided to conquer Cuzcatlan in 1524. When the Spaniards and their Indian allies arrived (250 Spanish soldiers for 6,000 Indians), the pipils fled from the villages to take refuge in the mountains. The first battle took place at Acaxual (today the city of Acajutla) where the Pipils had succeeded in surrounding the Spanish army. During the battle the cacique of Izalco, Atonal, managed to wound Pedro de Alvarado in the ankle (leaving him lame for the rest of his life) forcing the Spanish army to fall back despite the victory.

The second battle took place in the vicinity of Sonsonate where the pipile army suffered heavy losses because the soldiers had preferred to arm themselves with cotton protections (which proved to be ineffective) at the expense of mobility. Following this battle, Alvarado received a peace proposal from the cacique of Cuzcatlan but the conquistador refused the proposal and marched towards the city of Cuzcatlan. A town he found empty, the pipils having once again fled into the mountains. The Spaniards settled there but were forced to leave in July 1524 in the Guatemalan regions because of the climate.

In 1525 Alvarado returned to Cuzcatlan and the city of San Salvador was founded in April of the same year, in the same valley where the city of Cuzcatlan was located. But the pipils attacked it in June 1526 and set it on fire, forcing the Spaniards to flee. A new Spanish expedition, led by Pedro de Alvarado’s brother – Diego, set out from Guatemala to refound the city of San Salvador (in the same valley but not at the exact location of the first city) in 1528 and the Spanish settled there permanently. Another expedition left in 1530 to conquer the principality of Najochan, in the east of the country, and the resistance led by the Lenca cacique leader, Lempira, was defeated in 1537. The Spaniards then controlled all that was to become El Salvador, but the attacks on San Salvador from the Pipils of Cuzcatlan, still taking refuge in the mountains, did not cease until 1539 and the region was not fully pacified until 1540.

Atlacatl is the cacique of Cuzcacatlan who offered peace to Pedro de Alvarado before resisting him and harassing the city of San Salvador. We now know that in Nahuatl Atlcatl does not designate a person but a place, the translation error would come from the work of Charles Étienne Brasseur de Bourbourg. Knowledge of this mistranslation is not yet widespread in El Salvador, and Atlacatl remains the national symbol of Indian resistance to Spanish conquest. It was Pedro de Alvarado who named this territory “San Salvador” (“the Holy Saviour” – in reference to Jesus Christ).

Colonial period (1530-1821)

The region was integrated into the Spanish Empire and was part of New Spain from 1535. In 1540 the General Captaincy of Guatemala was created and the region of El Salvador was integrated into it. From 1532 to 1786, the region was divided into three municipalities: the municipality of Sonsonate in the west, the municipality of San Salvador in the center, and the municipality of San Miguel to the east. Then, from 1786 to 1821 the region was divided into two: the municipality of Sonsonate, and the Intendance of San Salvador, bringing together the two other former municipalities.

Following the conquest, the Spaniards introduced European animals and crops. There were also great efforts to convert the Indians to Catholicism and to the European way of life in general. Thus, the religious orders, in particular the Franciscans and the Dominicans, collaborated closely with the Spanish authorities to evangelize the natives. The encomienda system was established to be able to control the Indian population and reward the conquistadors for services rendered to the Crown; but it had to be abandoned after the “New Laws” (Spanish: Leyes Nuevas) and the prohibition of Indian slavery in 1542.

Salvadoran colonial society was divided into social classes based on people’s origins. The upper and ruling class was made up of Spaniards born in metropolitan France, followed by the Creoles (whites born in the colonies) who owned the factors of production (land in particular), the mestizos and finally the Indians. Following the prohibition of the slavery of Indians, African slaves were introduced in small numbers for work in the mines but assimilated very quickly to the white/Indian mestizos. The latter constituted the largest part of the Salvadoran population at independence.

From 1550 to 1600, the region was mainly a producer of cocoa in the western region (Sonsonate and Izalco) and a region-specific balm in the coastal region. In the 17th century, the cultivation of cocoa was replaced by that of indigo for the production of indigo dyes (of which the region was one of the world’s leading producers before the appearance of synthetic dyes).

Independence (1811-1821)

From the end of the 17th century, in different regions of Latin America, revolts against Spanish domination broke out. The trade of the American colonies was under the monopoly of the metropolis, the colonies could only export to the metropolis which was then responsible for re-exporting the products to the rest of the world (in particular to the United States and Great Britain). Brittany). Inspired by the Enlightenment (whose writings were banned in the Spanish Empire), the Creoles see the independence of the United States and the French Revolution as examples to follow. At the beginning of the 19th century the Spanish colonial authorities enacted unpopular economic and tax laws in the colonies to finance the European wars of the Spanish Crown. These measures increased the desire for independence of the Creoles.

The triggering event of the independence uprisings in Latin America, and in Central America in particular, was the Napoleonic invasion of the metropolis. The Bayonne Conference, where the Bourbon Dynasty abdicated in favor of Joseph Bonaparte, and the Spanish War of Independence undermined Spanish authority and made the colonies more self-sufficient. During this period (1808-1814) the Intendance of San Salvador will experience several uprisings:

– The uprising of November 5, 1811: known as the “First Cry of Independence” (Primer Grito de Independencia), it began in the city of San Salvador before spreading to other cities in the region throughout the month of November. This uprising was led by the Creoles José Matías Delgado, Manuel José Arce and the two Aguilar brothers. Two other uprisings broke out on November 24 and December 20 of the same year. Ultimately, the 1811 declaration of independence failed as the Viceroyalty of Guatemala sent troops to San Salvador in an attempt to quell the movement.

– The uprising of January 24, 1814 in San Salvador was no more successful and the leaders were arrested.

– In May 1814, Ferdinand VII regained the throne of Spain and reinstalled an absolute monarchy; in Central America the separatists and the liberals then suffered the full brunt of repression. In 1820 the more liberal Cadiz constitution was restored. The capitán general of Guatemala Carlos Urrutia rallied to it, provoked municipal and legislative elections and accepted the freedom of the press. It was during this period that the liberal movement and the conservative movement were born, which would animate the political life of El Salvador, and of all of Central America, until the appearance of communism at the beginning of the 20th century. In August 1821 the news of Mexico’s independence reached Central America and, faced with this new situation (remember that the Captaincy General of Guatemala was dependent on New Spain – that is, newly independent Mexico).  Captain General Gabino Gaínza 

summoned the representatives of the various Central American provinces to an assembly in Guatemala City. On September 15, 1821, in Guatemala City, the Central American provinces proclaimed their independence from Spain and a provisional government was formed under the presidency of Gabino Gaínza. News of independence reached San Salvador on September 21.

Mexican Empire and Federal Republic of Central America (1821-1840)

After the declaration of independence, three political choices were offered to the former General Captaincy: its attachment to the Mexican Empire of Iturbe, the formation of a federal country or the complete independence of the various municipalities. The provisional government decided to consult the municipalities, which all voted to join Mexico, except for the municipalities of San Salvador and San Miguel. On January 5, 1822 the annexation was proclaimed and Mexican troops, led by General Vicente Filísola, were sent by Augustine I of Mexico to subjugate the former Intendance of San Salvador. Troops entered San Salvador in February 1823 following the Battle of Mejicanos and the area was annexed to Mexico. But in March 1823 Augustine I abdicated: Vicente Filísola, loyal to his emperor and not to Mexico, summoned the Central American deputies.

On July 1, 1823, the independence of the United Provinces of Central America was declared from Spain, Mexico or any other nation. The federation will take as its official name the Federal Republic of Central America in 1824. On December 22, 1823 the municipality of Sonsonate and the Intendancy of San Salvador agreed to unite, and the State of El Salvador, member of the Federal Republic of Central America, was proclaimed on February 7, 1824. The federal constituent assembly, chaired by José Matías Delgado, promulgated the first federal constitution on November 22, 1824. But the federation will experience long armed confrontations between conservatives and liberals. The constitution of El Salvador was promulgated on June 22, 1824, and the independentist Juan Manuel Rodríguez was elected head of state of El Salvador.

Francisco Morazán President of the Federal Republic of Central America (1830-1834 and 1835-1839) and of El Salvador (1839-1840).

In 1830, the conservative José María Cornejo was elected Head of State and violently opposed the Federal President, from the liberal party, Francisco Morazán; Cornejo went so far as to declare the independence of El Salvador in 1832. Federal troops then invaded El Salvador and Cornejo was dismissed by Morazan to replace the liberal Mariano Prado. Prado instituted a tax to be paid by all citizens, but this provoked an Indian uprising led by Anastasio Aquino in Izalco and San Miguel. Prado was then forced to resign in 1833 and he was replaced by Joaquín de San Martín who declared the independence of El Salvador. Morazan again invaded El Salvador and in 1834 installed the federal capital in San Salvador to better control the region. San Salvador will remain the federal capital until 1839 and the end of the Federal Republic.

On July 11, 1839, and without ever renouncing federalism, Morazan became Head of State of El Salvador. Neighboring countries considered that Morazan, as a symbol of federalism, was too dangerous to lead El Salvador or another country in the region. After several battles against the Honduran, Nicaraguan and Guatemalan armies, Morazan resigned and fled to Costa Rica in 1840. A conservative government took power and in February 1841 the constituent assembly approved a decree establishing the separation between El Salvador and the Federal Republic of Central America and proclaiming the independent and sovereign Republic of El Salvador.

Clashes between liberals and conservatives (1841-1876)

The thirty years following independence were the scene of political instability in El Salvador due to clashes between liberals and conservatives, conflicts with neighboring states and lack of national cohesion. It was a period of near-permanent civil war between the two political factions that regularly called on the armies of neighboring states to overthrow the government. The liberals promoted individual and commercial freedoms, they were also federalists and secularists. The conservatives promoted the institutions resulting from the colonial system, the importance of Catholicism in political life and fought against federalism. Both movements were led by caudillos and had their own armies – which became the national army when the movement they supported was in power.

The first caudillo in power in independent El Salvador was the conservative Francisco Malespín, he supported Presidents Norberto Ramírez, Juan Lindo and Juan José Guzmán between 1840 and 1844 as Commander of the Armies of the State, before becoming President in 1844. A few days after taking power, he left to invade Nicaragua and the liberal Gerardo Barrios took power. Despite his victorious return, Malespín was deposed by the legislature in 1845 after the military no longer recognized him as President of El Salvador. Malespín fled to Honduras and then tried to regain power in 1846, having raised an army thanks to Guatemalan President Rafael Carrera, but he was assassinated before arriving in San Salvador.

Between 1845 and 1851 three liberal caudillos were in power, but President Doroteo Vasconcelos decided to pursue a policy hostile to the conservative Rafael Carrera by not recognizing his government and supporting the Guatemalan liberals. He invaded Guatemala at the head of an army made up of troops from El Salvador and Honduras but was badly beaten by Carrera at the battle of La Arada on February 2, 1851, he resigned from his post. Between 1851 and 1871 six conservatives were in power. In 1856, El Salvador took part in the war against William Walker and the Commander of the Salvadoran armies destined for Nicaragua, Gerardo Barrios, took power in 1859 thanks to his victorious return. Relations between Barrios and Rafael Carrera deteriorated rapidly and Guatemala again invaded El Salvador in 1863, President Francisco Dueñas (already President after the first Guatemalan invasion) and the assembly of El Salvador were then closely controlled by Rafael Carrera until in 1871. The Liberals regained power in 1871 and allowed the establishment of the Coffee Republic.

Coffee Republic (1876-1931)

Coffee was introduced to El Salvador in the 1860s to supplement indigo production, which had been declining since the 1850s after synthetic dyes were discovered in Europe. The 1880s in El Salvador saw the arrival of Europeans who quickly became rich in coffee production thanks to their knowledge of international markets and the laws of 1881 and 1882 which repealed the ejidos and communal lands in favor of large land holdings. This economic elite took power and set up a stable Coffee Republic compared to the period of the caudillos.

This elite is known as the 14 families (they were actually more numerous but the number 14 represents the country’s 14 departments – each supposedly controlled by one family) or the Creole Oligarchy. The particular interests of this elite were protected by the Coffee Republic whose presidents were directly appointed by this elite, thus the Meléndez-Quiñonez family was in power between 1913 and 1927 (by the two brothers Carlos and Jorge Meléndez and their brother-in-law Alfonso Quiñónez Molina) and 42 of the 70 seats in the National Assembly were held by large landowners.

During this period, the Salvadoran State and the idea of a Salvadoran nation took hold: the current Salvadoran flag was adopted and a national army replaced the militias of the caudillos.

Peasant uprising of 1932

After the Meléndez-Quiñonez Dynasty, Pío Romero Bosque became President of the Republic and led agrarian reforms in favor of large landowners. But with the crash of 1929 and the fall in the price of coffee, El Salvador experienced a major economic and social crisis, Romero Bosque was forced to organize a free presidential election and relinquished power to Labor Arturo Araujo in March 1931. It was influenced by the social-democratic ideas of the English labor party and developed the democratic life of the country: the Salvadoran Communist Party (PCS) was founded and recognized by the authorities and the freedom of the press was allowed. Even if Araujo did not modify the agrarian reforms, the Salvadoran oligarchy organized a coup in December 1931. It was then General Maximiliano Hernandez Martinez who was appointed President of the Republic, he took office on December 2, 1931 to abandon them on May 9, 1944.

Since the 1920s, the western region of the country had faced sporadic peasant uprisings, overwhelmingly Indian. Faced with strong military repression against these small local and disorganized insurgencies, the peasant movement organized itself to define a common objective but without a hierarchical system. Parallel to these revolts, the Salvadoran Communist Party led by Agustin Farabundo Marti was very active and took advantage of the freedom of the press to disseminate its ideas in the most disadvantaged circles of society. Thus, without a clearly defined program, the PCS decided to participate in the municipal elections of January 1932. Following the unfavorable results, the communist movement denounced fraudulent elections and abandoned the electoral voice to plan an uprising at the end of January 1932.

On January 22, 1932, thousands of peasants armed with machetes attacked the farms of large landowners and military barracks, thus taking control of the villages of Juayuva, Nahuizalco and Izalco. The toll of this first day of uprising is estimated at 20 civilians (landowners and village mayors) and 30 soldiers killed as well as several rapes. The response from the authorities was immediate, President Maximiliano Hernandez Martinez ordered the execution of anyone rebelling against the regime. The propaganda defines the revolt as a communist uprising and highlights the cases of rape and degradation of private property. According to testimonies, anyone with a machete or Indian clothing and anyone with marked Indian origins were judged as subversive and guilty. In the village of Izalco, all those who had not taken part in the revolt were invited to register in order to be issued with documents assuring their innocence, once again those with Indian features were arrested, shot and buried in mass graves (the same fate was reserved for their families).

Ten days after the uprising, two British warships and an American anchored in the port of Acajutla to protect their nationals and their national interests and offered their help to Martinez. The latter sent them a telegram assuring them that the situation was under control, “the communist offensive” having been stopped and soon exterminated and that already 4,800 “Bolsheviks” had been killed. On February 1, 1932, Agustin Farabundo Marti and the other communist leaders were executed following a court martial.

Consequences of the uprising

The determination of historical facts is still very difficult today because this uprising still has political repercussions. The conservative ARENA party still sticks to the official version of the time (a purely communist revolt) and launches each electoral campaign from the village of Izalco with the party anthem “El Salvador will be the grave where the reds will fall”; the far-left guerrilla party, the FMLN, considers this event as a repression of the communist movement but also as a genocide against the Indians led by a fascist regime and of which ARENA is the heir. Thus, the number of deaths during the uprising and repression is still unknown, while some speak of less than 10,000 deaths others estimate them up to 40,000 (more neutral historical studies lean towards 25,000 deaths), and the coordination between a PCS coup attempt and a spontaneous peasant uprising is still not confirmed or denied. However, it was announced in 2007 that a commission would be created to clarify these gray areas.

Either way, the suppression of this uprising resulted in the surviving Indians being quickly and forced to assimilate into the Western way of life to avoid another slaughter. Today, the Nahuatl language, traditions (partying, clothing, etc.) and the cacique system (which was not officially recognized before 1932 but which still structured Indian society) have completely or almost disappeared from the country. El Salvador is thus the country in northern Central America (a region where the pre-Columbian population was very strong) where the Indian population is the weakest.

Military authoritarianism (1931-1979)

General Maximiliano Hernandez Martínez led a fascist dictatorial policy for thirteen years. Attracted by the successes of Mussolini’s Italy and Nazi Germany in the 1930s, he aligned himself with the Allies only under pressure from the United States and declared war on Japan in 1941 and Germany in 1942. Obliged by the Allies to liberalize the country by authorizing associations of workers and students, the dictatorship was gradually weakened and the general strike of 1944 brought down Martínez who could not find excuses to repress the movement because this one was a pacifist. After Maximiliano Hernandez Martínez fled to Guatemala in May 1944, General Andrés Ignacio Menéndez seized power with the support of the economic elite and the military. But the latter released him five months later because they wanted to organize free elections. A presidential election was held in 1945 and the opposition declared the victory of its candidate, but the army put in power General Salvador Castaneda Castro who continued the dictator policy.

On November 14, 1948, a coup led by the renovating branch of the army set up the Revolutionary Governing Council. In 1950 a new constitution was drafted and the new official party, the PRUD (Revolutionary Party of National Unification), was created. Between 1950 and 1960, the two military presidents from the PRUD carried out a policy of social democratic inspiration by creating social security, industrializing the country and building major road infrastructures and hydraulic dams. The PRUD was able to carry out this policy thanks to the high coffee prices during the decade and the new cotton crop; when coffee prices began to fall, the PRUD government was weakened and finally overthrown in 1960.

The new constitution promulgated in 1962 prohibited anarchist and anti-democratic doctrines, which allowed the new official party, the PCN (Parti de Conciliation Nationale), to ban the Salvadoran Communist Party and other left-wing movements. El Salvador joined the Alliance for Progress, an American program of development assistance for Latin American countries seeking to fight against the influence of Fidel Castro, which made it possible to finance major infrastructure projects (roads , international airport, port, hospital, etc.). At the same time, and always with American support, paramilitary groups led by the Democratic Nationalist Organization were created to fight against leftist movements. In July 1969, El Salvador invaded Honduras during the short Football War.

During the 1970s, the political situation began to unravel. In the 1972 presidential election, opponents of military rule united behind José Napoleón Duarte, leader of the Christian Democratic Party (PDC). Amid the fraud, Duarte’s movement, largely based on reform, was defeated. As a result, protests and attacks multiplied and Duarte went into exile. These events eroded the hope of reform through the democratic path and thus persuaded those who opposed the government that armed insurrection was the only way to bring about change.

Civil War (1979-1992)

As a result, leftist groups fueled by social discontent grew in strength. In 1979, the guerrillas broke out in the cities and the countryside, thus starting 12 years of civil war. A cycle of violence set in, with far-right death squads killing thousands. The Salvadoran Armed Force (ESAF) also engaged in indiscriminate repression and massacres.

On October 15, 1979, a group of military officers and civilian leaders ousted the right-wing government of General Carlos Humberto Romero (1977–1979) and formed a junta. Duarte, the leader of the PDC, joined the junta in March 1980, leading the provisional government until the elections of March 1982. In order to give a more moderate image, the junta initiated a program of reform of the country and nationalized the banks and the coffee and sugar market. However, at the same time, the junta allowed members of “death squads”, paramilitary groups with strong ties to the military, to wage a campaign of terror against political dissidents. The death squads then carried out several murders of high personalities. 

Thus Archbishop Óscar Romero, engaged alongside the peasants in the political struggle, was assassinated by members of the Salvadoran death squads in 1980 in the chapel of the Providence hospital in San Salvador after having publicly urged the American government not to not provide military aid to the Salvadoran government. Four nuns were also raped and killed on the same occasion. Óscar Romero’s successor, Arturo Rivera y Damas, then declared: “Foreign countries, in their desire for world hegemony, supply arms. The Salvadoran people provide the dead. Several thousand Salvadorans were murdered by the death squads. In May 1980, about six hundred people, mostly women and children, were drowned or shot dead by the Salvadoran army while trying to cross the Sumpul River to take refuge in Honduras. During the El Mozote massacre in December 1981, the army executed a thousand civilians, more than half of whom were children.

The United States favors the annihilation of the rebel movement, especially after the arrival of Ronald Reagan in the White House. Washington trains, arms, and finances the Salvadoran army, including the Atlacatl battalion, an elite unit trained in counter-insurgency by American soldiers.

On March 28, 1982, Salvadorans appointed a new constituent assembly. After the elections, authority was transferred to Álvaro Magaña Borja, provisional president chosen by the assembly. The 1983 constitution, drafted by the assembly, clearly reinforced individual rights, established a safeguard against pretrial detention and excessive searches, and also established a republican and pluralist form of government. It also strengthened the legislative branch and judicial independence. It codified the labor code, particularly for agricultural workers. However, despite these symbolic reforms, in practice the Human Rights, ratified by El Salvador, continued to be flouted by the campaign of terror instituted by the death brigades. In this way, the changes did not satisfy the guerrilla movements, which unified under the name Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN). 

Duarte won the election over right-wing candidate Roberto D’Aubuisson of the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) with 54% of the vote and thus became El Salvador’s first freely elected president in more than 50 years. Fearing a d’Aubuisson victory, the CIA used about $2 million to support Duarte’s candidacy. D’Aubuisson with his ARENA party had close ties to the death squads, and was described as a “pathological killer” by former US Ambassador Robert White. In 1989, Alfredo Cristiani belonging to ARENA won the presidential election with 54% of the vote. His inauguration on June 1, 1989 marked the first peaceful transfer of power from one freely elected civilian leader to another.

In 1986, the Salvadoran Human Rights Commission published a 165-page report on the Mariona prison. The report revealed the common use of at least 40 torture practices on political prisoners. American soldiers would have supervised these acts. On October 26, 1987, Herbert Ernesto Anaya, head of the Salvadoran Human Rights Commission, was assassinated. Despite the controversies concerning the repression and brutality of the Salvadoran Armed Forces, the United States continued to provide aid to El Salvador, which earned Reagan criticism from Brzezinski, who was hardly conciliatory with the FMLN. However, the chaotic situation in the country hardly improved.

End of the Civil War

The United States halted military aid to El Salvador, following mounting internal pressure against the continuation of such aid by the administration of George H.W. Bush. As a result, the Salvadoran government was forced to adopt a different approach to the insurgency. During his inauguration in June 1989, President Cristiani called for direct dialogue with the aim of ending the decade of conflict between the government and the guerrillas. A process of dialogue setting up monthly meetings between the two camps was launched in September 1989, it lasted until the FMLN launched a bloody offensive in all the country in November of the same year.

At the beginning of 1990, following a request from the presidents of Central America, the United Nations made the effort to engage in direct mediation between the two camps. After a year of little progress, the government and the FMLN accepted an invitation from the UN General Secretariat to meet in New York. On September 25, 1991, both sides signed the New York Act. Who launched a negotiation process by creating the Committee for the Consolidation of Peace (COPAZ), made up of representatives of the government, the FMLN, and political parties, with observers from the UN and the Catholic Church. On December 31, the government and the FMLN drafted a peace agreement under the auspices of UN Secretary General Javier Pérez de Cuéllar. The final agreements, called the Chapultepec Peace Accords, were signed in Mexico City on January 16, 1992. A 9-month ceasefire took effect on February 1, 1992 and was never broken.

A ceremony on December 15, 1992 marked the official end of the conflicts, coinciding with the demobilization of the last military structures of the FMLN and the abolition of the political party status of the FMLN. In July 2002, a jury found that the two former Salvadoran defense ministers, José Guillermo García and Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova, were responsible for the torture of three men by death squads in the 1980s. The victims sued the former commanders thanks to a US law allowing such prosecutions. These commanders were ordered to pay 54.6 million dollars to the victims.

Gang Violence 

Since 1992 El Salvador is struggling to emerge from gang violence, perpetrated by groups such as Mara Salvatrucha and the 18th Street Gang. The violence is exacerbated by major social unrest, economic devastation due to civil war, the breakdown of family and social structures, and the presence of refugees, who turn to gangs. Refugees returning to their country from the United States or who were deported to El Salvador after 1996.

In 1995, President Armando Calderón Sol adopted an economic reform plan which provided for the lifting of exchange controls, the establishment of a convertible currency, the reduction of customs tariffs and the sale of certain public companies. The following year, the death penalty was reinstated and prison sentences increased in order to combat delinquency. Francisco Flores, the candidate of the party in power ARENA (Nationalist Republican Alliance, right) won the presidential election in 1999 and pursued a policy of rigor whose consequences on the poorest segments of the population provoked numerous demonstrations. 

The country was hit in 2001 by two earthquakes which killed a thousand people (accused of having embezzled 15 million dollars in international aid, Francisco Flores died in 2016 before his trial was held). The dollarization of the economy, initiated in 2001, extended in 2003 to all of the country’s currency and financial assets. On international political issues, El Salvador is aligned with the United States and in 2003 sent several hundred soldiers to take part in the occupation of Iraq. Antonio Saca, also a member of ARENA, was elected president in 2004 and continued the economic policy of his predecessors. The Central American Free Trade Agreement with the United States (CAFTA) comes into force in 20065.

In 2004 El Salvador launched a project called Mano Dura, which consists of strict control of gangs such as Mara Salvatrucha. This project has paradoxically led to an increase in the crime rate by exacerbating the social divide and not tackling exclusion. In addition, the fight against gangs served as a pretext to pass numerous authoritarian measures. The behavior of the authorities, in particular towards the accused, raises questions of respect for human rights. In the 2009 presidential elections, Salvadorans elected the FMLN-backed candidate, a former journalist, Mauricio Funes as president and Salvador Sanchez Ceren as vice-president. This is the first time that a left-wing president has ruled the country. The two men took office on June 1, 2009.

Succeeded him as President of the Republic Salvador Sánchez Cerén member of the FMLN, who led the until 2018.

As of June 1, 2019, political outsider Nayib Bukele Ortez is president. In the February elections, he received 54% of the vote. He succeeded Salvador Sánchez Cerén. On June 9, 2021, a law was passed that made bitcoin an official currency of El Salvador alongside the dollar on September 7, 2021.It thus became the first country to adopt bitcoin as its official currency.

In 2021, the republics of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua celebrated their 200th anniversary of independence, Bicentenario de Independencias.