Editing Death squad (section)

===== El Salvador =====
{{main|Death squads in El Salvador}}
{{See also|1980 murders of U.S. missionaries in El Salvador|Óscar Romero}}
[[File:Masakro-ĉe-Suchitoto-Salvadoro.jpg|thumb|A billboard serving as a reminder of one of many [[List of massacres in El Salvador|massacres]] that occurred during the civil war]]
During the [[El Salvador Civil War|Salvadoran civil war]], death squads (known in Spanish by the name of Escuadrón de la Muerte, "Squadron of Death") achieved notoriety when a [[sniper]] assassinated Archbishop [[Óscar Romero]] while he was performing [[Mass (Roman Rite)|Mass]] in March 1980. In December 1980, [[1980 murders of U.S. missionaries in El Salvador|three American nuns and a lay worker]] were [[gangrape]]d and murdered by a military unit later found to have been acting on specific orders. Death squads were instrumental in killing thousands of peasants and activists. Funding for the squads came primarily from right-wing Salvadoran businessmen and landowners.<ref>Bonner, Raymond, Weakness and Deceit:: U.S. Policy and El Salvador, New York Times Books, 1984, p.330</ref> Because the death squads involved were found to have been soldiers of the [[Armed Forces of El Salvador|Salvadoran Armed Forces]], which were receiving U.S. arms, funding, training and advice during the [[Jimmy Carter|Carter]], [[Ronald Reagan|Reagan]] and [[George H. W. Bush]] administrations, these events prompted some outrage in the U.S. Human rights activists criticized U.S. administrations for denying Salvadoran government links to the death squads. Veteran Human Rights Watch researcher Cynthia J. Arnson writes that "particularly during the years 1980–1983 when the killing was at its height (numbers of killings could reach as far as 35,000), assigning responsibility for the violence and human rights abuses was a product of the intense ideological polarization in the United States. The Reagan administration downplayed the scale of abuse as well as the involvement of state actors. Because of the level of denial, as well as the extent of U.S. involvement with the Salvadoran military and security forces, the U.S. role in El Salvador- what was known about death squads, when it was known, and what actions the United States did or did not take to curb their abuses- became an important part of El Salvador's death squad story."<ref>Arnson, Cynthia J. "Window on the Past: A Declassified History of Death Squads in El Salvador" in ''Death Squads in Global Perspective: Murder with Deniability'', Campbell and Brenner, eds, 88</ref> Some death squads, such as [[Sombra Negra]], are still operating in El Salvador.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://banderasnews.com/0709/nw-manoblanco.htm |title=El Salvador Death Squads Still Operating |publisher=Banderasnews.com |access-date=13 November 2011 |archive-date=29 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110929175128/http://banderasnews.com/0709/nw-manoblanco.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

The [[Salvadoran Army]]'s U.S.-trained [[Atlácatl Battalion]] was responsible for the [[El Mozote massacre]] where more than 800 civilians were murdered, over half of them children, the [[El Calabozo massacre]], and the [[1989 murders of Jesuits in El Salvador|murders of six Jesuits]] in 1989.<ref>[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1992-12-09-mn-1714-story.html Notorious Salvadoran Battalion Is Disbanded : Military: U.S.-trained Atlacatl unit was famed for battle prowess but was also implicated in atrocities.]  ''Los Angeles Times.'' 9 December 1992.</ref>