The Atlácatl Battalion (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: ** Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Ca ...

: ) was a rapid-response,

counter-insurgency Counterinsurgency (COIN) is "the totality of actions aimed at defeating irregular forces". The Oxford English Dictionary defines counterinsurgency as any "military or political action taken against the activities of guerrillas or revolutionar ...

battalion A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,200 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies (usually each commanded by a major or a captain). In some countries, battalions are ...

of the

Salvadoran Army The Salvadoran Army ( Spanish: ''Ejército Salvadoreño'') is the land branch and largest of the Armed Forces of El Salvador. Conflicts The Football War The Football War (also called The Soccer War or 100-hours War) was a term coined by P ...

created in 1981. It was implicated in some of the most infamous massacres of the

Salvadoran Civil War The Salvadoran Civil War ( es, guerra civil de El Salvador) was a twelve year period of civil war in El Salvador that was fought between the government of El Salvador and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), a coalition or ...

, and as a result, it was disbanded by the

Chapultepec Peace Accords The Chapultepec Peace Accords were a set of peace agreements signed on January 16, 1992, the day in which the Salvadoran Civil War ended. The treaty established peace between the Salvadoran government and the Farabundo Martí National Liberati ...

in 1992. It was named after Atlácatl, a legendary indigenous figure from the

Spanish conquest of El Salvador The Spanish conquest of El Salvador was the campaign undertaken by the Spanish '' conquistadores'' against the Late Postclassic Mesoamerican polities in the territory that is now incorporated into the modern Central American country of El Salvad ...

History

The

began on 15 October 1979 with the overthrow of President

Carlos Humberto Romero General Carlos Humberto Romero Mena (29 February 1924 – 27 February 2017) was a Salvadoran army general politician who served as President of El Salvador from 1 July 1977, until his overthrow in a coup d'état on 15 October 1979. Early li ...

. The

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distin ...

established the

Revolutionary Government Junta The Revolutionary Government Junta ( es, Junta Revolucionaria de Gobierno, JRG) was the name of three consecutive joint civilian-military dictatorships that ruled El Salvador between 15 October 1979 and 2 May 1982. The first junta, from 1979 to 1 ...

to govern the country in the wake of the coup and it established itself to be a "reformist" junta.Beverley 1982, pp. 63–65 The

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

was covertly involved in the coup and actively supported the junta. In January 1981, the

Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front The Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front ( es, Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional, FMLN) is a left-wing political party in El Salvador. The FMLN was formed as an umbrella group on 10 October 1980, from five leftist gu ...

(FMLN), a left-wing guerrilla group opposed to the junta, began an

offensive Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

against the junta and marched on military targets, most notably the Ilopango Airport.Betancur 1993, p. 29Betancur 1993, pp. 30–31 In reaction, the United States increased military and economic assistance to the junta and helped establish the

Rapid Deployment Infantry Battalions Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a ''cascad ...

, a network of specialized counter-insurgent army units. 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. The battalion was named after Atlácatl, a legendary indigenous figure from the

who fought against '' conquistador''

Pedro de Alvarado Pedro de Alvarado (; c. 1485 – 4 July 1541) was a Spanish conquistador and governor of Guatemala.Lovell, Lutz and Swezey 1984, p. 461. He participated in the conquest of Cuba, in Juan de Grijalva's exploration of the coasts of the Yucatá ...

.Goldston and Rone 1990, pp. 224–225 The United States sent fifteen counter-insurgent specialists to El Salvador in March 1981 to train the newly formed battalion. Weapons, ground vehicles, and helicopters were sent to the battalion which numbered around 2,000 soldiers. The battalion was disbanded in 1992 under the terms of the

that ended the twelve-year civil war.

Investigation by the Truth Commission for El Salvador

In the early 1990s, the

Truth Commission for El Salvador The Truth Commission for El Salvador ( es, Comisión de la Verdad para El Salvador) was a restorative justice truth commission approved by the United Nations to investigate the grave wrongdoings that occurred throughout the country's twelve yea ...

was established by the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

to investigate war crimes committed during the civil war.Betancur 1993, p. 11 The report concluded that the battalion was responsible for the El Mozote massacre, the

El Calabozo massacre The El Calabozo massacre was an incident during the Salvadoran Civil War on 21–22 August 1982, in which more than two hundred people, including children and elderly, were reportedly killed at El Calabozo by the Atlácatl Battalion of the Salva ...

, and the 1989 murder of six Jesuit priests.Betancur 1993, p. 30Betancur 1993, pp. 47–50Betancur 1993, pp. 114–120Betancur 1993, pp. 125–126 The Battalion was also implicated in the killing of around 50 civilians on the banks of the Guaslinga river.Betancur 1993, p. 209

Human Rights Watch Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization, headquartered in New York City, that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. The group pressures governments, policy makers, companies, and individual human ...

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.Goldston and Rone 1990, pp. 225–227

References

Bibliography

* * * {{Authority control 1980 establishments in Panama Military of El Salvador Massacres in El Salvador Salvadoran Civil War Military units and formations of the Cold War Military units and formations established in 1980 Military units and formations disestablished in 1992

History

Investigation by the Truth Commission for El Salvador

See also

References

Bibliography