https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2022/8/30/keeping-up-disappearances-in-el-salvador
The El Salvador Civil War (1979-1992) was in some respects
ignored even while it was taking place. It received some coverage, and there
were some flashpoints and massacres, namely the raped and murdered nuns, and
most famously the dramatic assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero in 1980.
But for many Americans the events in El Salvador were distant
and at times obscured by the scandals and conflicts surrounding Nicaragua and
Panama. In many respects reading about these wars and the way the US prosecuted
them (largely by proxy) one is immediately reminded of Vietnam and Operation
Phoenix. The US didn't put a lot of boots on the ground in Central America as
society would not tolerate another counter-insurgency campaign in the tropics.
But the US did wage these wars with Special Forces, the CIA, and through
proxies such as state militaries, paramilitaries, and death squads. And there
were certainly more than a few My Lai type events.
Another sad aspect to this story is related to today's
immigration crisis. The instability fomented by long-term US policies, military
actions, and economic moves in the region have helped generate social upheaval.
These societies have not fully recovered from these wars and they were also
caught up in the flourishing drug trade that was given a significant boost in
the 1980's. It too was part of the larger conflict and theatre of war and then (as
today) all sides make use of this industry to fund their conflicts and
operations. The US certainly collaborated with, facilitated, and profited from
the drug trade. And this story ties in with Wall Street's quest for resources,
investment, and cheap labour – a tale that overlaps with offshore accounts,
laundered drug money, political and financial proxies, dirty schemes, and
murder. And through all of this it's the poor people who suffer and bear the
brunt of the Empire's machinations – from the streets of East Los Angeles to
the shanty towns and villages of Central America.
All of these factors play into the chaos of today's Central
America – or really the zone that extends from Mexico to the northern reaches
of South America. The gangs, organised crime, the paramilitaries, and the
general economic chaos and social insecurity fuel the immigration process and
even this is exploited by everyone from coyote-smugglers and sex traffickers, to
governments, the financial sector, and of course the US political sector. There
are layers of tragedy to this story and it's obscene as it's not too hard to
start finding overlap within these various factions and interests. It's too
complex for the average person to grasp and it requires the investment of time,
mental energy, and even emotional fortitude to look into these things.
Hollywood has on a couple of occasions attempted to deal with
these topics in films like Traffic
and Crossing Over. The subject matter
is deliberately and perhaps necessarily treated in a fragmented fashion and as
such these films are confusing if incoherent to many and don't appeal to a
wider audience looking for good guy/bad guy themes, resolution, and happy
endings. These (and other films like them) either failed or were flash in the pan cultural moments.
Others like Sicario while interesting
and pertinent in their cynical messaging were reduced to eye-candy for extreme
violence and action aficionados.
In many countries, the past struggles to be reckoned with.
The 1960's Indonesia Genocide (another glorious chapter of US Empire) was not
reckoned with until the 2010's as Suharto reigned as dictator until 1998, and
it was only after his 2008 death that people felt they could start openly
talking about these events and begin searching for the mass graves – in which
over a million people were buried.
In places like El Salvador, the peace that ended the war was
fragile and no one wanted to reopen old wounds – some of which are raw. It's
all the more complicated when the perpetrators are still around, still in
power, or still possess standing in society. We've seen similar tensions in
places like Spain and in the many South American countries that languished
under US-supported Right-wing dictatorships during the Cold War. As such, the
mass graves remain in many cases hidden – sometimes in plain sight.
I've touched before on El Salvador's president Nayib Bukele,
who has at times postured as being somewhat Left-leaning. But that would be
misleading. In addition to bowing to US interests, he has moved to establish
authoritarian structures in El Salvador – starting with the firing of judges,
an armed and rather threatening display in parliament, and a large-scale
clampdown on criminals and dissidents, for the two categories are easily
blurred. As such, and as Fernandez argues in the Al Jazeera piece – the disappearances
never really stopped and have once more become normative. To say this puts a
damper on investigating past disappearances and the mass murders of the Civil
War era is an understatement.
The seemingly schizophrenic response to Bukele by Washington
is also nothing new. Media coverage vacillates between criticism and praise.
Official arms like the State Department are critical – and this is a means of
leverage, a Sword of Damocles that the Empire often uses to keep its satraps in
line. In the meantime, he stands in the good graces of the White House,
Pentagon, Langley – and perhaps most important of all, Wall Street. Bukele
knows full well the record of the American Empire in Central America when it
comes to wars, invasions, proxy wars, coups, assassinations, and the
manipulation of elections – something Washington did in his country as recently
as 2004. El Salvador supports US military operations, its small military makes
purchases from the United States, and in addition to supporting US foreign
policy in the region, it continues on a path toward economic privatisation of
infrastructure and resources – an open door to US investment and control. As
long as Bukele pursues these policies it is unlikely that the real power
players in Washington are going to get too upset with his authoritarianism,
mass arrests, and disappearances.
He has (like all leaders subject to outside rule) attempted
to maintain some autonomy and as such he cut ties with Taiwan and signed some
deals with China. He also boycotted the Los Angeles OAS Summit in 2022 – an
insult to Biden but one that put him in good stead with the American Right. His
endorsement of Bitcoin has put him in good standing in some circles. Bukele is
popular with Evangelicals (even the US ambassador is a graduate of Liberty
University) and despite angering some within the GOP, Bukele appears on FOX
with Tucker Carlson. The only point he needs to watch (and especially in the
near future) is his relationship with China. But even this may prove to be a
carefully calculated move. He can sign a deal with Beijing and then drop it
when the US sweetens the pot and offers him something better – allowing him to
score both economic and diplomatic points at the same time. And if Beijing
responds with hostility, he can 'flip' on the issue of Taiwan and move even
closer to the US orbit – or continue to try and play both powers off against
each other, but that's a dangerous game, especially for a small country like El
Salvador.
For the most part the primary coverage concerning El Salvador
at the moment is tied to its adoption of Bitcoin and some of the discussions
surrounding Cryptocurrency. For my part I'm far more interested in the
increasingly volatile nature of Latin American politics, the tug of war between
Left and Right and the growing role of outside players that seek to challenge
the Empire in its own backyard. But most of all I'm watching the Evangelicals
who are surging in numbers and influence across Latin America and are deeply
political as they have been cultivated by American style Dominionism and its
approach to theology and ethics. Increasingly these groups are getting behind
dictators like Jair Bolsonaro and justifying and celebrating their
authoritarianism, and helping to cover up their crimes.
Evangelicals are thrilled at the explosion in numbers and
influence – especially outside the secular West. There are reasons not to share
in their optimism, reasons to fear that what is happening is not a revival but
a new chapter or phase in the process of global apostasy – a foundation that is
being laid that will set back gospel efforts for generations to come.
See also:
https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2020/10/obstruction-in-el-salvador.html
https://pilgrimunderground.blogspot.com/2020/06/evangelicals-in-el-salvador-and-right.html
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