El Salvador's Govt. Refuses to Give Data on El Mozote Massacre

El Salvador’s Armed Forces (FAS) once again denied hand over information on the 'El Mozote' massacre, which was carried out by the Army against nearly a thousand citizens in 1981.

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Following President Nayib Bukele’s command, the FAS rejected judge Jorge Guzman's request to access the military operations recorded during the civil war (1980-1992).

"The information is confidential and it can only be requested by the Parliament," a FAS member assured to Guzman, who is a judge on the San Francisco Gotera city's court.

This is the second time that Guzman tries to access information about El Salvador's bloodiest massacre, which was carried out with U.S. complicity. El Salvador Army was the first institution to reject the judge's petition, last September 21.

"The government is acting according to its interests. It doesn't care about the victims or their families," Guzman replied.

The day before the massacre, the Salvadoran Atlacatl Battalion, which was a unit trained by the U.S. top military advisors, arrived at El Mozote searching for the left-wing Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) militia.

The Salvadoran government suspected that some of El Mozote residents did business with FMLN guerillas. Therefore, on December 11, 1981, the Battalion rounded up the residents as it shot, raped, and dismembered hundreds of unarmed men, women, and children.

According to reports, nearly half of the victims were under the age of 10. To get rid of the responsibility, the U.S. and El Salvador's government assured that the massacre occurred after a clash between two armed groups.

“El Mozote showed what the Salvadoran regime was capable of, and what the U.S. government was willing to tolerate, excuse, and cover for in service of supposed anti-communism,” the Commission on the Truth for El Salvador stated.