Death squads (El Salvador)

The death squads were extreme right-wing paramilitary groups made up of soldiers, police officers without uniforms, and civilians who carried out actions against political opponents or suspected opponents of the government and the current political system in El Salvador during the Salvadoran civil war.

History

Investigations into the activities of the Death Squads suggest that these clandestine structures began as appendages of the intelligence services of the security forces and the Armed Forces. In the 1980s, the deceased ex-major of the Force Amada and founder of the ARENA political party, Roberto D'Aubuisson, was accused of leading the activities of these groups from his position as director of ANSESAL (Salvadoran National Security Agency). The activities of these groups began in the late 1970s and their action became widespread during the civil war in that Central American country in the 1980s and early 1990s (1980-1992), when the conflict ended. military with some peace agreements.

Forms of execution

The application of the method of clandestine groups, supposedly distanced from the government and the military forces of the state, in order not to take any responsibility for their actions, was developed from the strategy of the United States to defeat the social movement that was the base of the guerrilla struggle in that period.

Each military unit of the army and police was in charge of at least one squad that took information from military organizations and carried out actions of murder, kidnapping, extortion, threats and all kinds of crimes against people registered as guerrillas, suspected of supporting the fight against the government or simply denounced as such by third parties interested in causing them harm.

Finally, each military chief authorized the existence of other death squads in his jurisdiction, in charge of civilians with economic power who fully assumed their operation and existence, always in coordination with the military forces of the territory under control.

These groups "slept during the day and worked at night" moving in their territory without major interference from the military or police units that guarded the land, since they were recognized as necessary to do that type of dirty work of the civil war, in favor of the governments, their military forces and the tiny social groups that benefited from its existence and operation.

In the words of the time of the conflict, it was about "taking the water from the fish" as an expression that meant removing the social base of the guerrilla or any form of opposition to the government and its forces, through terror and terrorist actions against the population in general.

The result of all this was an enormous number of murders of opponents or suspected of being opponents, without the identity of their perpetrators or without anyone being brought to trial for them.

It is estimated that the majority of civilian victims from the time of the conflict were murdered in this way, which meant some 75,000 deaths in total. The Archbishop of San Salvador, Óscar Romero is counted as one of his victims.

It is suspected that some members of death squads were financed or supported by direct contributions from people with economic power who saw them as their personal protection against their opponents. The contributions were economic, transport facilities, infrastructure, coordination with other similar groups and in general, the protection and impunity that was necessary for their actions.

Although the death squads began their actions in terms of executing a counter-insurgency policy, targeting popular sectors, they quickly drifted towards a series of pure criminal actions and even kidnapping businessmen in the country, demanding a ransom to release them.

These actions were the beginning of the dismantling, restrictions, or greater control of the death squads, since they had become a direct danger against their eventual financiers and put those protected by the government and its forces in combat at risk.

Paramilitarism in El Salvador

The history of Paramilitarism includes this practice in that part of the History of El Salvador that includes since the beginning of the 20th century in many governments, both civil and military, have resorted to this practice long before the civil war, in political and social contexts that clarify the functions of these groups has been created by the Salvadoran State officially or clandestinely without any political or state authorization, in El Salvador there have been many types of armed groups from the military, police to civilians such as patrols cantonales, the red league, ORDEN and other death squads mentioned in the country, currently during the early 21st century have proceeded to irregularly create maras and gangs have acted in a paramilitary group due to negotiations and financing Through truces, tricks, and agreements with these criminal groups, they have led to their evolution, operating more clandestinely and challenging the state due to the use of weapons of war to commit their crimes, such as extortion, murder, among other crimes.

Extermination groups within the National Civil Police and Armed Forces

Although paramilitary tactics have not only occurred in gangs, there have also been extermination groups that have operated clandestinely between 2014 and 2021 among members of the National Civil Police and the Armed Forces, many extermination groups have been dismantled and its members imprisoned with sentences of up to 200 years in prison for operating clandestinely, although the objective of these extermination groups is the function of eliminating gang members, in fact between 2014 and 2015, which were the bloodiest years in the Salvadoran violence, the phenomenon of gang members appearing murdered in rural cantons of the country occurred, which clarifies that these groups could be linked to said murders, there have also been cases of innocent people being confused with maras and gangs leading to extrajudicial executions Currently, the black shadow is the only death squad that continues to operate underground.

Peace or Death

Although some of the names of these extermination groups are unknown, the name of an extermination group that was within the ranks of the National Civil Police, called "PEACE OR DEATH," 34; this group operated between 2018 and 2021, which would be linked to the death of at least 71 people according to investigations, this group operated in the eastern part of the country in the municipalities of El Tránsito and San Rafael Oriente, in the department of San Miguel, and Usulután, Concepción Batres, Ereguayquín, Jiquilisco and Santa Elena, in the department of Usulután, the objective of this group was to exterminate gang members, but there were cases of usurpations and thefts in some homes in rural areas, and to terrorize the people, they eliminated a family member who they accused of belonging to gangs.

One of the cases was that of Jared Baltsasar Argüello García, an electrical engineer by profession, and Pedro Antonio Portillo Campos, a teacher from a canton in the town of San Miguel. In both cases, the paramilitaries stole weapons, high-end cell phones, gold jewelry, and other valuables that they later sold and distributed among the members of the paramilitary group, as well as buying ammunition and renting the transportation in which they arrived at the houses of the victims, the leaders of this criminal group were mostly policemen, the main leader of the gang is identified as Wílber Jhon Basurto Cruz, assigned to the Specialized Police Tactical Unit (UTEP), also known as Jaguares, one of the elite groups of the National Civil Police

Another of its leaders was also a policeman whose name is Agustín de Jesús Rivas López against whom the hearing is scheduled for this year according to the investigations, in the group there are more policemen involved, one of them was prominent in the position of El Espino, another in Concepción Batres and another from the Operational Tactical Section (STO), another of the elite groups of the National Civil Police, as well as a military member of the Sixth Infantry Brigade, based in the department of Usulután Currently, the police officers involved left the police force and went into exile from the country when they learned of their respective investigation that is in process.

Murders Linked to Peace or Death

Gerardo Polío Rivera, alias Colmillo, a member of this extermination group informed the paramilitary group "Peace or Death" that in the Valle de La Jícama hamlet, in the Rodeo de Pedrón canton, San Rafael Oriente, department of San Miguel, there was a man who collaborated with a local gang, who had him under surveillance and who was a target to commit thefts on his property.

Pedro Antonio Portillo Campos who, in January 2020 when he was murdered, was 44 years old according to his family, was a local teacher, he was satisfied because although he had graduated in 1999, it was not until 2019 that he obtained his respective position in the school center of the canton Candelaria, municipality of San Jorge de San Miguel, when he was not preparing his classes or in the classrooms, Pedro was in his crops he was one of the jicama growers in the place where he lived, once all the coordinates on the objective, the "operation" was organized in which 13 men participated, including Polío Rivera as a guide and a policeman, who murdered an electrician, one of the crimes occurred on January 3, 2021, in the apartment from Usulután Agustín de Jesús Rivas López, a police officer who collaborated with this group is currently facing a public hearing or trial in a sentencing court in San Miguel, for his possible participation in the murder of Jared Baltasar Argüello García, who was a An electrical engineer by profession, employee of an electricity distribution company and general secretary of the Union of the Electrical Industry of El Salvador, the former police officer also participated in the murder of Portillo Campos, according to investigations by the National Civil Police (PNC) and Office of the Attorney General of the Republic (FGR), The first homicide occurred on January 3, 2021, in the Los Torres hamlet, Obrajuelo canton, Usulután department, a group of more than ten paramilitaries broke into the house of Baltasar Arguello with the excuse of a search warrant but the real objective was to look for Argüello García, Jared was in his home with his wife and his two children, he was the first to find himself face to face with those who would murder him minutes later in the building there were some ten men armed with rifles, AK-47, M-16 and pistols, with police and military clothing, others dressed as civilians, some with Navarone hats on their faces and others only with a dark-colored cap, the paramilitaries would ask if they had illegal weapons to which the relatives replied that they did have weapons but with the respective family documents they observed that the members had AK-47 weapons, which is a weapon for illegal use in El Salvador that is not for use by the Armed Forces or the Police at first. They believed they were policemen but it was not until the group confirmed that they were extermination groups, where relatives handed over 20,000 dollars to free him, to which the paramilitaries killed Jared with 2 shots, the perpetrators fled with the money and some cell phones to unknown, The second homicide occurred on January 9, 2020, to kill Professor Pedro Antonio Portillo Campos, the extermination group used two cars, a rented black pick-up and a red van, owned by one of the paramilitaries to transport the 13 murderers, among whom were several policemen, including the collaborator.

3 policemen wore camouflaged uniforms, similar to those used by the Jaguares of the elite group (Unidad Táctica Especial Policia, UTEP), seven more dressed in their respective police uniforms and three more in military uniforms, Gerardo Polío Rivera, was the in charge of guiding them to the victim's house when they arrived they surrounded the two houses that are in the building they checked if there were people in his house and said they were policemen the relatives opened the door of his house, in the room there were three women and two men, including Pedro Antonio, one of the paramilitaries told them that they had a search warrant because they had information that there were illegal firearms in that house, four paramilitaries entered the house without a respective warrant, including police officer Rivas López, asking if they had firearms and valuable garments to which they replied that they did not have weapons or money, but one of the relatives had to agree to give her money and some jewelry in exchange for not murdering her relative, the paramilitaries handed over their belongings to one of them while the other members did Searches in all the rooms of the professor's house, to which they did not find anything else, some members of the group contacted the San Rafael Oriente police station but a relative said that they should not do so, to which they replied that they were only complying with the law, after having searched the house, the paramilitaries took the belongings of the relatives Pedro Campos was arrested and later transferred in a van to a desolate ravine in the area where they would kill him with shots, fleeing quickly from the place after these events, the paramilitaries would use the money and the jewels to sell as financing for their clandestine activities and in search of their other victims.

Other Death Squads

Red Leagues

At the beginning of the 20th century, there were already Paramilitary activities in El Salvador, mention is made of the case of Las Ligas Rojas, which functioned as a death squad created during the Meléndez Quiñones Dynasty, created in 1918 and dissolved in 1927 with the arrival of Pio Romero Bosque to the presidency this squad was led by President Alfonso Quiñonez Molina between 1918 and 1927, this death squad at the same time functioned as a workers union at the end of the Meléndez Quiñonez Dynasty to face the activities of the opposition, and labor strikes it is believed that this paramilitary group was linked to the left for the manipulation of workers due to the non-existence of unions in El Salvador, it also acted as resistance to the 1923 elections, this death squad was He met him in his actions at the beginning of 1921 and at the end of 1922, with the Christmas Massacre of 1922 where a group of women was repressed because they supported the candidacy of Miguel Tomas Molina, opponent of the Meléndez Quiñonez Dynasty, also according to historians In mid-1921, a group of students, government workers, and informal vendors were repressed due to the high cost of living suffered by the civilian population, which resulted in 12 deaths and 10 deaths of National Guardsmen.

Civic Guards

For the military period that began with the presidency of General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez, he personally organized the defense, appointing General Tomas Calderón in command of the operations. In the capital the Civic Guard was organized, it was made up of volunteers from the upper and middle class under the command of Colonel José Asencio Menéndez and this would serve to maintain order in the cities, this Death Squad acted during the Peasant Uprising in 1932, killing 25,000 victims.

Nationalist Democratic Organization

In the 1960s and 1970s, a paramilitary group was created to be in charge of monitoring the opposition. With the governments of the National Conciliation Party, the PCN (Nationalist Democratic Organization) was created as an instrument of anti-communist surveillance. the period of former president Julio Adalberto Rivera together with José Alberto Medrano who served as director of the National Guard, ORDEN was part of the National Guard, the organization was made up of a network of informants active in the field, who kept local commanders informed and the National Guard on political activities in the towns, according to calculations, between 50,000 and 100,000 people in the countryside would have been members of this organization, the information obtained through the ORDEN network was supplied to the National Intelligence Service or SNI (later became the Salvadoran National Security Agency, ANSENAL), a part of the ORDEN members were armed and had a membership card that guaranteed mild treatment by members of the security services. Being a member of ORDEN also gave certain advantages, such as access to credit, for this reason, ORDEN was more than a simple intelligence service; it developed as a political movement that combined a discourse of liberal democracy and progress with a violent anti-communism. The movement existed before any significant armed rebellion took place. Just a few years before the War against Honduras, this death squad continued to function during the 70's and at the beginning of the 80's this paramilitary group was linked to its actions in the Massacre of the Sumpul River occurred in 1980. in the North of the Department of Chalatenango, leaving a balance of 300 victims.

Civil Defenses

It was a paramilitary organization created by the Salvadoran state at the beginning of the armed conflict in the 80's. It is believed that it could be linked to the same ORDER, the civil defenses, patriotic civil defenses or rural patrolmen as described Historically known, their requirements were to be organically attached to the Ministry of Defense, to carry an identity card, a specialized course in basic infantry, and to carry a weapon owned by the Armed Forces, according to the complaints, they acted as spies, investigators, judges, and executioners or in extreme cases, it did not matter if the defendant was a neighbor's son or a relative, this paramilitary group is linked to the murders of some members of the Espíritu Libre orchestra that, according to comments, the artists were in a minibus when they received bullet wounds leaving deaths, many believe that the guerrillas were behind the attack although the truth commission report indicates that the civil defenses were responsible for the event, this group is linked to the murder of a Party mayor Christian Democrat (PDC) Octaviano Pérez, 71 years old, was attacked with a knife in his home at about dawn and then took the victim to carry out a case denounced in 1992 after the peace accords.

Patriotic Brigades

It was a paramilitary organization allied with the civil defenses made up of students from the University of El Salvador as military aspirants formed in the El Zapote barracks. Its most recognized leaders are the leader and politician Rodrigo Ávila of the Nationalist Republican Alliance Party.

Salvadoran National Security Agency

It was an espionage agency that was linked to the ORDER for the collection of information on opposition and communist activities during the 70's. At first it was known as the National Intelligence Service (SNI).

Black Shadow

In the 1990s, after the end of the Civil War, this paramilitary group arose that would be in charge of executing maras and gangs because by the end of the 1990s the first gangs would emerge in El Salvador after the deportations that they occurred in the United States since during the 80s many salvadorans immigrated illegally during the civil war, after undergoing a process of American acculturation many immigrants learned the customs of the American gangs when the deportation occurred the phenomenon of gangs and delinquency began to give its fruits due to the fact that it was not known how to treat this problem when it began, it was so that the black shadow was proclaimed as an anti-gang extermination group born in San Miguel, currently this group is still in operation but with unknown purposes.

Some groups of the Death Squads of El Salvador

• Patriotic Association Freedom or Slavery
• Revolutionary Action of Exterminion (ARDE)
• National Security Agency (ANSESAL)
• Anticommunist Brigade Maximiliano Hernández Martínez
• Patriotic Brigades
• Eastern Anti-Communist Brigade (BACO)
• Salvadoran Anti-Communist Brigade (BACSA)
• Battalion September 15 (Ligado a la Guardia Nacional)
• Panther Battalion
• Battalion Tiger
• Civil defences
• Anti-Communist Political Front
• Front Amplio Nacional (FAN)
• Armed Forces of Anti-Communist Liberation – Elimination War – (FALANGE)
• Patriotic Civil Defence Forces
• Anti-Communist Front for the Liberation of Central America (FALCA)
• Social extermination group
• Civic Guards (up to 1944)
• Caribbean Legion
• Peace or Death
• Death squad or EM -
• Organization for the Liberation of Communism
• Nationalist Democratic Organization (ORDEN) (until 1980)
• Union Guerrera Blanca (White Hand)
• Black Shadow