How the U.S. Helped Break El Salvador—Then Blamed It for Being Broken

How the U.S. Helped Break El Salvador—Then Blamed It for Being Broken

Let’s take a little stroll through history, shall we?

El Salvador—like much of Central and South America—was colonized by Spain. When it finally gained independence in the 1800s, the land didn’t go to the people. It went to about 14 elite families. Great for them. Even better for the United States.

American corporations like United Fruit cozied up to those elites and got rich exporting El Salvador’s resources. In 1932, indigenous leader Farabundo Martí tried to lead a peasant uprising. The government responded by killing at least 10,000 people. The U.S.? Applauded from the sidelines—because nothing says "freedom" like protecting banana profits.

Fast forward to the 1980s. A civil war breaks out. Reagan and Bush Sr. funneled over $1 billion in military aid to the Salvadoran government—despite knowing it was using death squads and assassinating civilians. Why? To prevent another Cuba. Because apparently, communism is worse than mass murder—as long as the fruit keeps shipping north.

By the time the war ended, over 75,000 civilians were dead. Infrastructure was destroyed. Corruption and poverty ran rampant. So what did Salvadorans do? They fled to the U.S.—the same country that helped break their nation in the first place.

Once here, many faced discrimination, poverty, and criminalization. Some formed gangs like MS-13 and Barrio 18 for protection. And in the '90s and 2000s, the U.S. started deporting them—right back to a country with no functioning government, no jobs, and no safety net. Unsurprisingly, the gangs took hold and flourished.

Now President Bukele is locking tens of thousands of people in mega-prisons under the banner of “security,” while suspending civil liberties. And Western media fawns over him like he's some crime-fighting superhero.

But maybe the real question isn’t how El Salvador got here.

Maybe it’s why the U.S. keeps acting shocked every time its foreign policy chickens come home to roost.