From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Beginning in the late 1970s, major civil wars erupted in the Central American region, and became one of the major foreign policy crises of the 1980s. The United States feared that victory by communist forces would threaten the Panama Canal and other US strategic interests.

Contents 1 Sandinista Revolution 2 El Salvador 3 Guatemala 4 Nicaraguan Contras 5 Honduras 6 United States response 7 Peace efforts

Main article: El Salvador Civil War

Main article: Guatemalan Civil War

Guatemala's civil war began in 1960, but appeared to have been contained by the army and death squads. However, Guatemala also saw an increase in violence in the late 1970s, marked by the 1978 Panzós massacre. In 1982, the resurgent guerrilla groups united in the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unity. The presidency of Efraín Ríos Montt, during which he implemented a strategy he called "beans and bullets," is widely considered to be the war's turning point. A peace agreement with the severely weakened guerrillas was signed in December 1996, ending the war.

In Honduras, efforts to establish guerrilla movements foundered on the generally conservative attitude of the population. Nevertheless, fears that the civil wars wracking its neighbors might spread to the country led to the killings and disappearances of leftists, spearheaded by the army's Battalion 316. Relatively stable Honduras became a key base for the Reagan administration's response to the crisis. US troops held large military exercises in Honduras during the 1980s, and trained thousands of Salvadorans in the country. The nation also hosted bases for the Nicaraguan Contras.

Caribbean Basin Initiative

Kissinger Commission

Several Latin American nations formed the Contadora Group to work for a resolution to the region's wars. Later, Costa Rican President Óscar Arias succeeded in convincing the other Central American leaders to sign the Esquipulas Peace Agreement, which eventually provided the framework for ending the civil wars.

v • d • e Cold War
Participants: NATO · Warsaw Pact · Non-Aligned Movement · People's Republic of China
Timeline of events · Portal · Category
1940s • Yalta Conference • Potsdam Conference • Gouzenko Affair • Iran Crisis • Chinese Civil War • Greek Civil War • Truman Doctrine • Marshall Plan • Czechoslovakian Coup • Tito-Stalin split • Berlin Blockade 1950s • Korean War • First Indochina War • Iranian Coup • Guatemalan Coup • East German Uprising • First Taiwan Strait Crisis • Poznań June • Hungarian Revolution	• Suez Crisis • Sputnik Crisis • Second Taiwan Strait Crisis • Cuban Revolution 1960s • Congo Crisis • Sino-Soviet Split • U-2 Crisis of 1960 • Bay of Pigs Invasion • Cuban Missile Crisis • Construction of the Berlin Wall • Vietnam War • U.S. Invasion of Dominican Republic • Overthrow of Sukarno • Bangkok Declaration • Secret War in Laos • Regime of the Colonels in Greece • Prague Spring • Détente • Sino-Soviet Border Conflict	1970s • Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty • Cambodian Civil War • Ping Pong Diplomacy • Four Power Agreement on Berlin • 1972 Nixon Visit to China • Overthrow of Allende • Yom Kippur War • SALT I • Angolan Civil War • Mozambican Civil War • Ogaden War • Third Indochina War • SALT II • Iranian Revolution 1980s • Soviet-Afghan War • Central American Crisis • Able Archer 83 • Polish Solidarity Movement	• Invasion of Grenada • Fall of the Berlin Wall • Revolutions of 1989 1990s • Dissolution of the USSR See also • Bricker Amendment • Glasnost • Iron Curtain • McCarthyism • Operation Condor • Operation Gladio • Perestroika • Soviet espionage in US Establishments • CIA • Comecon • European Community • KGB • Stasi	Ideologies • Capitalism • Communism • Maoism Races • Arms race • Nuclear arms race • Space Race Foreign policy • Brezhnev Doctrine • Carter Doctrine • Containment • Domino Theory • Eisenhower Doctrine • Johnson Doctrine • Kennedy Doctrine • Nixon Doctrine • Ostpolitik • Peaceful coexistence • Reagan Doctrine • Rollback • Truman Doctrine