A Salvadoran army soldier stands over a dead guerrilla from the Fuerzas Populares de Liberacion, FPL, killed in a battle in Tejutepeque, El Salvador, March 26, 1984. The Salvadoran army lost 57 soldiers in the battle while FPL guerrillas lost 16 when they attacked two army positions 20 miles from San Salvador, the nation's capital. The twelve-year armed conflict would claim over 75,000 lives before peace negotiations concluded in 1992.
Salvadoran army soldiers gather body bags of 57 dead soldiers killed by guerrillas from the Fuerzas Populares de Liberación, FPL, in Tejutepeque, El Salvador, March 26, 1984. FPL guerrillas lost 16 fighters when they attacked two army positions 20 miles from San Salvador, the nation's capital. The conflict would claim over 75,000 lives before peace negotiations concluded in 1992.
Salvadoran army soldiers gather body bags of 57 dead soldiers killed by guerrillas from the Fuerzas Populares de Liberación, FPL, in Tejutepeque, El Salvador, March 26, 1984. FPL guerrillas lost 16 fighters when they attacked two army positions 20 miles from San Salvador, the nation's capital. The conflict would claim over 75,000 lives before peace negotiations concluded in 1992.
Salvadoran army soldiers gather the body bags of 57 dead soldiers killed by guerrillas from the Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional, Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, FMLN, in Tejutepeque, El Salvador, March 26, 1984. Guerrillas attacked two army positions in Tejutepeque, 20 miles from San Salvador, and reported 16 of their own killed in the ambush. The country was engaged in a twelve-year civil war that claimed over 75,000 lives before peace negotiations concluded in 1992.
Salvadoran army soldiers gather the body bags of 57 dead soldiers killed by guerrillas from the Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional, Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, FMLN, in Tejutepeque, El Salvador, March 26, 1984. Guerrillas attacked two army positions in Tejutepeque, 20 miles from San Salvador, and reported 16 of their own killed in the ambush. The country was engaged in a twelve-year civil war that claimed over 75,000 lives before peace negotiations concluded in 1992.
Salvadoran army soldiers gather the body bags of 57 dead soldiers killed by guerrillas from the Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional, Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, FMLN, in Tejutepeque, El Salvador, March 26, 1984. Guerrillas attacked two army positions in Tejutepeque, 20 miles from San Salvador, and reported 16 of their own killed in the ambush. The country was engaged in a twelve-year civil war that claimed over 75,000 lives before peace negotiations concluded in 1992.
Photographers record the aftermath of a battle while Salvadoran army soldiers gather body bags of 57 dead soldiers killed by guerrillas from the Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional, Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, FMLN, in Tejutepeque, El Salvador, March 26, 1984. Guerrillas attacked two army positions in Tejutepeque, 20 miles from San Salvador, and reported 16 of their own killed in the ambush.
A deserted building lies in disrepair in Cinquera, Cabañas department, El Salvador, September 8, 1984. At the time the town was continuously changing hands between Salvadoran government soldiers and guerrillas from the Fuerzas Populares de Liberación, FPL, in a bitter war of attrition that marked the twelve-year conflict.
A television crew from ABC films a young fighter from the Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo, ERP, as guerrillas stop commercial traffic along the Pan American Highway in Usulatán department, El Salvador, May 1, 1983. Guerrilla tactics for disrupting the transportation of commercial goods were employed in protest of economic inequality and to show defiance to the authoritarian state regime.
Journalists from western news organizations listen to leftist guerrilla officials from the Fuerzas Populares de Liberación, FPL, as they respond to questions during a press conference in La Palma, El Salvador, February 6, 1983. FPL, as a member of the coalition Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional, Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, FMLN, acquired arms and strategic support from socialist parties in Vietnam, Nicaragua, Cuba, and the Soviet Union to fund their campaigns. The FMLN and their political counterpart the Frente Democrático Revolucionario, Revolutionary Democratic Front, FDR, were recognized as the established insurgency in El Salvador and played an integral role in the 1992 peace accords.
A Salvadoran army soldier with the counterinsurgency unit the Atlacatl Battalion holds a flyer from FMLN guerrillas calling for an end to state-sponsored violence in San Miguel department, El Salvador, August 23, 1983. The country was engaged in a twelve-year civil war between successive authoritarian regimes, backed by the United States, and the guerrilla coalition Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional, Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, FMLN. The conflict would claim over 75,000 lives before peace negotiations concluded in 1992.
Local residents mourn as a truck carrying caskets of dead relatives arrives in Guadalupe, San Vicente department, El Salvador, May 9, 1983. The dead were members of a local civil defense force killed by guerrillas from the Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional, Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, FMLN. Civil defense units in El Salvador were under military command and operated particularly in rural areas where guerrilla support was high.
A member of the guerrilla organization Fuerzas Populares de Liberación, FPL, speaks to the media after he was captured by Salvadoran security forces near a FPL safe house containing weapons, explosives, medical supplies and pieces of guerrilla propaganda in San Salvador, El Salvador, September 1, 1983. FPL was comprised primarily of union workers, university students, and social Christian groups and was one of five organizations within the guerrilla coalition Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional, Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, FMLN.
A member of the guerrilla organization Fuerzas Populares de Liberación, FPL, speaks to the media after he was captured by Salvadoran security forces near a FPL safe house containing weapons, explosives, medical supplies and pieces of guerrilla propaganda in San Salvador, El Salvador, September 1, 1983. FPL was comprised primarily of union workers, university students, and social Christian groups and was one of five organizations within the guerrilla coalition Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional, Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, FMLN.
Father Renato Pellachin, an Italian Franciscan priest, left, speaks with leftist guerrilla officials from the Fuerzas Populares de Liberación, FPL, center and right, in La Reina, El Salvador, February 4, 1983. During the twelve-year civil war, the Catholic Church in El Salvador often condemned the violence and oppression committed by the authoritarian regime, with some members of the clergy sharing guerrilla sympathies.
Father Renato Pellachin, an Italian Franciscan priest, left, speaks with leftist guerrilla officials from the Fuerzas Populares de Liberación, FPL, center and right, in La Reina, El Salvador, February 4, 1983. During the twelve-year civil war, the Catholic Church in El Salvador often condemned the violence and oppression perpetrated by the authoritarian regime, with some members of the clergy sharing guerrilla sympathies.
The body of a dead Salvadoran civilian is taken away in a vehicle after a previous day's firefight between members of the Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional, Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, FMLN, and Salvadoran security troops in San Salvador, El Salvador, October 24, 1984. The man was leaving work for his home in a government housing project. The twelve-year armed conflict would claim over 75,000 lives before peace negotiations concluded in 1992.
A civilian resident stands outside his gate, recently painted with the name of a formation of the Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo, ERP, La Brigada Arce Zablah, as ERP guerrillas engage in combat with government security forces in San Miguel, El Salvador, September 1, 1983. Considered the most militarily powerful of the guerrilla factions that constituted the coalition Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional, Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, FMLN, the ERP organized the elite unit Brigada Arce Zablah outside of regular military forces. The brigade takes its name from a former leader within the organization, Rafael Arce Zablah, who was killed in combat in 1975.
Civilians ford a river near a bridge heavily damaged by guerrillas from the Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional, Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, FMLN, in Usulután department, El Salvador, June 1, 1983. Throughout the twelve-year armed conflict, the FMLN attacked infrastructure and commerce in campaigns of economic sabotage, further testing military units and disrupting the daily life of civilians.
A dead guerrilla fighter from the Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo, ERP, lies on a dirt road after being killed during a Salvadoran army operation in San Miguel department, September 1, 1983. The twelve-year conflict would claim over 75,000 lives before peace negotiations concluded in 1992.