U.S. Advisers Fighting Side by Side with Salvadoran Troops

Horhey · Feb 17, 2015

2 North Americans who visited El Salvador in 1983 for the New York City Bar Association informed the New York Times about a massacre of eighteen peasants by U.S. adviser directed government troops in Sonsonate province:

New York Times: A SALVADORAN MASSACRE'S MESSAGE TO THE U.S.

Ten [U.S.] military advisers are attached to the Sonsonate armed forces... The episode contains all the unchanging elements of the Salvadoran tragedy- uncontrolled military violence against civilians, the apparent ability of the wealthy to procure official violence...and the presence of United States military advisers, working with the Salvadoran military responsible for these monstrous practices... after 30,000 unpunished murders by security and military forces and over 10,000 "disappearances" of civilians in custody, the root causes of the killings remain in place, and the killing goes on.
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All 55 U.S. advisers were prohibited from engaging in combat in the field:

The American connection: State terror and popular resistance in El Salvador

Michael MacClintock

Despite the ban, American newsmen have repeatedly found US advisers in the field breaking these rules; on several occasions advisers appeared on television in the act of doing so. In February 1982, the US Cable News Network filmed three advisers one a Lieutenant-Colonel carrying M-16 rifles and other equipment in a combat zone.

A second filmed incident, broadcast on 23 June 1982, raised further public and congressional doubts on the role of the US advisers:

CBS News that day filmed two US trainers in a combat area some forty miles southeast of San Salvador, and interviewed Salvadoran soldiers who stated that the ten US trainers in the area had participated in combat. According to CBS and the New York Times, soldiers reported that the Americans had fired 81-millimeter mortars at nearby guerrilla positions.
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The combat area referred to was a border area where massacres of civilians and of refugees trying to cross the Lempa River have been reported. According to the Washington Post's account:

CBS said one its crew saw 'at least two American advisers wearing combat fatigues at the Lempa River camp in an of persistent fighting. 'The minute they spotted our camera they disappeared into the farmhouse they were using for a barracks.' CBS said. 'According to Salvadoran soldiers at a guard post directly across the river, there are 10 Americans based at the camp, and they are taking part in combat operations, fighting side by side with Salvadoran forces.' the network said.
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In addition to the CBS Lempa River expose, other evidence has revealed US advisers' close involvement in the organization of joint Honduran and Salvadorean operations in border areas, and in the interdiction of refugee movements out of El Salvador. A July 1982 Americas Watch/ACLU report noted the progressive militarization of the Honduran/Salvadorean border between November 1981 and May 1982, coinciding with an increase in US military personnel on the ground there:

The apparent purpose is the creation of a zone without international observers and organizations, from which operations may be launched against the insurgents in northern Salvadoran provinces.
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The rush of US army advisers to Honduras from four only in 1981 to at least 100 in 1982 also led to reports of their direct involvement in the harassment of refugees in camps in southern Honduras, in which refugees and relief workers have been killed outright or "disappeared", or turned over to Salvadorean authorities by Honduran military personnel:

In August 1981. a team led by Captain Miehael Sheehan. based at Santa Rosa de Copan, was seen in La Virtud camp by numerous international and Honduran volunteers. In an interview with the New York Times that month, Sheenan said that the National Security Council had approved a Green Beret presence in Honduras to support the military effort against Salvadoran guerrillas. Discussing refugees, Sheehan said: 'They have no human rights.'
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APACHERAT · Feb 17, 2015

Horhey said: ↑

2 North Americans who visited El Salvador in 1983 for the New York City Bar Association informed the New York Times about a massacre of eighteen peasants by U.S. adviser directed government troops in Sonsonate province:

All 55 U.S. advisers were prohibited from engaging in combat in the field:

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I found the Stanford Daily article on "Vodka a problem in Poland" interesting and informative.
Keep your threads coming.

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U.S. Advisers Fighting Side by Side with Salvadoran Troops

Horhey Well-Known Member

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U.S. Advisers Fighting Side by Side with Salvadoran Troops

Horhey Well-Known Member

APACHERAT Well-Known Member Past Donor

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