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A Summary of the History of El Salvador - Very Brief

The history of El Salvador is deeply rooted in the farming culture; indigenous people farmed the land, growing corn primarily.
When the Spanish conquered El Salvador in the 16th century they took control over lands/crops of the indigenous people in order to pay off their national debt.
When the Industrial Revolution began, El Salvador harvested and sold her indigo for dyeing fabrics, later on switching to coffee production when indigo was no longer as financially beneficial.
Coffee appealed to a smaller but wealthier market and its demand was on the rise. However, coffee production created more problems than indigo production since it was a more obtrusive crop that required more land on which they own and more hours of labor in order to harvest it.
In 1881 the government put all your lands under private control for the purpose of improving coffee production the need for more labor crated poorer labor conditions resulting in farmer revolts.
In 1898 the government responded by setting up a training school for the Army or Guardia Nacional
Fearing internal strife that might lead to the loss of US dollars, the Meledez-Quinonez dynasty allowed workers to create the Red League that pushed for better working conditions; the first trade union was also organized in the same year.
The Regional Federation of Salvadoran Workers was established in 1927; by 1932, almost 11% of the working population had membership in this federation.
During the Great Depression, coffee prices fell rapidly and dramatically. In 1928 the average price of coffee was $15.75 per 100 kg, by 1932 prices fell to $5.97 for the same amount.
Rallies were held in protest of poor working/living conditions with increasing frequency and number.
The Communist Party attempted to overthrow the government in 1932, but the government found out about their plan.
The government used the results from the recent municipal elections to round up anyone who voted for the communists. Thumbs tied behind their backs, many were tortured before they were killed. It is estimated that 30,000 people or 2% of the population died.
Once President Martinez joined the Allied forces in WWII, an influx of US planes, tanks, and automatic weapons arrived in El Salvador, making it, per square mile, one of the most heavily armed countries of the world.
In 1944, a strike broke out. Work stopped, students padlocked the university, and even most government employees did not show up to their jobs. A three week long vigil was held in front of the national Palace in honor of those killed in 1932 what they call “la massacre” or “the massacre”
In 1948 Colonel Oscar Osorio took over via military coup. He later became president, setting a 5-year term limit for presidency. He created a constitution that allowed workers to unionize, to strike, to a minimum wage as well as Social Security benefits and subsidized housing. However, as was typical, these benefits did not apply to the rural areas.
In 1961 Julio Rivera took over and was immediately promised aid by JFK. He tried for industrialization, but used US methods that involved labor saving practices that left 350,000 people (who came from the countryside to look for jobs in the city) stuck in the city, jobless. They wound up living in slums without running water, sanitation, or electricity.
In 1979 another military coup was led the young military generals seeking reform. However, in order to avoid conflict with the older military generals, they allowed them to be a part of the new government. These older generals were members of the previous regime notorious for mass killings, especially a group using the acronym ORDEN.
∑ This new government tried to implement a few small land reforms. However, these reforms were dolled out as an attempt to prevent rebellion and cover up the continuing repression. The more land reforms, the worst the repression became.\
Here are some facts about the state of things in the 1970s that only got worse once the war began:

2% of the population controls 60% of the land.

96.3% of the population has 12 acres of land or less (not enough to live on).

70% of children under five are malnourished.

Employment and underemployment in rural areas is consistently 45%

45% of the population does not have clean drinking water on a regular basis.

The per capita calorie consumption rate is the lowest in the Western Hemisphere

The war lasted from 1979 until 1992; a government killed its own people, approximately 75,000 people, afraid of losing their power.

the FMLN or the national liberation of Farabundo Marti (in honor of his efforts) was five liberal organizations coming together to fight/defend themselves against government repression.
Even young women in the countryside were taking up machetes and fighting for the guerrilla organizations.
Horrified by the conditions of the poor and the repression of the government, a number of catholic priests got involved in teaching the rural population how to read the bible and teaching the poor that just because they were being treated like dirt, didn’t mean that’s what they were worth.
One archbishop, Oscar Romero, was an important figure in inspiring the liberation movement. He was one of the first people in the Catholic Church to speak out against horrendous human rights violations. For his work, he is now up for sainthood.
The peace accords were signed in 1992.
There are currently two main political parties in El Salvador ARENA on the extreme right and the FMLN on the extreme left.
Post-peace-accords El Salvador is less violent than during the war, but the land is still very unevenly distributed and the money and power rest in the hands on the top 10% of the population.
In the last election, a large number of rural citizens and poor workers voted for ARENA after succumbing to much needed funds as bribes. Many of them feared ARENA’s threats that if ARENA lost, they would lose their jobs and that they could (somehow) find a way to prevent the from getting remittances from the US.
A lot of hopes rest on the upcoming elections (March 2009), which have a chance of being the first free and fair elections ever to take place. However, even if the FMLN wins this election, the country cannot eradicate poverty and violence overnight and not without causing a whole lot of upheaval.

Recommended read: El Salvador: The Face of Revolution by Janet Shenk

Tags: el salvador, history

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