El Salvador: The Making of US Policy 1977-1984

This set of documents focuses on United States policy toward El Salvador and events in El Salvador from the Carter administration's formulation of a new Central American policy in January 1977 through the Salvadoran presidential elections of May 1984 that brought José Napoleón Duarte to power. Major events include: the military coup of October 1979; the agrarian reform efforts launched in 1980 and 1981; significant labour and peasant protests followed by a growing number of leftist guerrilla actions; and a series of political slayings widely attributed to government affiliated forces including those of Archbishop Oscar Romero, leaders of the Democratic Revolutionary Front (FDR), four American churchwomen, and three land reform proponents.