Central-America

Guatemala Military Coup Brings Ríos Montt to Power with Reagan Support

1982-03-23 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 9/10

General Efraín Ríos Montt seizes power in Guatemala through a military coup, beginning what would become the bloodiest period in the nation’s history. The Reagan administration, seeking regional allies for its covert war against Nicaragua’s Sandinista government, immediately embraces the …

Ronald Reagan Efraín Ríos Montt foreign-policy human-rights central-america genocide Reagan-administration

U.S. Backs El Salvador Death Squad Government Through 12-Year Civil War

1980-03-24 00:00:00 +0000 UTC | Importance: 9/10

Archbishop Oscar Romero is assassinated on March 24, 1980, while celebrating Mass in San Salvador, marking a symbolic beginning of U.S. support for El Salvador’s death squad government during a brutal 12-year civil war. A single gunman fires directly into Romero’s heart from the chapel …

Ronald Reagan Roberto D'Aubuisson Oscar Romero foreign-policy human-rights death-squads Central-America Reagan-administration