Overview
Country, Central America.
Area: 8,124 sq mi (21,042 sq km). Population (2007 est.): 6,857,000.
Capital: San Salvador. The majority of the people are mestizos; most of
the rest are Indians. Language: Spanish (official). Religion:
Christianity (predominantly Roman Catholic; also Protestant, other
Christians). Currency: U.S. dollar. The smallest and most densely
populated Central American country, it is crossed by two volcanic
mountain ranges and has a narrow coastal region and a high central plain
in the south. The climate ranges from hot and wet in the lowlands to
cooler and wetter in the highlands. Cloud forests predominate at the
highest elevations. El Salvador has a developing economy based on
services, trade, manufacturing, and agriculture, with coffee, sugarcane,
and cotton as the major export crops. Remittances from Salvadorans
living in the U.S. are, collectively, among the country’s largest
sources of income. El Salvador is a republic with one legislative house;
its chief of state and government is the president. The Spanish arrived
in the area in 1524 and subjugated the Pipil Indian kingdom of Cuzcatlán
by 1539. The country was divided into two districts, San Salvador and
Sonsonate, both attached to Guatemala. When Spanish rule ended in 1821,
the Salvadorans opposed incorporation into the Mexican Empire
(confronting both Guatemalan and Mexican armies), and, upon its collapse
in 1823, Sonsonate and San Salvador combined to form the new state of El
Salvador within the United Provinces of Central America. The country
attained independence in 1841. From its founding, it experienced a high
degree of political turmoil; powerful economic interests controlled the
country through most of the 19th and early 20th centuries but were
replaced by a military dictatorship that lasted from 1931 to 1979.
Elections held in 1982 set up a new government, and, though a new
constitution was adopted in 1983, civil war continued throughout the
1980s. Peace accords in 1992 ended the war, but violent crime became a
major problem. Despite attempts at economic reform, the country was
plagued by inflation and unemployment into the 21st century. In 2006 El
Salvador officially entered into the Central American Free Trade
Agreement (CAFTA) with the United States.
Profile
Official name República de El Salvador (Republic of El Salvador)
Form of government republic with one legislative house (Legislative
Assembly [84])
Chief of state and government President
Capital San Salvador
Official language Spanish
Official religion none1
Monetary unit dollar (U.S.$)2
Population estimate (2008) 5,794,000
Total area (sq mi) 8,124
Total area (sq km) 21,041
1Roman Catholicism, although not official, enjoys special recognition in
the constitution.
2The U.S. dollar was legal tender in El Salvador from Jan. 1, 2001
(along with the colón) at a pegged rate of 1 U.S.$ = ₡8.75; the colón
was hardly used by mid-2004.
Main
country of Central America. El Salvador is the smallest and most
densely populated of the seven Central American countries. Despite
having little level land, it traditionally was an agricultural country,
heavily dependent upon coffee exports. By the end of the 20th century,
however, the service sector had come to dominate the economy. The
capital is San Salvador.
From the late 1970s to the early 1990s, El Salvador was the focus of
international attention, owing to its civil war and to external
involvement in its internal conflicts. The war, which pitted a
militarily and politically capable left-wing insurgency against the
U.S.-backed Salvadoran Armed Forces, was caused by decades of
repressive, military-dominated rule and profound social inequality.
Following the United Nations-mediated 1992 peace accords, which
contained fundamental provisions for El Salvador’s democratization
(including the removal of the military from political affairs), the
country began to recover from years of political and economic turmoil,
only to be devastated by Hurricane Mitch in 1998 and by a major
earthquake in 2001. Skyrocketing crime, faltering economic growth, and
persistent social inequality have further hampered full postwar
reconstruction.
The Pipil (descendants of the Aztecs), the predominant tribe in the
region prior to the Spanish conquest, named their territory and capital
Cuscatlán, meaning “Land of the Jewel”; the name is still sometimes
applied to El Salvador today. The mixing of the Pipil and other tribes
with European settlers is reflected in the modern-day ethnic composition
of the country. El Salvadorans are known for their industriousness, and
the country has produced several internationally acclaimed artists,
including poet Roque Dalton.
Land
El Salvador is bounded by Honduras to the north and east, by the
Pacific Ocean to the south, and by Guatemala to the northwest. Its
territory is situated wholly on the western side of the isthmus, and it
is therefore the only Central American country that lacks a Caribbean
coast. The entire territory of El Salvador is located on the Central
American volcanic axis, which determines the major geographic regions of
the country.
Relief
Relief in El Salvador is dominated by the central highlands,
consisting largely of a west-east line of volcanoes (some of which are
still active) crossing the centre of the country. This volcanic range
includes 20 cones, from the westernmost Izalco Volcano (6,447 feet
[1,965 metres]), through those of San Salvador (6,430 feet [1,960
metres]) and San Miguel (6,988 feet [2,130 metres]), to that of
Conchagua (4,078 feet [1,243 metres]) in the extreme east. These
volcanoes are separated by a series of basins (commonly referred to as
El Salvador’s central plain), lying at elevations of between 3,500 and
5,000 feet (1,000 and 1,500 metres), whose fertile soils, derived from
volcanic ash, lava, and alluvium, have for centuries supported the
cultivation of crops. To the south, where the central highlands give way
to the Pacific coast, is a narrow coastal plain with average elevations
of between 100 and 500 feet (30 and 150 metres).
North of the central highlands, and parallel to them, a broad
interior plain drained by the Lempa River is situated at elevations
between 1,300 and 2,000 feet (400 and 610 metres). Intermittently broken
by ancient dormant volcanic structures and adversely affected by poor
drainage and high soil acidities, this interior plain has provided a
less-attractive environment for human habitation.
Extending along the entire northern border region are a range of
highlands, with average elevations of 5,000 to 6,000 feet (1,500 to
1,800 metres), formed by ancient and heavily eroded volcanic structures.
The steepness of slope, excessive forest clearance, and overuse of soils
have led to serious deterioration of the environment of this northern
region. In the extreme northwestern part of the country, there are
limited outcrops of limestone rock associated with the older nonvolcanic
structures of Honduras.
Drainage
Two principal river systems and their associated tributaries drain
the major part of the country. Most important is the Lempa, which enters
El Salvador from Guatemala in the northwestern corner of the country and
flows eastward for 80 miles (130 km) across the interior plain to form
part of the border with Honduras before turning sharply south to run 65
miles (105 km) through the central highlands and across the coastal
plain to its mouth on the Pacific. The Lempa was navigable for several
miles inland prior to the construction of two major hydroelectric
installations on its middle reaches in the mid-1950s. The eastern part
of the country is drained by the Rio Grande de San Miguel system. A
series of short north-south streams drain directly from the central
highlands to the Pacific. Flooded volcanic craters constitute the
country’s largest bodies of water: Lakes Coatepeque (15 square miles [39
square km]), Ilopango (40 square miles [100 square km]), and Olomega (20
square miles [52 square km]).
Soils
Less than one-fifth of El Salvador’s soils are suitable for
agriculture. The central plain and interior valleys have mostly volcanic
soils that are relatively fertile but that are also vulnerable to
erosion. The southern coast has level, fertile alluvial soils, deposited
by the numerous small rivers draining from the central highlands.
Combined with high year-round temperatures and abundant rainfall, they
provide favourable conditions for plant growth and agriculture.
Climate
The climate of El Salvador is tropical but is moderated by elevation
in the interior; in general it is warm rather than hot, varying between
the high 50s and low 70s F (about 15 and 23 °C). Heavy rains, known as
the temporales, fall in the winter season, from May to October. The dry
summer season lasts from November to April. There is considerable
climatic variation in the different regions. The Pacific lowlands and
low areas in the middle Lempa River valley have mean monthly
temperatures between the high 70s and mid-80s F (about 25 and 29 °C). In
San Salvador, the capital, which is 2,238 feet (682 metres) above sea
level, the maximum monthly mean temperature is in the mid-90s F (about
34 °C), in March, and the lowest monthly mean is in the low 60s F (about
17 °C), in January. In the mountains, above 4,800 feet (1,460 metres),
mean monthly temperatures vary between the low 60s and low 70s F (about
17 and 22 °C). Annual precipitation on the Pacific lowlands averages
about 65 to 70 inches (about 1,700 mm); on the southern and northern
mountain ranges, at elevations between 2,000 and 3,500 feet (600 and
1,060 metres), the average is between 70 and 100 inches (1,800 and 2,500
mm); the higher mountains receive a little more. Annual precipitation
recorded in the deeper valleys and surrounding plateaulike areas is
between about 45 and 60 inches (1,100 and 1,500 mm).
Plant and animal life
The higher mountain regions have temperate grasslands and the
remnants of deciduous oak and pine forests. On the central plain and in
the valleys, small deciduous trees, bushes, and subtropical grasslands
are found. The coastal plain and the lower slopes of the southern
mountains are covered with either savanna (parklike grassland) or
deciduous forests. Among the many species of trees is the balsa, known
for its beauty and soft perfume. Also particularly beautiful is the
maquilishuat, the pink-tufted national tree of El Salvador. The izote is
the national flower.
Because of the amount of land under cultivation, El Salvador is
considerably less rich in animal life than most Central American
countries. Rodents, reptiles, and insects of many kinds, however, are
common. There is a wide variety of birdlife, which includes wild duck,
the white and the royal heron, the urraca (which has a blue breast and a
gray head and is known for its call, resembling a scoffing laugh), the
blue jay, and many more, some of which have fine plumage. A wide variety
of fish, as well as turtles and alligators, inhabit the streams, lakes,
and rivers.
People
Ethnic groups
The intermarriage of Spanish settlers with the indigenous population
of the region has resulted in a largely ethnically homogeneous people.
Almost nine-tenths of the population is mestizo (people of mixed Indian
and European ancestry); the remainder consists of Indians (including the
Izalco and, from the village of Panchimalco, the Pancho), people of
European ancestry, and other small groups.
Languages
Spanish is the official language of El Salvador. During the
precolonial epoch various Indian dialects were spoken, the most
important of these being Nahuatl, spoken in the central region of the
country, and Poton, spoken in the east. After the initial conquest,
Spanish became the official language, and the Indian dialects slowly
fell into disuse. A government effort was made to preserve Nahuatl, but
it proved unsuccessful.
Religion
About four-fifths of Salvadorans profess the Roman Catholic
religion. Since the 1990s Evangelical Protestantism has made inroads,
particularly among the poor. About one-tenth of the population are
Pentecostals. There are also smaller groups who practice other faiths.
Settlement patterns
More than three-fourths of the Salvadoran population lives in the
intermontane basins of the central highlands. For millennia before the
Spanish conquest, these areas supported large communities of Indians
dependent on the cultivation of crops, such as corn (maize), beans, and
squash. The ruins at Chalchuapa, Sihuatán, and Cara Sucia are the legacy
of their communities. The major Spanish colonial settlements, which
became the country’s principal cities, were also situated in these
central basins and include Santa Ana, Ahuachapán, San Salvador, San
Vicente, and San Miguel. This concentration of population was
perpetuated during the colonial period by the commercial production of
indigo and sugar on private estates, owned by a few wealthy families,
alongside the continuing subsistence farming of peasants. From the 19th
century these basins and their surrounding slopes provided an ideal
environment for the cultivation of coffee, which became the basis of the
national economy.
In the 20th century, urban growth and industrialization increased the
concentration in the highland centre of the country. San Salvador grew
rapidly in the 20th century and absorbed many surrounding settlements;
its major conurbation now stretches continuously from Nueva San Salvador
in the west to Lake Ilopango in the east and contains about one-fourth
of the total population. In the east, San Miguel, located on the slope
of the volcano San Miguel, is a thriving city where Spanish colonial and
modern architecture merge. The city of Santa Ana is the commercial
centre of western El Salvador. At the start of the 21st century, more
than two-fifths of the national population lived in urban areas. This
distribution of population has been exacerbated by the effects of
natural disasters; most of these cities have been subject to one or more
destructive earthquakes. Moreover, the overpopulation in the central
highlands has resulted in out-migration to the coastal plain, which
since 1945 has been transformed by extensive cotton farming and cattle
breeding. Another region that suffers from overpopulation, the northern
highlands has experienced severe deforestation and soil degradation as
well. The majority of the people who live there are subsistence farmers.
Demographic trends
Severe economic conditions complicated by the civil war that began
in 1981 caused dramatic changes in El Salvador’s demographics. It is
estimated that about one-fifth of the population left the country,
departing in about equal numbers for neighbouring countries and the
United States. Most of the emigrants have not returned to their homeland
(though there has been an increase in the number of deportations of
undocumented Salvadorans from the United States since the early 2000s).
Among the remaining population there was massive displacement
characterized by a general movement of people from the conflict zones in
the north and east to the central cities. The emigration of many young
Salvadorans has brought an accompanying decline in the rate of natural
increase. At the beginning of the 21st century, El Salvador had a low
rate of natural increase. Nevertheless, overcrowding remains a severe
problem.
Economy
El Salvador’s economy was predominantly agricultural until industry
rapidly expanded in the 1960s and ’70s. Despite its traditional
concentration on agriculture, the country is not self-sufficient and
must import food. At the root of this problem is the disproportionate
distribution of land, which favours commercial crops and leaves many
peasants landless and unable to grow subsistence crops. During the civil
war years, in the 1980s and the early 1990s, the U.S. government
supplied El Salvador with large amounts of military and economic aid in
order to counter the leftist parties and guerrilla units that had formed
in response to the actions of the governing junta. A decade after it
began, the war had destroyed the country’s economy and infrastructure,
and neither side was winning. It was not until after the signing of the
peace accords in 1992 that El Salvador’s economy began to recover from
the effects of war. By the mid-1990s El Salvador had expanded its
service industry, and in the early 2000s it increased its amount of
agricultural exports and number of reconstruction projects. In 2004 El
Salvador signed a free-trade agreement with the United States that
further boosted its export income. However, in the late 1990s, these
accomplishments had been offset by high oil prices, natural disasters,
and a decline in the number of maquiladoras (manufacturing plants that
import and assemble duty-free components for export). These factors
prevented El Salvador from paying off its external debt, and the country
continues to rely partly on foreign aid. On the other hand, remittances
from an estimated more than one million Salvadorans living in the United
States have played an increasingly important role in the Salvadoran
economy since the end of the country’s civil war.
Agriculture, forestry, and fishing
The most important agricultural products in El Salvador are coffee,
cotton, corn (maize), and sugarcane. Several species of palm and coconut
trees grow in the coastal zone, and there are many varieties of tropical
fruit, such as coconut, tamarind, melon, watermelon, and mango.
Nontraditional agricultural products (e.g., jalapeño peppers, marigolds,
okra, and pineapple) have increased in importance since the early 2000s.
Nevertheless, coffee alone still accounts for a substantial part of the
value of total agricultural production. Cattle raising is also an
important activity.
Valuable wood is obtained from the cedar, mahogany, laurel, nispero,
and madrecacao trees and is used for the manufacture of furniture. The
trunk of the balsa tree yields excellent lumber as well as resin that is
used in the manufacture of antiseptics and medicinal gums. It is also
used for fuel.
Commercial fishing, regulated by the government, has added to the
country’s export earnings. Most of the fish caught commercially or for
sport come from offshore waters and coastal lagoons; they consist
chiefly of crustaceans (including lobster and shrimp), mullet, snappers,
jacks, groupers, sharks, and anchovies.
Resources and power
There is no mineral exploitation of significance in El Salvador. The
main power sources, meeting most of the country’s needs, are the
hydroelectric projects on the Lempa River 35 miles (56 km) northeast of
San Salvador, which are administered by a government agency.
Manufacturing
In the mid-20th century, there was a steadily increasing investment
in industry, stimulated by the Central American Common Market.
Industrial plants were set up throughout the country, and existing
facilities were expanded, helped by government incentives, an advanced
banking system, and development credits from abroad. Manufacturing
underwent a serious decline beginning in 1979, a result primarily of
civil unrest and political instability. Following the civil war,
manufacturing increased beyond the level of prewar output, and by the
early 21st century it accounted for more than one-fifth of the country’s
gross domestic product (GDP). Manufactures include beverages, canned
foods, organic fertilizers, cement, chemical products, pharmaceuticals,
cigarettes, shoes, cotton textiles, leather goods, petroleum products,
and electronics.
Finance
In 1980 the country’s commercial banks and its export-marketing
agencies were nationalized. By the early 1990s this trend had been
reversed, and a comprehensive privatization program was implemented,
which continued through the early 2000s. In 2001 El Salvador adopted the
U.S. dollar as its national currency.
Trade
More than one-fifth of El Salvador’s imports are used for reexport
(mostly apparel produced in maquiladoras). Among other imports are
machinery parts, foodstuffs, petroleum, and chemical products. El
Salvador’s main trading partner is the United States. Other partners
include El Salvador’s Central American neighbours—particularly
Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras, and Nicaragua—and Japan. El Salvador
entered into the Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement
(CAFTA-DR) with the United States in 2004.
Services
Since the early 1990s services have accounted for about three-fifths
of GDP. Tourism suffered a decline during the country’s civil war, but
since the 1990s it has been an increasing source of income. Some
important tourist sites are the pyramids of Campana San Andrés; the
complex of Cihuatan; the ruins of the ancient cities of Cara Sucia,
Tazumal, and Quelepa; and the Joya de Cerén Archaeological Site, which
was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1993 and consists of the
ruins of a prehistoric farming village that was buried by a volcano c.
ad 600.
Labour and taxation
Although El Salvador has fared better than other Latin American
countries when population increases are taken into account, the
country’s modest economic growth, averaging 2 percent or less since the
1990s, is not enough to produce dramatic improvements in standards of
living. With about one-half of the population living in poverty and more
than one-fourth reportedly feeling they must migrate abroad in search of
work, some critics have argued that the average Salvadoran household has
not benefited from neoliberalism. From the late 1980s to the middle of
the first decade of the 21st century, poverty levels rose slightly. With
prices rising, privatization has been vigorously opposed. Finally, the
fruits of stable economic growth have not been equitably distributed, as
the income of the richest 10 percent of the population is almost 50
times higher than that of the poorest 10 percent. Pervasive poverty and
inequality, combined with 15 percent unemployment and significant
underemployment, have contributed to the related problems of crime and
violence that have plagued El Salvador since its civil war. In the early
1990s, more than two-thirds of the economically active population was
unemployed or underemployed, and more than seven-tenths of Salvadorans
lived in poverty. Poverty levels declined significantly in the early
21st century, but income inequality widened following privatization
programs. Women make up about two-fifths of the country’s labour force,
and they are mainly employed in the agriculture and domestic-service
sectors. Four-fifths of workers in the country’s maquiladoras are women.
Labour unions have a long history in El Salvador. The first unions
were formed in the early 20th century and were meant to promote savings
among members, as well as education and charitable work. The worldwide
Great Depression, which began in 1929, aggravated social tensions and
contributed to an increasingly militant labour union movement in El
Salvador.
Several important labour unions were created in the 1960s and during
the civil war in the 1980s, including the National Farm Workers’ Union
(Unión Nacional Obrero Campesino; UNOC), the General Work Confederation
(Confederación General del Trabajo; CGT), and the National Unity of
Salvadoran Workers (Unidad Nacional de Trabajadores Salvadoreños; UNTS).
Following the end of the armed conflict in 1992, the labour union sector
was restructured, and a number of new or reorganized unions were formed,
including the Federation of Independent Associations and Unions of El
Salvador (Federación de Asociaciones o Sindicatos Independientes de El
Salvador; FEASIES) and the National Confederation of Salvadoran Workers
(Confederación Nacional del Trabajadores Salvadoreños; CNTS). El
Salvador has a sales tax, an income tax, and a value-added tax (VAT).
Transportation and telecommunications
El Salvador has adequate transportation facilities except in some of
the more remote areas. Two main routes of the Inter-American Highway,
part of the Pan-American Highway, cross El Salvador from Guatemala to
Honduras, forming the framework of a road system that reaches almost all
parts of the country; one of these routes runs across the central
highlands, the other across the coastal plain. Several paved roads
connect with these main highways. The country’s narrow-gauge railroad is
operated by a national agency; the main tracks link the capital with
ports on the coast and with the Guatemalan border. For seaborne
commerce, El Salvador relies on three ports—Acajutla, La Libertad, and
Cutuco (near La Unión). El Salvador’s main outlet to the Atlantic is
through the Guatemalan port of Puerto Barrios, with which San Salvador
is linked by road and rail, via Guatemala City. An international airport
was constructed in the 1970s on the coastal plain 25 miles (40 km) south
of the capital. It replaced Ilopango Airport, which now serves as a
military base. Severe damage to the country’s transportation network
resulted from the civil war.
El Salvador’s telecommunications system was privatized in the late
1990s; however, it has been set back various times by natural disasters.
Cellular phone usage in El Salvador is high compared with that in most
Central American countries, and the number of fixed-line telephones,
even in urban areas, has significantly decreased.
Government and society
Constitutional framework
El Salvador’s constitution of 1983 provides for representative
government with three branches—legislative, executive, and judicial.
Executive power is exercised by the president (who is elected by popular
vote and serves a nonrenewable five-year term), the cabinet ministers,
and the undersecretaries of state. Legislative power is vested in a
unicameral, popularly elected National Assembly, whose members serve
three-year terms. The judicial branch is composed of a Supreme Court of
Justice, whose magistrates are selected by the National Assembly, and of
other tribunals as established by statute.
Local government
El Salvador’s territory is divided into departamentos (departments),
each of which is divided into distritos (districts), which are further
divided into municipios (municipalities). Each department has a governor
and a substitute governor, appointed by executive power; and each
municipality has a popularly elected municipal council composed of a
mayor, a secretary, and aldermen, the number of whom is in proportion to
the population.
Political process
All Salvadorans age 18 and older have universal suffrage. Prominent
political parties include the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance
(Alianza Republicana Nacionalista; Arena) and the leftist Farabundo
Martí National Liberation Front (Frente Farabundo Martí para la
Liberación Nacional; FMLN). There are many other parties, some of which
were formed under the auspices of the FMLN. A party list proportional
representation system is used for elections to the National Assembly.
For presidential elections, a candidate must receive a majority in the
first round to win election; otherwise, a runoff is required. Voter
turnout has generally been low, with about two-fifths to one-half of
eligible citizens participating.
Health and welfare
Despite a number of governmental attempts to achieve a more
equitable distribution of income through a major program of agrarian
reform in the late 1970s, as well as improvements in education and
social services following the war, progress in El Salvador has been
exceedingly slow. Low-cost housing, medical assistance, and employment
programs were improved upon in an attempt to meet the needs and problems
of the displaced and the unemployed, but such programs have had
difficulty keeping up with deteriorating conditions. The
doctor-to-patient ratio is low, and most doctors serve only urban areas.
Moreover, in many areas the war and population displacement have caused
the reappearance and spread of diseases, particularly dengue fever,
malaria, and cholera. Malnutrition is increasingly prevalent.
Education
All public and private institutions of learning are under the
jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education. Since 1968 the school system
has been composed of preschool, primary, and secondary educational
categories, followed by university-level education. Primary education is
free and compulsory. More than four-fifths of Salvadorans aged 10 and
over are literate. Among the institutions of higher education are the
University of El Salvador (1841), the University Dr. José Matías Delgado
(1977), and the Central American University of José Simeón Cañas (1965).
There are also schools for technology, fine arts, agriculture, social
services, and nursing.
Cultural life
Cultural milieu
The cultural life of El Salvador, like its population, is an amalgam
of Indian and Spanish influences, though European influences
predominate, largely because most Indian cultural activities have been
suppressed by the government since the 1930s. Indian customs do survive,
however, in small clusters of villages, such as those around Izalco and
Nahuizalco, and traditional crafts are produced in Ilobasco (pottery)
and Izalco (textiles). This cultural mix also can be seen in the
country’s rich tradition of folklore, poetry, and painting. The Roman
Catholic Church also has been a major influence on almost every aspect
of cultural life.
Daily life and social customs
Owing to the large number of Salvadorans who have immigrated to, or
returned from, the United States since the 1980s, the lifestyle of broad
segments of El Salvador’s urban population (and even that of those in
many rural areas) has become increasingly Americanized. In one of San
Salvador’s wealthier neighbourhoods, Escalón, a number of multiscreen
cinemas have opened, and the city’s principal boulevard is lined with
shopping malls and fast-food restaurants. On weekends North American,
South American, and Mexican rock music is played in the bars.
Salvadorans of all classes enjoy their country’s folk music. Although
the country’s dozens of radio stations mostly play North American and
Mexican popular music, there has been a revival of the canción popular,
folk music often mixed with political commentary. Canción popular can
frequently be heard playing in El Salvador’s restaurants, which serve
staples such as casamiento, a spicy mixture of rice and beans, and
pupusa, a sandwich made of cheese, meat, or beans wrapped in cornmeal.
The arts
El Salvador’s elite has long prized the arts, especially literature.
But any kind of antigovernment literature was an extremely dangerous
enterprise during the civil war years; one of the country’s most widely
respected poets, Roque Dalton, was assassinated in 1975 after having
written several books that criticized the ruling party, and many other
Salvadoran writers, artists, and intellectuals fled the country. Few
have returned, but those who have, including poets Manlio Argueta and
Francisco Rodriguez, give frequent readings before large audiences.
Private benefactors have played as important a role as that of the
government in patronizing the arts. The government has increased its
contribution to national cultural life, particularly in its expansion of
secondary and continuing education.
Cultural institutions
The majority of El Salvador’s cultural institutions are located in
the capital. The most significant of these are the state-supported
National Theatre and the Presidential Theatre, the latter of which
offers performances of works by contemporary playwrights. Museums, also
in the capital, include the Natural History Museum of El Salvador and
the David J. Guzmán National Museum, which specializes in history and
archaeology.
Sports and recreation
Football (soccer) is the most popular sport in El Salvador and is
played throughout the country. Internationally renowned players include
Jorge (“El Mágico”) González, who is considered one of the most
accomplished footballers in the history of the Central American game,
and Jaime (“La Chelona”) Rodríguez, who, with González, led the national
team’s memorable run in the 1982 World Cup. Other sports, such as
baseball and boxing, are still incipient in El Salvador. Numerous
adventure sports are popular, including hiking, surfing, fishing, and
kayaking. The country first competed in the Olympics at the 1968 Games
in Mexico City.
Media and publishing
The majority of newspapers and publishing companies in El Salvador
are privately owned. Major daily newspapers include the
ultraconservative El Diario de Hoy (“Today’s Daily”), the conservative
La Prensa Gráfica (“The Graphic Press”), El Mundo (“The World”), and the
government-owned Diario Oficial (“Official Daily”), among others.
René Santamaria Varela
David G. Browning
Markus Schultze-Kraft
History
Early history
Before the Spanish arrived in Salvadoran territory in the 16th
century, it was occupied by a complex of Indian tribes. Of these the
Pocomam, Chortí, and Lenca, all related to the Maya, were the more
ancient, but the Pipil, whose civilization resembled that of the Aztecs
in Mexico, were predominant. Archaeological ruins dating from Indian
times are Tazumal, Pampe, El Trapito, and San Andrés. Of several large
towns founded by the Indians, Sonsonate and Ahuachapán still exist. For
more information on early history and the treatment of the country in
its regional context, see Central America.
The colonial period
The Spanish conquest and colonization of El Salvador began in 1524
with the arrival of an expedition from Guatemala led by Pedro de
Alvarado. Alvarado’s troops met determined opposition from a Nahua
tribe, the Pipil, that occupied much of the region west of the Lempa
River. However, superior tactics and armaments enabled the Spaniards to
push on to the Pipil capital of Cuscatlán. Alvarado soon returned to
Guatemala, but a second expedition, in 1525, founded a Spanish town
called San Salvador near the site of Cuscatlán. Pipil warriors forced
the Spanish settlers to withdraw, however, and the community would be
resettled several times before it was permanently established in 1528.
Thereafter, the town of San Salvador would serve as the capital of a
province of the same name that included most of the eastern
three-fourths of the territory of present-day El Salvador. The area to
the west (comprising the present-day regions of Sonsonate, Santa Ana,
and Ahuachapán), which the Pipil called Izalcos, was organized in 1558
as the autonomous province of Sonsonate and would not be incorporated as
a part of El Salvador until 1823.
The lands that would form El Salvador became the agricultural
heartland of the captaincy general of Guatemala. Although most of the
inhabitants were obliged to depend on subsistence farming, the more
fortunate Spaniards found wealth in the export of a variety of local
products, all of which experienced periods of “boom and bust.” Cocoa was
the most important source of wealth during the 16th century. Increased
competition from other colonies led to a marked drop in revenue from
cocoa by 1590, and the following century was clearly a period of
stagnation for the region. Recovery in the 1700s came as a result of
increased exports of indigo.
The indigo trade led to the development of a fairly sophisticated
form of commercial agriculture and the creation of large estates
operated by families whose members played a leading role in provincial
affairs. For the indigenous people, however, the indigo boom chiefly
meant that an additional burden was placed on an already exhausted
workforce.
Independence
A variety of considerations caused the Salvadoran indigo planters to
take a leading role in agitating for Central American independence.
These included the hard times caused by a sharp decline in indigo
production during the first decade of the 19th century, a long-held
hostility toward Guatemalan merchants who controlled much of the economy
of San Salvador, and the conviction that the province should be
organized as a bishopric so that it need no longer depend upon the
archbishop of Guatemala for pastoral services.
In November 1811 the arrest of a member of one of the planter
families ignited an uprising led by José Matías Delgado, the provincial
vicar of San Salvador, and his nephew Manuel José Arce. The rebels held
the government for nearly a month before Spain’s authority was restored
by the captain general of Guatemala, whose measures seemed more
conciliatory than repressive. A second, shorter uprising in 1814 had
wider popular support, and it provoked a more severe response from the
captain general, costing Arce more than four years in prison.
In 1821 the province endorsed Guatemala’s declaration of independence
from Spain. The Salvadorans, however, opposed the Guatemalan decision to
accept incorporation into Agustín de Iturbide’s Mexican Empire, a stance
that led to confrontations with Guatemalan and Mexican armies. Faced
with defeat late in 1822, a Salvadoran congress sought adoption of a
resolution providing for the province’s annexation to the United States,
but this scheme was abandoned when Iturbide’s government collapsed in
1823. Meeting in June of that year in Guatemala City, a Central American
constitutional convention chose Delgado as its president, appointed Arce
as a member of the provisional executive triumvirate, and went on to
draft a constitution, which was completed in 1824. The state thus
created was now called the Federal Republic of Central America, having
earlier been termed the United Provinces of Central America; in 1825
Arce became its first president.
Nationhood
The state of San Salvador (the modern-day name, El Salvador, was not
used until 1841) played an important part in the affairs of the Central
American federation. Not only was it the birthplace of the federation’s
first president, but it was also there that a revolt was sparked against
Arce in 1827, beginning the civil war in which Central American liberals
and conservatives contested for control of the new country. This
conflict, which caused the collapse of Arce’s presidency, ended in 1829
with the seizure of the federal government by Francisco Morazán,
commander of the liberal army. Having cast their lot with Morazán, the
Salvadorans became his most loyal allies and were rewarded in 1834 with
the transfer of the federal capital to the city of San Salvador. The
Salvadorans were so attached to the ideals of federation that the state
did not assume sovereign powers until 1841, one year after the other
four member states had already left the federation.
Sovereignty did not signal the arrival of peace and prosperity for El
Salvador; if anything, the new country experienced increased civil
strife and international conflict for several decades after 1841. From
that year until 1863, just one chief of state could claim continuous
service that ran two full years. During this time, El Salvador was
involved in wars with neighbouring countries that usually arose from
attempts to meddle in their politics. Often El Salvador found that the
final arbiter of its political affairs was Rafael Carrera, conservative
dictator of Guatemala from 1839 until his death in 1865. In the midst of
this turmoil, El Salvador secured the establishment of the long-sought
bishopric and saw the beginnings of the coffee industry, which was
advanced in part by the policies of Pres. Gerardo Barrios Espinosa
(1861–63).
A coffee republic
The presidency of Francisco Dueñas (1863–71) pointed toward greater
political stability for the country; real change came, however, when his
overthrow in 1871 marked the beginning of a 60-year period of rule by
liberals who focused on the pursuit of economic growth and domestic
tranquility. Late in the 19th century, a substantial shift in the
country’s economy became essential when the development of synthetic
dyes severely reduced the income normally generated by the export of
indigo. Salvadorans solved this problem by means of a “coffee
revolution.” New lands had to be opened to cultivation, a step
facilitated during the administration of Rafael Zaldívar (1876–85), who
authorized the sale of Indian lands. These proceedings provoked Indian
uprisings, which were put down by a newly created rural mounted police
force.
The coffee planters developed a highly efficient system of plantation
enterprises and formed a closely knit elite that used its growing
economic strength to ensure that the government served its interests.
Among the small number of controlling families, just two—the Meléndez
and Quiñónez families—monopolized the office of the president between
1913 and 1927.
Military dictatorships
The coffee barons’ direct control of the presidency ultimately came
to an end as a consequence of the Great Depression, which began in 1929.
A coup installed Gen. Maximiliano Hernández Martínez as president in
December 1931 and initiated a succession of military governments that
controlled the country through 1979.
The persistence of military rule can be partly explained as a result
of a two-day revolt by farmworkers in January 1932 that was organized by
Augustín Farabundo Martí, head of the recently formed Salvadoran
Communist Party. Hernández Martínez easily suppressed the rebellion and
authorized the summary execution of at least 10,000 suspected
participants. The uprising and its brutal repression, which is referred
to as la matanza (“the slaughter”), were momentous events in the history
of the country. The revolt demonstrated the value of the military
dictatorship to the landed elite, which became convinced of the need for
eternal vigilance against the menace of a communist revolution. It also
eliminated the immediate threat from the left as well as most of the
last vestiges of Indian culture.
Personally honest and austere, Hernández Martínez sought to emulate
the fascist dictators of Europe, but he may be best known for his
interest in the occult arts. His regime survived a coup in April 1944,
but the following month a general strike launched by university students
brought the country to a standstill and caused the dictator to resign
from office. There was no real change, however, until 1948, when a
revolt by young army officers installed a junta headed by Maj. Oscar
Osorio. This “Majors’ Revolution” gave rise to policies and patterns of
behaviour that would have a central role in the practice of Salvadoran
politics during the next 30 years.
Elected to a six-year term as president in 1950, Osorio organized the
Revolutionary Party of Democratic Unification (Partido Revolucionario de
Unificación Democrática; PRUD) and launched a variety of reform
projects, such as the development of hydroelectric facilities and urban
housing projects. He also extended collective bargaining rights to urban
workers, but, for the most part, the reforms served to encourage
economic growth and to benefit the middle class. Osorio’s successor,
Lieut. Col. José María Lemus (1956–60), continued these programs, but
there was no improvement in the living standards of workers. When faced
with open discontent, Lemus resorted to repressive measures, and a
military coup deposed him in October 1960.
A second coup, in January 1961, brought Lieut. Col. Julio Adalberto
Rivera (1962–67) to power. PRUD was dismantled and replaced by the
National Conciliation Party (Partido de Conciliación Nacional; PCN),
which would control the national government for the next 18 years. Under
the banner of the Alliance for Progress, Rivera advanced programs aimed
at economic growth and diversification, which enabled El Salvador to
take advantage of the increased trade opportunities offered by the
recently formed Central American Common Market (CACM). A greater degree
of political liberty seemed evident from the rise of the Christian
Democratic Party (Partido Demócrata Cristiano; PDC) and the victory of
its candidate, José Napoleón Duarte, in the 1964 mayoral election in the
city of San Salvador. At the same time, the Rivera government oversaw
the formation of the Democratic Nationalist Organization (Organización
Democrática Nacionalista; ORDEN), a large, secretive, and predominantly
rural paramilitary organization.
Col. Fidel Sánchez Hernández (1967–72) encountered difficulties as a
result of the decline in world prices for coffee and cotton, but in 1969
the country’s attention was diverted from economic problems by the
outbreak of what came to be known as the “Soccer War” with Honduras.
This conflict broke out shortly after the two countries had played three
bitterly contested matches in the World Cup competition, but the real
causes for the war lay elsewhere.
In the first place, there was a long-standing dispute concerning the
location of portions of the border between the two countries. Also,
Hondurans resented the substantial trade advantage El Salvador held over
them on the basis of the rules of the CACM. Most important was the
problem raised by some 300,000 Salvadorans who had migrated to Honduras
in search of land or jobs and who now found themselves threatened by an
involuntary repatriation program begun by the Honduran government.
Spurred by reports of the mistreatment of these refugees, the Salvadoran
government opened hostilities on July 14, 1969. A cease-fire took effect
on July 18, but El Salvador continued to force the action until the
Organization of American States (OAS) threatened economic sanctions
against the country on July 29. The brief war had cost several thousand
lives, and a peace treaty between the two countries was not concluded
until 1980.
Continuing economic troubles and the growing popularity of Duarte,
the PDC candidate who headed a coalition slate, suggested that the
military might lose control of the government in the 1972 elections.
Members of ORDEN supervised voting in the outlying provinces, however,
and managed to ensure the victory of the PCN’s Col. Arturo Armando
Molina. An attempted coup afterward achieved little more than Duarte’s
arrest and exile to Venezuela, where he resided until 1979.
During the period that encompassed the tenure of President Molina
(1972–77) and that of his successor, Gen. Carlos Humberto Romero
(1977–79), the country experienced more-frequent expressions of public
discontent and growing abuses of human rights. The increasing opposition
among Roman Catholic clergymen to the church’s traditional defense of
the status quo provided one clear sign of widening concern about the
problem of social injustice in El Salvador. This period also witnessed
the formation of mass popular front organizations that expressed the
grievances of peasant groups and labour unions by such means as strikes,
demonstrations, and parades. By 1979 several separate guerrilla
organizations were operating in El Salvador.
Apart from an agrarian-reform proposal that was offered (and quickly
retracted) in 1976, the government had no response to this opposition
other than tightening the screws of repression. Peasants surely suffered
the brunt of efforts to stifle dissent, but the most egregious example
of government violence came in 1975 when at least a dozen university
students were shot to death while protesting the use of public funds to
hold the Miss Universe contest in El Salvador. The political situation
steadily worsened until Romero was removed from office by a military
coup in October 1979.
Civil war
Shortly after General Romero’s ouster, the country was plunged into
a civil war that would last for the next 12 years. There were other
significant consequences to be noted. Most obvious was the military’s
loss of the monopoly it had held on the direct exercise of governmental
authority for nearly 50 years. At the same time, there was a change in
the relationship between the military and the country’s propertied
elite. The latter group felt it could no longer rely entirely on the
armed forces for protection and sought to broaden its base of support by
the formation in 1981 of a new political organization, the Nationalist
Republican Alliance (Alianza Republicana Nacionalista; Arena), led by
retired major Roberto D’Aubuisson Arrieta.
In addition, the role of the United States, which previously had
shown very little interest in the affairs of El Salvador, changed
markedly with Ronald Reagan’s inauguration as president in January 1981.
During the balance of the decade, the United States supplied El Salvador
with financial aid amounting to $4 billion; assumed responsibility for
the organization and training of elite military units; supported the war
effort through the provision of sophisticated weaponry, particularly
helicopters; and used its influence in a variety of ways to guide the
political fortunes of the country.
The years following Romero’s downfall provided a kaleidoscopic array
of events. The governing junta made up of civilians and army officers
that had formed in October 1979 collapsed three months later when its
civilian members resigned because of their failure to reach agreement on
reforms and their inability to bring the military under control. Duarte
returned from exile and became head of the second junta, which enacted a
package of laws that included an agrarian-reform program. The reforms
did not contribute to any reduction in the level of political violence,
however. That was made clear in March 1980 when Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo
Romero, who had become a vehement critic of the military establishment,
was assassinated while performing mass; it was further demonstrated at
the end of the year when the military murdered three American nuns and a
Roman Catholic lay worker.
By that time the guerrilla units had joined in a single organization,
the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (Frente Farabundo Martí
para la Liberación Nacional; FMLN), and announced the opening of a
“final offensive” in January 1981. The offensive was by no means final,
however, and the fortunes of the guerrilla army would ebb and flow
throughout the balance of the decade. During that time the guerrillas
initiated and survived hard-fought battles with government troops who
were trained and supplied by the United States.
Elections held in 1982 enabled the formation of a constituent
assembly that organized a provisional government and drafted a new
constitution (the third since 1948), which was promulgated in December
1983. Duarte was elected president the following March. Although a
meeting held with guerrilla leaders in the fall of 1984 raised hopes
that Duarte could negotiate an end to the civil war, the talks led
nowhere; furthermore, his presidency was plagued by misfortune. He made
no progress in his efforts to achieve peace or advance social and
economic reforms. At the end of his term, charges of widespread
corruption in the government contributed to the victory of the Arena
candidate, Alfredo Cristiani, in the 1989 presidential election. Duarte
died of stomach cancer shortly after Cristiani’s inauguration.
Cristiani continued to enforce harsh strictures on dissent, but he
also showed willingness to examine FMLN proposals for peace. In November
1989 the FMLN launched a major offensive on a number of urban centres in
the country, including the capital city, San Salvador. The fierceness of
the attack took the army by surprise, and it was only after weeks of
intense fighting and indiscriminate aerial bombardment of San Salvador’s
neighbourhoods by the Salvadoran Air Force that the guerrilla units were
forced to retreat from the city. In the course of the battle for San
Salvador, the U.S.-trained Rapid Response Atlacatl Battalion killed six
Jesuit priests and two housekeepers at the Central American University
of José Simeón Cañas on Nov. 16, 1989. Strong international pressure to
prosecute the perpetrators of the crime and Cristiani’s loss of faith in
the army’s capacity to defeat the FMLN strengthened the president’s
commitment to reaching a negotiated settlement. UN-mediated peace
negotiations began in the spring of 1990, and the two parties signed the
Chapultepec Peace Accords in Mexico City on Feb. 16, 1992. By that time
more than 75,000 people (mostly noncombatants) had lost their lives, the
economy was in shambles, and massive damage to the infrastructure was
evident everywhere.
Philip F. Flemion
The postconflict era
The peace agreement officially ended the civil war and mandated a
major reduction of the country’s armed forces, the dissolution and
disarming of guerrilla units, the creation of a new civilian police
force (Policía Nacional Civil; PNC), and the establishment of a
commission to investigate human rights abuses of the Salvadoran Armed
Forces and the FMLN during the war. The FMLN subsequently became a
political party. Also in 1992, a century-old territorial dispute between
El Salvador and Honduras was settled by the International Court of
Justice (ICJ), which awarded Honduras two-thirds of the land in the Gulf
of Fonseca and ensured Honduras’s free passage to the Pacific Ocean. El
Salvador unsuccessfully appealed this decision before the ICJ in 2002.
Armando Calderón Sol of Arena triumphed in the presidential election
of 1994, and his party also won control of the National Assembly. Under
Calderón’s leadership the government reduced the number of its troops
and turned over public security to the new PNC; however, violent crime
increased dramatically during the same period, most notably through
assassinations and terrorism inflicted by right-wing death squads.
Indeed, the administration’s most serious challenge was the marked
increase in criminal violence, partly due to the large number of weapons
still in the possession of many Salvadorans in the aftermath of the war.
Calderón’s government largely failed to deliver the land and
agricultural credits that had been promised in the peace accords to
former combatants in order to assist their transition back into civilian
life, prompting violent protests by thousands of demobilized soldiers in
January 1995. (The land transfer issue continued into the early 21st
century.) At the same time, harsh living conditions, the impact of
neoliberal economic adjustment policies, and the weak performance of
state institutions (namely the judicial system and the PNC) further
contributed to a climate of insecurity and fear.
Midway through its second term in office, Arena was shaken by
corruption scandals and internal feuds, and it lost a considerable
number of seats to the FMLN in the 1997 municipal and legislative
elections. Under the leadership of former president Cristiani, the party
chose Francisco Flores Pérez as its candidate for the presidential
elections in March 1999. The FMLN, by contrast, experienced difficulties
in selecting its candidate but finally settled on former guerrilla
commander Facundo Guardado. Flores defeated Guardado, and Arena
continued to hold control. Flores’s government faced formidable economic
and social challenges, including recovery from severe hurricane damage
in 1998 and a series of deadly earthquakes in 2001.
El Salvador in the 21st century
During his tenure Flores modernized the economy, strengthened
relations with the United States, and advocated for El Salvador’s entry
into the Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement
(CAFTA-DR) with the United States (which officially went into effect for
El Salvador on March 1, 2006).
Arena candidate Elias Antonio (Tony) Saca was elected president in
2004 following a bitter campaign with the FMLN, which early on was
expected to emerge victorious. The two most pressing issues facing him
upon taking office were the increase in the maras (Salvadoran street
gangs involved in drug trafficking and kidnapping) and growing
opposition to the sending of Salvadoran troops to fight in the Iraq War.
Moreover, in the early 21st century, land reform had not been
achieved—indeed, it had been resisted by the powerful landowning
elite—and pervasive poverty was contributing to continued crime and
violence in the country.
Markus Schultze-Kraft
In the 2009 presidential election, with some 60 percent of El
Salvadorans voting, leftist Mauricio Funes of the FMLN claimed victory,
and the former guerrilla group took power for the first time. The
country remained divided both economically and politically.
Conservatives worried that the FMLN would align too closely with
Venezuelan Pres. Hugo Chávez.
Ed.
