The El Mozote Massacre of 1981: Central American Human Rights and United States Cold War Policy

This research explores the motivations behind the denial of the 1981 El Mozote Massacre in El Salvador. In this event, the US-backed Atlácatl battalion of the Salvadoran Army brutally killed over 500 Indigenous peoples in the department of Morazán. Despite multiple eyewitness accounts of the massacre, both the United States and Salvadoran governments repeatedly denied responsibility for the event. This project is based on official US governmental documents from the Central Intelligence Agency, Department of Defense, Department of State, and Congress. These documents illuminate conversations within the government concerning knowledge about the massacre, plans for continuing foreign aid, and further military actions. This information is supplemented by eyewitness accounts of the massacre and reports made by international human rights groups, which significantly differ from what is presented in the governmental documents. Although few scholars have closely examined El Mozote, there is a significant body of scholarship that explores US Cold War foreign relations and the primacy of militarization in foreign policy decisions. Scholarship on Latin American human rights is scant, exploring general trends in rights violations across the continent. Most American research does not consider Spanish-language sources. This investigation adds to foreign relations and human rights scholarship by presenting original, bilingual research on this insufficiently examined event. Research findings clarify the motivations of US Cold War foreign policy in El Salvador and highlight its overlooked effects on human rights. This project seeks to promote greater awareness of the El Mozote massacre, along with current human rights violations involving the US and El Salvador, to encourage support for the achievement of justice for the victims and their families.