1973

Eguizábal 1982?: Molina organizes a "Seminario de Reforma Agraria, pero, esta vez, no en la Asamblea, sino directamente para los oficiales de las Fuerzas Armadas. Del seminario no resultaron medidas concretas; la aparición de las primeras acciones guerrilleras por esta época parecen haber obligado a las autoridades a dar prioridad a las cuestiones de ‘seguridad nacional,’ sobre aquellas de ‘transformación nacional’" (page 86).

1974

March: Congressional and mayoral elections

Anderson 1988: "In the mayoral and legislative elections of 1974, the PCN helped itself to 36 of the 52 Assembly seats, allowing the UNO 15, although the PDC continued to hang onto a few mayoralties, including that of San Salvador" (page 78).

Herman 1984: "In March 1974 UNO ran a full slate of candidates for the municipal and legislative elections, but this time the Central Election Board simply announced the victory of the official party, the PCN, without bothering to post the results" (page 102).

Montgomery 1995: No official statistics were published, gives seats won by UNO and PCN (page 67).

Webre 1979: "(T)he government never got around to publishing official returns, but it claimed the PCN had captured thirty-six seats to the UNO’s combined total of fifteen and the FUDI’s one" (page 187). Gives municipalities won by UNO.

1975

July: Massacre of students protesting government’s expenditures on the Miss Universe pageant

1976

Congressional and mayoral elections

Herman 1984: "In 1976 the UNO coalition refused to participate in the local elections after some of their candidates were threatened by right wing paramilitary groups, and after the electoral boards had disqualified more than two-thirds of their slates" (page 102).

Montgomery 1995: UNO nominated no candidates (page 67).

Webre 1979: "Legislative Assembly and municipal elections of 1976 [were] elections from which, for the first time since 1962, the opposition parties abstained en masse...The refusal to participate on the part of the member parties of the UNO meant one more formal expression of discredit with respect to the electoral process; it also meant that the PDC, MNR, and UDN surrendered without a struggle every public office they held, including the municipality of San Salvador" (page 174).

1977

February 20: Presidential election (Romero / PCN)

Byrne 1996: "The February 1977 elections were contested again by the ...UNO...whose 1972 victory was overturned by the military. Once again the elections were marked by fraud--stuffed ballot boxes, intimidation of voters" (page 44).

Caldera T. 1983: "(P)rácticamente no hubo elecciones, ya que lo que se dio fue un asalto descarado a las urnas; las papeletas no se contaron, y en estas condiciones el PCN se atribuyó más de medio millón de votos, imponiendo a su candidato" (page 27).

CUDI 1982: Gives number of registered voters and percent who voted (page 581).

Herman 1984: "UNO officials intercepted military radio transmissions ordering ballot box stuffing, while UNO election officials were assaulted and evicted from polling areas. According to credible witnesses, in the 16 voting districts where a more or less honest count was made, the UNO slate won by a three-to-one margin. The Central Elections Council, however, announced that General Romero, the PCN candidate, was the winner by a three-to-one margin" (page 102).

Webre 1979: "Opposition representatives were present to certify the results from only 920 of the country’s 3,540 boxes, nearly half in the capital area" (page 197). Gives votes for UNO and PCN presidential candidates in those 920 boxes and official national total for each.

February 28: Security forces open fire on demonstrators protesting the electoral fraud

March 12: Jesuit priest Father Rutilio Grande is assassinated

Haggerty 1990: "United States military aid had been rejected by the Romero government in 1977 when the Carter administration sought to link disbursement to human rights compliance" (page 38).

May 12: Jesuit priest Alfonso Navarro is assassinated

November

Eguizábal 1982?: "Al cerrar toda posibilidad de protesta política institucionalizada, el régimen favoreció el desarrollo de la oposición política ilegal, controlada por organizaciones de extrema izquierda. La oligarquía, por su parte, aterrorizada por los éxitos de esas organizaciones y por la incapacidad de los militares para eliminarla, empezó a tomar su defensa en manos propias. Así es como aparecieron, en 1977, la Unión Guerrera Blanca y, poco tiempo después, MANO... Frente a la contestación violenta, el régimen respondió con la Ley de Defensa y de Garantía al Orden Público, adoptada en noviembre de 1977, por medio de la cual se suspendían legalmente todas las garantías individuales" (page 87).

Williams 1997: On November 25th Romero enacts the "Law for the Defense and Guarantee of Public Order, effectively giving the army and security forces carte blanche to wage their war against the popular organizations" (page 91).

1979

October 15: Government overthrown (first junta--October 15, 1979-January 3, 1980)

Córdova Macías 1998: "The coup d’état of October 15, 1979, is an event that is crucial for understanding Salvadoran politics during the past fifteen years. It marked the breakdown of the authoritarian regime that had ruled in prior decades and is the origin of the political transition" (page 142).

Eguizábal 1982?: "No hay duda de que la Proclama del 15 de octubre constituye el programa más radical que las fuerzas armadas le hayan propuesto jamás al país...Desde el punto de vista político, prometen elecciones libres, con la participación de partidos de todas las tendencias ideológicas" (page 89).

Haggerty 1990: "(I)n a climate of extreme violence, sharp political polarization, and potential revolution, yet another generation of young officers staged a coup in an effort to restore order and address popular frustrations" (page 34). "The Carter administration had lost considerable leverage in El Salvador when the Romero government renounced United States aid in 1977. The United States therefore welcomed the October 1979 coup and backed up its approval with an economic aid package that by 1980 had become the largest among Western Hemisphere recipients. A small amount of military aid also was provided" (pages 41-42).

Motley 1983: "The proclamation of the armed forces issued on October 15, 1979, within hours of the coup by reformist military officers...states as two basic goals: ‘To create an environment favorable for the carrying out of truly free elections within a reasonable period of time,’ and ‘To permit the organization of political parties of every ideology, in such a way as to strengthen the democratic system’" (page 2).

1980

Motley 1983: "On January 9, 1980, the ‘Pact Between the Armed Forces and the Christian Democratic Party’ announced the formation of a new government" (page 2). The pact cites as its first political objective: "To create the conditions necessary for the implementation of the structural reforms (and) at the same time lead the nation toward a democratic solution in which it is the people who decide their own destiny."

Ribera Sala 1996: "Para el Partido Demócrata Cristiano, PDC, la década de los ochenta se inicia con un cambio trascendental: después de haber sido un partido opositor durante casi veinte años--desde su fundación en 1960--pasaba ahora a ser partido de gobierno" (page 33).

January--Government changed (second junta--January 10, 1980-March 3, 1980)

February

Caldera T. 1983: On February 23, 1980, Dr. Mario Zamora Rivas, "Procurador General de Pobres y miembro del Comité Político del PDC" is assassinated (page 32).

March--Government changed (third junta--March 9, 1980-December 7, 1980)

March 24: Archbishop Romero assassinated

March 30: Clash between demonstrators and security forces at Romero’s funeral

May 14: Sumpul massacre

Central America report December 18, 1992: "Some 600 campesinos murdered in the Sumpul massacre, attributed to government armed forces" (page 378).

October 10: FMLN founded

Central America report December 18, 1992: "Five rebel organizations join forces as the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front" (page 378).

Eguizábal 1982?: "La Dirección Revolucionaria Unificada toma la direccion de la lucha armada y, el 10 de octubre de 1980, se procede a la fusión de las diferentes fuerzas, en el Frente Farabundo Martí de Liberación Nacional, FMLN" (page 90).

November 27: Major leaders of the FDR assassinated

December 3: Four U.S. churchwomen killed by National Guard

Haggerty 1990: "The murders themselves drew the ire of the United States government and public and prompted the administration of Jimmy Carter to suspend a program of limited military aid it had granted to the junta government" (page 38).

Government changed (fourth junta--December 13, 1980-March 28, 1982)

December 13: Duarte named provisional president