EL SALVADOR, LA MATAZA
YEARS: 1932-1932 | DEATHS: 20000
THE CONFLICT DATABASE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF UPPSALA
Information about this conflict can be found in the conflict database made and maintained by the The Department of Peace and Conflict Research at University of Uppsala in Sweden.
DATABASE DETAILS
Quote: "The violence in El Salvador dates back to the 1930s and the coffee oligarchy (los catorce), which at that time was led by the country’s fourteen richest families, owning 90% of the land. Under the leadership of Agustin Farabundo Martí, the coffee plantation workers revolted for the first time in 1932. The military’s response to the revolt was called mataza (“the massacre”) and 30 000 people were killed. Farabundo Martí was arrested and executed. For the next 50 years the relationship between the armed forces and the civilian oligarchy remained the central reality of the nation’s power structure. The former guaranteed the privileges of the latter, while simultaneously promoting their own interests by establishing military rule as an institution".