Salvadoran Civil War
Part of the Central American crisis and Cold War
Clockwise: Guerrilla camp in Morazán in 1983; Salvadoran Armed Forces soldiers; Ronald Reagan and José Napoleón Duarte in 1985; The final offensive of 1981; Guerrillas in Perquín, Morazán in 1990.
Clockwise: Guerrilla camp in Morazán in 1983; Salvadoran Armed Forces soldiers; Ronald Reagan and José Napoleón Duarte in 1985; The final offensive of 1981; Guerrillas in Perquín, Morazán in 1990.
Date15 October 1979 – 16 January 1992
(12 years, 3 months and 1 day)
Location
El Salvador
Result

Chapultepec Peace Accords

  • Restructuring of Salvadoran Armed Forces
  • National Police was replaced by National Civil Police; National Guard and Treasury Police are dissolved.
  • FMLN armed wing is dissolved, becoming solely a political party (although its combatants are exonerated).
Belligerents

Salvadoran government(Revolutionary Government Junta until 1982)

  • Paramilitary death squads
  • Foreign mercenaries(unknown number, possibly hundreds)

 United States

  • Supported by:
  •  Guatemala
  •  Honduras
  • Chile(until 1990)
  • Argentina(until 1983)
  •  Israel
  •  Taiwan

FMLN(CRM)

  • FDR
  • FPL (BLP, LP-28)
  • RN (FAPU)
  • PRTC (MLP)
  • PCES
  • Supported by:
  •  Soviet Union(until 1991)
  •  East Germany(until 1989)
  •  Nicaragua
  •  Cuba
  • Diplomatic support:
  •  North Korea(until 1990)
Commanders and leaders
  • Álvaro Magaña
  • José Napoleón Duarte
  • Alfredo Cristiani
  • Adolfo Arnoldo Majano
  • Jaime Abdul Gutiérrez
  • José Guillermo García
  • Carlos Vides Casanova
  • Roberto D'Aubuisson
  • Domingo Monterrosa 
  • Schafik Hándal
  • Joaquín Villalobos
  • Cayetano Carpio †
  • Salvador Sánchez Cerén
  • Fermán Cienfuegos
Strength
  • 9,850
    (1980)
  • 39,000 – 51,150
    (1985)
  • 63,000 – 70,000
    55,000 regulars
    15,000 paramilitaries
    (1992)
  • 12,000–15,000
    (1984)
  • 6,000–15,000
    (1985)
    (probably 10,000)
  • 8,000–10,000
    (1992)
Casualties and losses
7,000 killed20,000 killed
70,000–80,000 killed(in total)
8,000 disappeared
550,000 internally displaced
500,000 refugees in other countries