Atlácatl Battalion
| Atlácatl Battalion | |
|---|---|
| Batallón Atlácatl | |
| Active | 1981–1992 |
| Country |  El Salvador |
| Branch |  Salvadoran Army |
| Type | Battalion |
| Role | Counter-insurgency |
| Size | 2,000 |
| Part of | Rapid Deployment Infantry Battalions |
| Patron | Atlácatl |
| Engagements | Salvadoran Civil War |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders | Domingo Monterrosa Barrios |
| Insignia | |
| Identification symbol |  |
The Atlácatl Battalion (Spanish: Batallón Atlácatl) was a rapid-response, counter-insurgency battalion of the Salvadoran Army created in 1981. It was implicated in some of the most infamous massacres of the Salvadoran Civil War.
History
[edit]The Salvadoran Civil War began on 15 October 1979 with the overthrow of President Carlos Humberto Romero.[1] The military established the Revolutionary Government Junta to govern the country in the wake of the coup and it established itself to be a "reformist" junta.[1][2][3] The United States was covertly involved in the coup and actively supported the junta.[3]
In January 1981, the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), a left-wing guerrilla group opposed to the junta, began an offensive against the junta and marched on military targets, most notably the Ilopango Airport.[4][5] In reaction, the United States increased military and economic assistance to the junta and helped establish the Rapid Deployment Infantry Battalions, a network of specialized counter-insurgent army units.[4] The first unit formed was the Atlácatl Battalion in March 1981, followed by the Atonal Battalion in January 1982 and the Belloso Battalion in May 1982.[4] The battalion was named after Atlácatl, a legendary indigenous figure from the Spanish conquest of El Salvador who fought against conquistador Pedro de Alvarado.[6]
The United States sent fifteen counter-insurgent specialists to El Salvador in March 1981 to train the newly formed battalion.[6] Weapons, ground vehicles, and helicopters were sent to the battalion which numbered around 2,000 soldiers.[6]
The battalion was disbanded in 1992 under the terms of the Chapultepec Peace Accords that ended the twelve-year civil war.[7]
Investigation by the Truth Commission for El Salvador
[edit]In the early 1990s, the Truth Commission for El Salvador was established by the United Nations to investigate war crimes committed during the civil war.[8] The report concluded that the battalion was responsible for the El Mozote massacre, the El Calabozo massacre, and the 1989 murder of six Jesuit priests.[9][10][11][12] The Battalion was also implicated in the killing of around 50 civilians on the banks of the Guaslinga river.[13] Human Rights Watch independently linked the battalion to additional massacres not cited in the UNTC report including dozens of people killed in Tenancingo and Copapayo in 1983, sixty-eight people killed in Los Llanitos, and three separate killings of civilians in 1989.[14]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b "El Salvador – The Reformist Coup of 1979". countrystudies.us. U.S. Library of Congress. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
- ^ "Presidentes de El Salvador – Primera Junta Revolucionaria de Gobierno" [Presidents of El Salvador – First Revolutionary Government Junta]. Presidente Elías Antonio Saca El Salvador (in Spanish). Archived from the original on 2 March 2009. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
- ^ a b Beverley 1982, pp. 63–65
- ^ a b c Betancur 1993, p. 29
- ^ Betancur 1993, pp. 30–31
- ^ a b c Goldston and Rone 1990, pp. 224–225
- ^ Gaceta Militar (2002). "Cumplimiento AC-PAZ". Archived from the original on 1 April 2008. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
- ^ Betancur 1993, p. 11
- ^ Betancur 1993, p. 30
- ^ Betancur 1993, pp. 47–50
- ^ Betancur 1993, pp. 114–120
- ^ Betancur 1993, pp. 125–126
- ^ Betancur 1993, p. 209
- ^ Goldston and Rone 1990, pp. 225–227
Bibliography
[edit]- Betancur, Belisaric; Planchart, Reinaldo Figueredo; Buergenthal, Thomas (1 April 1993). "Report of the UN Truth Commission on El Salvador". derechos.org. United Nations. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
- Beverley, John (1982). "El Salvador". Social Text (5). Duke University Press: 55–72. doi:10.2307/466334. JSTOR 466334.
- Goldston, James; Rone, Jemera (1990). A Year of Reckoning: El Salvador a Decade After the Assassination of Archbishop Romero. Human Rights Watch. ISBN 9780929692500. Retrieved 28 December 2020.