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EL Salvador
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History
Main article: History of El Salvador
Tazúmal.The civilization of Cuscatlán, in which
territory was founded El Salvador in the 16th
century, dates from the pre-Columbian time,
around 1500 years B.C., according to evidence
provided by the ancient ruins of Tazumal and
Chalchuapa. The Spanish Admiral Andrés Niño lead
an expedition to Central America and disembarked
on the Island Meanguera, located in the Gulf of
Fonseca, on May 31st, 1522. This was the first
Salvadoran territory visited by the Spaniards.
In June, 1524, Spanish Captain Pedro de Alvarado
attacked Cuscatlán (land of beautiful jewels)
that was populated by the native tribes of the
land. After 17 days of bloody battles many
natives and Spaniards died. Pedro de Alvarado
defeated, and hurt in his left hip, abandoned
the fight and ran to Guatemala, telling his
brother, Gonzalo de Alvarado, to continue with
the conquest of Cuscatlán. Later, his cousin
Diego de Alvarado established the villa of San
Salvador on April, 1525. King Carlos I of Spain
granted San Salvador the title of city in the
year 1546. During the following years, El
Salvador developed under Spanish dominion within
the Kingdom of Guatemala. Towards the end of
1810, a feeling of a need for freedom arose
between the people of Central America and the
moment to break the chains of colonial
government arrived at dawn on November 5th,
1811, when the Salvadoran priest, Jose Matías
Delgado, sounded the bells of the Iglesia La
Merced in San Salvador, making a call for the
insurrection. After many internal fights, the
Acta de Independencia (Act of Independence) of
Central America was signed in Guatemala on
September 15th, 1821.
On September 15, 1821, El Salvador and the other
Central American provinces declared their
independence from Spain. In 1823, the United
Provinces of Central America was formed by the
five Central American states under General
Manuel José Arce. When this federation was
dissolved in 1838, El Salvador became an
independent republic. El Salvador's early
history as an independent state was marked by
frequent revolutions.
From 1872 to 1898 El Salvador was a prime mover
in attempts to reestablish an isthmian
federation. The governments of El Salvador,
Honduras, and Nicaragua formed the Greater
Republic of Central America via the Pact of
Amapala in 1895. Although Guatemala and Costa
Rica considered joining the Greater Republic
(which was rechristened the United States of
Central America when its constitution went into
effect in 1898), neither country joined. This
union, which had planned to establish its
capital city at Amapala on the Golfo de Fonseca,
did not survive a seizure of power in El
Salvador in 1898.
The enormous profits that coffee yielded as a
monoculture export served as an impetus for the
process whereby land became concentrated in the
hands of an oligarchy of several hundred
families. A succession of presidents from the
ranks of the Salvadoran oligarchy, nominally
both conservative and liberal, throughout the
last half of the 19th century generally agreed
on the promotion of coffee as the predominant
cash crop, on the development of infrastructure
(railroads and port facilities) primarily in
support of the coffee trade, on the elimination
of communal landholdings to facilitate further
coffee production, on the passage of
anti-vagrancy laws to ensure that displaced
campesinos and other rural residents provided
sufficient labor for the coffee fincas
(plantations), and on the suppression of rural
discontent.
The coffee industry grew inexorably in El
Salvador. As a result the elite provided the
bulk of the government's financial support
through import duties on goods imported with the
foreign currencies that coffee sales earned.
This support, coupled with the humbler and more
mundane mechanisms of corruption, ensured the
coffee growers of overwhelming influence within
the government and the military which they used
to create the Guardia Nacional (GN) in 1912. The
duties of the GN differed from those of the
Policia Nacional (PN), mainly in that GN
personnel were specifically responsible for
providing security on the coffee fincas and
effectively suppressing rural dissent.
A bloodless coup led by General Tomás Regalado
took El Salvador into the 20th century.
Regalado's peaceful transfer of power in 1903 to
his handpicked successor, Pedro José Escalón,
ushered in a period of comparative stability
that extended until the Depression-provoked
upheaval of 1931–32.
In 1930, General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez,
the country's Minister of Defense, took power in
a coup d'état. Soon after, Martínez, now
President, suppressed a 1932 revolt consisting
of farmers and Indians in the western part of
the country. The revolt was conducted by the
newly formed Communist Party and its leader
Agustín Farabundo Martí. The military conflict
left more than 20,000 people dead in retaliatory
massacres, which came to be known as "La Matanza;"
this marked the beginning of a series of de
facto military dictatorships that would rule El
Salvador until 1979, when General Humberto
Romero of the Party of National Conciliation (PCN)
would be overthrown in a reformist coup.
Under the authoritarian rule of Maj. Óscar
Osorio (1950–56) and Lt. Col. José María Lemus
(1956–60) considerable economic progress was
made. Lemus was overthrown by a coup, and after
a confused period, a junta composed of leaders
of the National Conciliation party came to power
in June 1961. The junta's candidate, Lt. Col.
Julio Adalberto Rivera, was elected president in
1962. He was succeeded in 1967 by Col. Fidel
Sánchez Hernández. Relations with Honduras
deteriorated in the late 1960s. There was a
border clash in 1967, and a four-day so-called
Football war broke out in July 1969. The
Salvadoran forces that had invaded Honduras were
withdrawn, but not until 1992 was an agreement
settling the border controversy with Honduras
signed.
Following increasing clashes between the Marxist
group Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front
(FMLN), El Salvadoran Armed Forces (ESAF) and
rightist vigilantes known as death squads, a
civil war broke out that would last for twelve
years (1980-1992) and claim the lives of
approximately 75,000 people. According to the
1993 United Nations' Truth Commission report,
over 96% of the human rights violations carried
out during the war were committed by the
Salvadoran military or the paramilitary death
squads, while 3.5% were committed by the FMLN.
Nevertheless, it's necessary to say that this
report has been criticized as not being
objective enough for an institution like the UN,
and that much of the information gathered by the
Commission was originated in politically biased
sources, and did not provide legal and material
evidence or proof of its conclusions. During the
war, a small group of military advisers from the
United States helped to train government forces,
which were heavily funded by the U.S. as well.
In the meantime, the guerrillas of the FMLN were
trained and funded by the communist government
of Cuba and the Sandinistas in Nicaragua, as
well as supported by several eastern european
countries and the USSR itself, creating one of
the last scenarios of the Cold War. After the
fall of Communism in Europe, the conditions for
peace negotiations were finally set. A ceasefire
was established in 1992 when the rebels of the
FMLN and the government of President Alfredo
Cristiani of the Nationalist Republican Alliance
(ARENA), signed "Peace accords" on January 16,
1992 that assured political and military reforms
and punishment for all human rights abuses
during the civil war; death squad activity was
virtually eliminated
In 1998, Hurricane Mitch devastated the country,
leaving 200 dead and over 30,000 homeless.
damaging about 20% of the nation's housing.
El Salvador is known for the many earthquakes
that occur within its borders. It has been
popularly known as the “Valley of the Hammocks”
since colonial times. On January 13, 2001 an
earthquake that measured 7.6 on the Richter
scale caused a landslide that killed more than
800 people. On February 13, 2001, a second
earthquake killed 255 people and damaging about
20% of the nation's housing. An even worse
disaster beset the country in the summer of 2001
when a severe drought destroyed 80% of the
country's crops, causing famine in the
countryside.
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Background:
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El
Salvador achieved independence from Spain in 1821
and from the Central American Federation in 1839. A
12-year civil war, which cost about 75,000 lives,
was brought to a close in 1992 when the government
and leftist rebels signed a treaty that provided for
military and political reforms. |
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Location:
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Middle America, bordering the North Pacific Ocean,
between Guatemala and Honduras |
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Geographic coordinates:
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13 50
N, 88 55 W
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Map references:
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Central America and the Caribbean |
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Area:
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total: 21,040 sq km
water: 320 sq km
land: 20,720 sq km |
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Area - comparative:
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slightly smaller than Massachusetts |
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Land boundaries:
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total: 545 km
border countries: Guatemala 203 km, Honduras
342 km |
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Coastline:
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307
km |
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Maritime claims:
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territorial sea: 200 NM |
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Climate:
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tropical; rainy season (May to October); dry season
(November to April); tropical on coast; temperate in
uplands |
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Terrain:
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mostly mountains with narrow coastal belt and
central plateau |
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Elevation extremes:
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lowest point: Pacific Ocean 0 m
highest point: Cerro El Pital 2,730 m |
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Nationality:
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noun: Salvadoran(s)
adjective: Salvadoran |
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Ethnic groups:
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mestizo 90%, Amerindian 1%, white 9% |
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Religions:
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Roman
Catholic 83%
note: there is extensive activity by
Protestant groups throughout the country; by the end
of 1992, there were an estimated 1 million
Protestant evangelicals in El Salvador |
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Languages:
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Spanish, Nahua (among some Amerindians) |
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Currency:
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Salvadoran colon (SVC); US dollar (USD) |
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Currency code:
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SVC;
USD |
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Exchange rates:
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Salvadoran colones per US dollar - 8.750 (fixed
since January 2001), 8.755 (fixed rate since 1993)
note: since January 2001 the US dollar has
also become legal tender; the exchange rate has been
fixed at 8.75 colones per US dollar |
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Internet country code:
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.sv
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