Noam Chomsky - Turning the Tide U.S. intervention in

Patterns of Intervention
Classics in Politics: Turning the Tide Noam Chomsky
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macabre scene from a surrealistic canvas,” a huge mass of skulls with a
single bullet hole in the back, skeletons mixed in with rotting garbage
(for “El Playón was a dump for garbage as well as for humans”), vultures
and dogs devouring the bodies of the latest victims of the death squads.
The US Embassy investigated, concluding that the scene was even more
gruesome than what reporters had described. Duarte promised an
investigation after his initial denials, but “several months later, when
reporters discovered new pockets of skeletons at El Playón, the embassy
acknowledged that there had been no investigation.” There could be
none, Bonner observes, for it would have led directly to the headquarters
of several major military units 3 miles away, including the elite UStrained
Atlacatl Battalion. The road through the body dump “was heavily
patrolled by army troops and security forces,” Americas Watch
observed. 72
The Salvadoran military is naturally pleased with Duarte’s
performance. “Duarte is the man who has been able to open the coffers
of the [US] Congress, and the military realizes that,” a Salvadoran
political analyst observes: “They won’t get rid of the goose that is laying
the golden eggs. He’s the democratic facade so everybody doesn’t have
to worry . . . because there’s a democratic president there.” Similarly,
“the economic right—the extremely conservative Salvadoran private
sector—. . . are realizing that Duarte can deliver the goods.” “Strangely,
for a populist politician, President Duarte brags, in full-page newspaper
ads, not about what he has done for his poor supporters, but about what
he has done for his arch enemies—the coffee growers.” Peasants
continue to be evicted by the National Guard from lands they thought
they had received under the land reform, a story that “is a common one
in El Salvador.” The London Economist notes renewed threats by death
squads that people at the university leave the country or be
assassinated, “a reminder that the right-wing terror machine is still in