1979 Salvadoran coup d'état

Overthrow of President Carlos Humberto Romero August 2020 May 2022 1979 Salvadoran coup d'état the Salvadoran Civil War and the Cold War line yes yes center Q792 5 3 15 October 1979 El Salvador Coup successful Carlos Humberto Romero overthrown Revolutionary Government Junta established by coup leaders Beginning of the Salvadoran Civil War Military dictatorship Armed Forces Military Youth Movement Carlos Romero Adolfo Arnoldo Majano Jaime Abdul Gutiérrez Carlos Vides Casanova None The 1979 Salvadoran coup d'état occurred on 15 October when junior officers of the Armed Forces of El Salvador's Military Youth Movement (MJM) bloodlessly overthrew General Carlos Humberto Romero, the president of El Salvador. The coup leaders established the Revolutionary Government Junta (JRG) that ruled El Salvador until 1982. Since 1931, a military dictatorship had ruled El Salvador; from 1961, it was led by the National Conciliation Party (PCN). During the 1970s, leftist militant groups committed terrorist actions such as kidnappings and hit-and-run attacks, and mass organizations held peaceful demonstrations to oppose the military dictatorship. The dictatorship and death squads targeted and repressed members of these groups. The PCN remained in power after claiming to have won fraudulent presidential elections during the 1970s. Political violence increased during Romero's presidency from 1977 to 1979, and some junior military officers believed that Romero had to be overthrown to prevent the country from falling to a leftist revolution. On 15 October 1979, the Military Youth Movement took control of El Salvador's military garrisons, and Romero surrendered when the coup leaders agreed to let him and loyalist government officials leave the country. The JRG appointed new government and military officials and promised to implement reforms, but the coup started the Salvadoran Civil War"Civil War" Some sources state the 1979 coup d'état started the Salvadoran Civil War;McClintock 1985 262Ram 1983 4 others place the start date sometime in 1980Bernal Ramírez Quijano de Batres 2009 221 or at the start of the final offensive of 1981.Lindo Fuentes Ching Lara Martínez 2007 93 & 242 that lasted until 1992. The 1979 coup d'état is the most recent to occur in El Salvador. 3 Background Following a military coup in 1931, the Armed Forces of El Salvador (FAES) ruled El Salvador through a military dictatorship.Ching 1997 2–3 & 491Gould Vrana 2025 177 From 1931 to 1948, the dictatorship was led by Brigadier General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez and, after his resignation and exile, by a succession of three military officers who had served in Martínez's semi-fascist government.Haggerty 1990 18Bernal Ramírez Quijano de Batres 2009 135 & 145 After a coup by junior officers in 1948, El Salvador was ruled by the military-backed and reformist Revolutionary Party of Democratic Unification (PRUD) until a 1960 coup overthrew the president, Lieutenant Colonel José María Lemus.Bosch 1999 9Haggerty 1990 18 & 20–21 The social democratic Junta of Government was overthrown the following year by the conservative Civic-Military Directory.Bosch 1999 9Bernal Ramírez Quijano de Batres 2009 185 The Civic-Military Directory, led by Colonel Julio Adalberto Rivera, established the military-backed National Conciliation Party (PCN).Bosch 1999 10Bernal Ramírez Quijano de Batres 2009 186 Rivera was elected president of El Salvador unopposed in the 1962 presidential election.Krennerich 2005 288 The PCN claimed to have won the next three presidential elections in 1967, 1972, and 1977, the latter two of which were described by political scientist Michael Krennerich as having been subject to "massive electoral fraud".Krennerich 2005 288–289 Opposition groups such as the Christian Democratic Party (PDC) and the National Opposition Union (UNO) participated in the elections, but the government prevented them from winning.Krennerich 2005 288–289Bernal Ramírez Quijano de Batres 2009 189 & 204 A faction of reformist junior officers attempted to overthrow the PCN government after the 1972 presidential election and install opposition leader José Napoleón Duarte as president, but the coup attempt failed and Duarte was exiled.Haggerty 1990 29–30 Prelude Militant and death squad activities Throughout the 1970s, several leftist militant groups operated in El Salvador. Groups such as the Farabundo Martí Popular Liberation Forces (FPL) and the People's Revolutionary Army (ERP) engaged in hit-and-run attacks against government buildings, committed kidnappings for ransom, and other instances of terrorism.Haggerty 1990 30 There were also mass organizations supported by peasants, workers, and some members of the Catholic Church that organized public demonstrations, strikes, and civil disobedience to create conditions that would start a revolution. The mass organizations had tens of thousands of members.Haggerty 1990 29LeoGrande Robbins 1980 1088 As well as leftist militant groups and mass organizations, far-right, government-aligned death squads operated in El Salvador that targeted members of these groups. Death squads such as the Wars of Elimination Anti-Communist Liberation Armed Forces (FALANGE) and the White Warrior's Union (UGB) assassinated and disappeared leftist leaders and members of the clergy.Haggerty 1990 31–32Gould Vrana 2025 178 Many death squads had direct connections to FAES officers.Haggerty 1990 234 The government itself also repressed mass organizations, and in July 1975, government forces killed at least 37 University of El Salvador students in a massacre.Bernal Ramírez Quijano de Batres 2009 211McClintock 1985 173 Presidency of Carlos Humberto Romero thumb|left|upright=0.85|alt=A photograph of Carlos Humberto Romero wearing a suit|General Carlos Humberto Romero, President of El Salvador at the time of the 1979 coup General Carlos Humberto Romero, the Minister of Defense and Public Security from 1972 to 1977,Leistenschneider Leistenschneider 1980 249 claimed to have won the fraudulent 1977 presidential election with 67.3 percent of the vote against UNO's Colonel Ernesto Claramount.Krennerich 2005 289Haggerty 1990 32–33 Claramount led a protest against the result at the Liberty Plaza in San Salvador, but government forces attacked the protest and killed between 50 and 200 people.Haggerty 1990 33McClintock 1985 184 Romero became president on 1July 1977 and was scheduled to serve until 1 July 1982.Leistenschneider Leistenschneider 1980 249 Political violence increased during Romero's presidency. Militant groups carried out more assassinations, kidnappings, and bombings against the government in an attempt to spark a revolution,Haggerty 1990 33 and mass organizations organized more strikes and protests.McClintock 1985 187 The FPL assassinated former president Colonel Osmín Aguirre y Salinas 12 days into Romero's presidency.Dutriz Hermanos 1992 10 Membership in militant groups and mass organizations increased, and new groups such as the 28 February Popular Leagues (LP-28) were established.McClintock 1985 186 Death squads persecuted members of the clergy as many supported social reform,McClintock 1985 177–178 helped peasants establish associations that evolved into mass organizations,McClintock 1985 150 and some espoused liberation theology.McClintock 1985 163 In June 1977, the UGB declared that all Jesuits had to leave El Salvador within 30 days or face "immediate and systematic execution".McClintock 1985 185 In November, Romero legalized the repression of opposition groups, which Amnesty International described as being "specifically designed to restrict the actions of trade unions, the political opposition, and human rights monitors, including members of the clergy".McClintock 1985 193–194 In March 1979, government helicopters killed seven striking brewery workers, and in May, the National Police killed 23 protesters in front of the Metropolitan Cathedral of San Salvador.McClintock 1985 195 Coup Planning Plots to overthrow Romero began to form around March 1979 as violence continued to increase.McClintock 1985 245 The July 1979 overthrow of Nicaraguan president Anastasio Somoza Debayle in the Nicaraguan Revolution further led many military officers to believe they needed to preemptively overthrow Romero. They were surprised at how quickly Somoza's government fell and wanted to prevent a leftist revolution from taking power in El Salvador as had happened in Nicaragua.Haggerty 1990 33–34Bosch 1999 27 According to Michael McClintock, a staff member of the Amnesty International Research Division, "most of El Salvador knew a coup was brewing" by late September 1979.McClintock 1985 246 There were three factions forming plots to overthrow Romero. A faction of conservative junior officers—led by colonels Nicolás Carranza, José Guillermo García, Jaime Abdul Gutiérrez, and Carlos Eugenio Vides—supported implementing moderate reforms and favored strong relations with the United States. Colonels Adolfo Arnoldo Majano and René Guerra y Guerra led another faction of junior officers who supported implementing farther-reaching reforms. A third group of reactionaries were aligned with the country's oligarchy and wanted to prevent any reforms from occurring.McClintock 1985 246–247Jung 1982 10 On 6 October 1979, members of the conservative and reform factions met and discussed the formation of a "Revolutionary Junta". The two factions, together known as the Military Youth Movement (MJM), voted to have Majano and Guerra y Guerra lead the junta, but the following day, Gutiérrez warned the MJM that Guerra y Guerra had leftist tendencies. The MJM held another vote, and it was split between Guerra y Guerra and García. They eventually selected Gutiérrez as a compromise.Gould Vrana 2025 184 Romero's overthrow right 330px "In the view of the anarchic situation of the country, as a consequence of activities directed by extremist elements, which the present government has proved incapable to resolve [...] Permitting a recurrence to violence as a means to resolve the political problems of the country, precipitating a possible confrontation of the armed forces with their people"; [...] the Armed Forces of El Salvador, reacting to the general clamor and in an eminently institutional function, depose the present government of the Republic in order to restore constitutional order." Proclamation issued by the Revolutionary Government Junta 15 October 1979McClintock 1985 249 On 11 October, Romero visited the United States for "health reasons" and returned the following day. On 14 October, Romero evacuated his family from El Salvador to the U.S., and that night, the international press reported a coup was in progress. On 15 October, the MJM seized control of all the country's military garrisons.Gould Vrana 2025 184McClintock 1985 248 Throughout the day, Romero was at the Presidential Palace communicating with the leaders of the military garrisons.McClintock 1985 248 Neither the National Guard, National Police, nor Treasury Police organized a resistance to the coup, as had occurred in previous coup attempts, since their leaders also believed Romero had to be removed from power.Bosch 1999 28 The coup leaders—Gutiérrez and Majano—charged Romero with corruption, election fraud, and human rights violations.LeoGrande Robbins 1980 1093 Romero surrendered after Gutiérrez captured the El Zapote Barracks in San Salvador.McClintock 1985 248Bosch 1999 28 He agreed to surrender as long as he and loyalist government officials were allowed safe passage out of El Salvador. Romero left El Salvador to Guatemala via helicopter at 4:30 p.m.McClintock 1985 248 Other government officials who left the country included General Federico Castillo Yanes, the Minister of National Defense and Public Security; Colonel Antonio Corleto, the Director of the National Guard; Colonel Antonio López, the Director of the National Police; and Colonel Óscar René Serrano, the Director of the Treasury Police; among others.El País 1979 The coup's leaders subsequently declared the establishment of the Revolutionary Government Junta (JRG).McClintock 1985 248 The coup was bloodless.LeoGrande Robbins 1980 1093 The JRG consisted of two military officers—Gutiérrez and Majano—and three civilians—Mario Antonio Andino (a businessman), Román Mayorga Quirós (rector of the Central American University), and Guillermo Ungo (a politician of the leftist Revolutionary National Movement). The civilians joined the junta hoping that they could help implement reforms.Haggerty 1990 34Gould Vrana 2025 184–185 Vides became Minister of Defense and Public Security.McClintock 1985 248 The JRG removed several generals from their positions and replaced them with junior officers.Bosch 1999 6 It also implemented a curfew and a state of siege.Dutriz Hermanos 1992 14 United States interest in regime change During the 1950s, the United States created a mutual defense agreement with El Salvador as part of a wider effort to curb communist influence in Latin America during the Cold War.McClintock 1985 9 The U.S. trained the FAES in counterinsurgency during the 1960s to counter communist groups,McClintock 1985 18 & 41 and sold firearms, ammunition, vehicles, and other military equipment to El Salvador's security services.McClintock 1985 201 Around May 1979, the U.S. government began to consider that Romero's removal from power was necessary to prevent the entire government from collapsing and falling to a communist revolution. Somoza's overthrow in Nicaragua strengthened this position,McClintock 1985 245–246 and the U.S. adopted a foreign policy of containment in Central America. The United States did not want a similar revolution to occur in El Salvador, as it would weaken American influence in the region. Frank J. Devine, the U.S. ambassador to El Salvador, viewed the left's militancy and the Salvadoran military's weakness as factors which would allow such a revolution in El Salvador.Gould Vrana 2025 187 To the United States, Romero was a liability due to his poor human rights record, and it wanted to influence whom the Salvadoran military would choose as Romero's replacement.McClintock 1985 245–246 In the months before the coup, Viron P. Vaky and William G. Bowdler, two officials of the United States Department of State, visited El Salvador on two occasions and urged Romero to resign.In a 2 November 1979 edition of Latin American Weekly, Australian journalist Frank Devine insisted that Vaky and Bowdler did not ask Romero to resign and that the rumors were incorrect.McClintock 1985 353 On 11 September 1979, Vaky gave a speech to the United States House of Representatives calling for change in Central America and warned that El Salvador was the country in the region most likely to collapse.McClintock 1985 246 Before the coup, its leaders informed the U.S. embassy in San Salvador that they were ready to overthrow Romero.Time 1979 After the coup, the U.S. supported the JRG's more conservative members and appointments, including Gutiérrez and Vides.Beverley 1982 64 The Salvadoran left accused the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of having orchestrated the coup.Gould Vrana 2025 189 Aftermath thumb|left|upright=0.9|alt=A black-and-white photograph of Colonels Jaime Abdul Gutiérrez and Adolfo Arnoldo Majano sitting at a table with three soldiers standing behind them|Colonels Jaime Abdul Gutiérrez (front left) and Adolfo Arnoldo Majano (front right) issuing the "Proclamation of the Armed Forces" on the day of the coup. On the day of the coup, the JRG called for human rights to be respected, the release of political prisoners, agrarian reform, and economic and social change.Bosch 1999 28 It also promised to "establish the bases and environments appropriate for the establishment of a real and dynamic democracy" that would allow for "free elections in which the will of all Salvadorans will be reflected". It warned left- and right-wing extremists to "cease their violent attitude" because they would be able to "participate peacefully in the democratic process of the country".McClintock 1985 249 That same day, members of the ERP and LP-28 called for disorder in the streetsDutriz Hermanos 1992 14 and occupied the cities of Ciudad Delgado, Cuscatancingo, and Mejicanos.El País 1979 LP-28 described the coup as a "fascist self-coup".Gould Vrana 2025 187 Óscar Romero, the archbishop of San Salvador, called on the country to maintain cohesion.Dutriz Hermanos 1992 14 TASS, the official news agency of the Soviet Union, welcomed the coup and criticized Carlos Humberto Romero for imposing "a bloody terror" ("un sangriento terror") in El Salvador.El País 1979 In a document titled "Proclamation of the Armed Forces" ("es Proclama de la Fuerza Armada"), Majano and Gutiérrez justified the coup on the basis that the armed forces had a "right to insurrection". They asserted the coup was necessary as Romero's government violated the human rights of "the conglomerate" (the people), allowed and tolerated corruption, created a "true social and economic disaster", and brought El Salvador and the armed forces into "profound disrepute".Dutriz Hermanos 1992 15McClintock 1985 250 The JRG appointed a cabinet consisting of military officers, Christian democrats, social democrats, and even some members from the Nationalist Democratic Union (UDN), a front of the Communist Party of El Salvador (PCES).McClintock 1985 251 Although the JRG promised to implement reforms, Gutiérrez and Vides wanted to establish stability before doing so, and Majano wanted to start implementing reforms as soon as possible.Bosch 1999 31 On 3 January 1980, almost all cabinet members and the junta's three civilians resigned due to disagreements on how to implement the reforms.Bosch 1999 34–35 A second junta and later a third junta were established in 1980.Gould Vrana 2025 177 Throughout its existence, the JRG failed to implement many promised reforms. No arrests were made regarding human rights abuses committed during Romero's government,LeoGrande Robbins 1980 1094 although it did abolish the paramilitary Nationalist Democratic Organization (ORDEN).Gould Vrana 2025 185 The JRG attempted to implement agrarian reforms in 1980,Bosch 1999 36 but by 1983, the reforms were abandoned due to opposition from military officers affiliated with the far-right Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA).McClintock 1985 313–314 The JRG did hold a promised presidential election in 1982, although it was indirect. Álvaro Magaña of the Democratic Action Party (AD) won, and he became the country's provisional president on 2 May 1982.Dutriz Hermanos 1992 63Krennerich 2005 293 Magaña was El Salvador's first civilian president in over fifty years,Gould Vrana 2025 195 with the sole exception of Rodolfo Cordón who was provisional president for a few months in 1962 during the transition to PCN rule.Bernal Ramírez Quijano de Batres 2009 187 & 198 Legacy The 1979 coup ended the military dictatorship that had ruled El Salvador since 1931.Gould Vrana 2025 177Ching 1997 357 It also marked the beginning of the Salvadoran Civil War.McClintock 1985 262Ram 1983 4"Civil War" Some leftist groups called for an insurrection against the JRG, as they believed the armed forces would not or could not break with the past legacy of military dictatorship.LeoGrande Robbins 1980 1093 Leftist militants who were dissatisfied with the JRG's governance continued their anti-government attacks.Bosch 1999 34 In 1980, several leftist militias joined forces and established the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN)Ram 1983 18 that was militarily backed by the Soviet Union,Bosch 1999 86Coll 1985 16 Cuba, and Nicaragua.Coll 1985 11 & 13 The Salvadoran Civil War ended on 16 January 1992 with the signing of the Chapultepec Peace Accords.Bernal Ramírez Quijano de Batres 2009 235 Between 58,328 and 92,823 people were killed during the civil war, most of whom were civilians.Seligson McElhinny 1996 214–215 According to political scientist Michael Krennerich, El Salvador has held free and fair elections since 1982.Krennerich 2005 7 After the civil war, the FMLN was legalized as a political party. It and the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) dominated El Salvador as a two-party system for three decades.Krennerich 2005 271–272Gonzalez 2019 The PCN continued to exist after the coup and moderated its political positions to support social democracy during the civil war.Haggerty 1990 170 It was renamed to the National Coalition Party in 2012Rivera 2012 and remains active in Salvadoran politics as a minor party.Portillo 2024 Romero, El Salvador's last military president,Bernal Ramírez Quijano de Batres 2009 215 eventually returned to El Salvador at some point after his overthrow. He settled in Colonia Escalón, a neighborhood in San Salvador, where he died in 2017, aged 92.La Prensa Gráfica 2017 The 1979 coup is the most recent coup d'état to occur in El Salvador.Aguilar 2024 See also List of Salvadoran coup d'états Notes References Citations 22em Bibliography Books 35em yes Bernal Ramírez Luis Guillermo Quijano de Batres Ana Elia 2009 Historia 2 El Salvador History 2 El Salvador https://www.mined.gob.sv/descarga/cipotes/historia_ESA_TomoII_0_.pdf Historia El Salvador es Ministry of Education San Salvador, El Salvador 9789992363683 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20220113050934/https://www.mined.gob.sv/descarga/cipotes/historia_ESA_TomoII_0_.pdf 13 January 2022 27 August 2025 amp Bosch Brian J. 1999 The Salvadoran Officer Corps and the Final Offensive of 1981 https://books.google.com/books?id=cuMWAAAAYAAJ en Jefferson, North Carolina; London McFarland & Company Publishers 0786406127 99-26678 41662421 27 August 2025 Ching Erik K. 1997 From Clientelism to Militarism: The State, Politics and Authoritarianism in El Salvador, 1840–1940 https://www.proquest.com/docview/304330235 PhD en Santa Barbara, California University of California, Santa Barbara 39326756 27 August 2025 304330235 1992 Documento de La Prensa Gráfica: El Conflicto en El Salvador Document of La Prensa Gráfica: The Conflict in El Salvador http://biblioteca.utec.edu.sv/siab/virtual/libros_PDF/27791.pdf dead es 2nd San Salvador, El Salvador Dutriz Hermanos 27088774 https://web.archive.org/web/20200203003757/http://biblioteca.utec.edu.sv/siab/virtual/libros_PDF/27791.pdf 3 February 2020 27 August 2025 Dutriz Hermanos 1992 Gould Jeffrey L. Jeffrey Gould Vrana Heather 2025 El Salvador 1979: Reform or Repression https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/coups-detat-in-cold-war-latin-america-19641982/el-salvador-1979/236D51446A7A09FD6CEE88B86F78B3DC Cambridge, United Kingdom Carassai Sebastián Coleman Kevin Coups d'État in Cold War Latin America, 1964–1982 https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/coups-detat-in-cold-war-latin-america-19641982/1AB7E91D4278B39B74F3319919F806EC en amp Cambridge University Press 177–196 10.1017/9781009344821 9781009344821 1517993503 27 August 2025 Haggerty Richard A. 1990 El Salvador: A Country Study https://archive.org/details/elsalvadorcountr00hagg en 2nd Washington, D.C. Library of Congress, Federal Research Division 9780525560371 89048948 1044677008 27 August 2025 Krennerich Michael El Salvador 2005 Nohlen Dieter Dieter Nohlen Elections in the Americas A Data Handbook Volume 1: North America, Central America, and the Caribbean https://books.google.com/books?id=-xZREAAAQBAJ en Oxford, United Kingdom Oxford University Press 270–299 9780191557934 58051010 27 August 2025 Leistenschneider María Leistenschneider Freddy 1980 Gobernantes de El Salvador: Biografías Governors of El Salvador: Biographies https://www.scribd.com/document/589275475/Gobernantes-de-El-Salvador San Salvador, El Salvador es Ministry of the Interior 7876291 27 August 2025 amp Lindo Fuentes Héctor Ching Erik K. Lara Martínez Rafael A. amp 2007 Remembering a Massacre in El Salvador: The Insurrection of 1932, Roque Dalton, and the Politics of Historical Memory https://books.google.com/books?id=AubqWtPHt1kC en Albuquerque, New Mexico University of New Mexico Press 9780826336040 122424174 27 August 2025 McClintock Michael 1985 The American Connection: State Terror and Popular Resistance in El Salvador https://archive.org/details/americanconnecti0000mccl/mode/2up en 1 London, United Kingdom Zed Books 9780862322403 1145770950 27 August 2025 Journals 35em yes Beverley John John Beverley (Latin Americanist) 1982 El Salvador Social Text en Duke University Press 5 55–72 10.2307/466334 0164-2472 466334 5552723453 Coll Alberto R. 1985 Soviet Arms and Central American Turmoil World Affairs en Wiley 148 1 7–17 0043-8200 20672043 9990627448 Jung Harald June 1982 The Civil War in El Salvador Bulletin of Latin American and Caribbean Studies en Center for the Study and Documentation of Latin America 32 5–13 0304-2634 25675122 9973408346 LeoGrande William M. William M. LeoGrande Robbins Carla Anne Carla Robbins 1980 Oligarchs and Officers: The Crisis in El Salvador Foreign Affairs en 58 5 amp Council on Foreign Relations 1084–1103 10.2307/20040583 0015-7120 20040583 5546899083 Ram Susan amp 1983 El Salvador: Perspectives on a Revolutionary Civil War Social Scientist en 11 8 3–38 10.2307/3517048 0970-0293 3517048 5546270152 Seligson Mitchell A. Mitchell A. Seligson McElhinny Vincent amp 1996 Low Intensity Warfare, High-Intensity Death: The Demographic Impact of the Wars in El Salvador and Nicaragua https://my.vanderbilt.edu/seligson/files/2013/12/Low-Intensity-Warfare-High-Intensity-Death-The-Demographic-Impact-of-the-Wars-in-El-Salvador-and-Nicaragua.pdf Canadian Journal of Latin American and Caribbean Studies en Taylor & Francis 21 42 211–241 10.1080/08263663.1996.10816742 0826-3663 41799994 9983726023 https://web.archive.org/web/20240108222451/https://my.vanderbilt.edu/seligson/files/2013/12/Low-Intensity-Warfare-High-Intensity-Death-The-Demographic-Impact-of-the-Wars-in-El-Salvador-and-Nicaragua.pdf 8 January 2024 dead 27 August 2025 Web sources 35em yes Aguilar Margarita 15 October 2024 La Caída del General Romero: A 45 Años del Último Golpe de Estado en El Salvador https://diario.elmundo.sv/nacionales/la-caida-del-general-romero-a-45-anos-del-ultimo-golpe-de-estado-en-el-salvador live The Fall of General Romero: 45 Years After the Last Coup d'État in El Salvador El Mundo es https://web.archive.org/web/20251129170016/https://diario.elmundo.sv/nacionales/la-caida-del-general-romero-a-45-anos-del-ultimo-golpe-de-estado-en-el-salvador 29 November 2025 29 August 2025 https://time.com/archive/6850744/el-salvador-a-coup-against-chaos/ live El Salvador: A Coup Against Chaos en 29 October 1979 https://web.archive.org/web/20250906110510/https://time.com/archive/6850744/el-salvador-a-coup-against-chaos/ 6 September 2025 30 September 2025 Time Time 1979 Gonzalez Elizabeth 4 February 2019 Bukele Breaks El Salvador's Two-Party Hold on Power https://www.as-coa.org/articles/bukele-breaks-el-salvadors-two-party-hold-power en AS/COA 26 April 2025 16 October 1979 San Salvador, El Salvador La Junta Militar Salvadoreña Decreta el Estado de Sitio https://elpais.com/diario/1979/10/17/internacional/308962803_850215.html registration The Salvadoran Military Junta Declares a State of Siege es El País 16 February 2026 El País 1979 1 March 2017 Muere el General y Expresidente Carlos Humberto Romero https://www.laprensagrafica.com/elsalvador/Muere-el-general-y-expresidente-Carlos-Humberto-Romero-20170301-0029.html General and Former President Carlos Humberto Romero Dies es La Prensa Gráfica 30 January 2026 La Prensa Gráfica 2017 Portillo Denni 20 March 2024 PCN Califica de "Triunfo" Sus Resultados en Elecciones 2024 https://www.laprensagrafica.com/elsalvador/PCN-califica-de-triunfo-sus-resultados-en-elecciones-2024-20240320-0077.html The PCN Considers Its 2024 Election Results a "Triumph" es La Prensa Gráfica 16 February 2026 Rivera Edgardo 26 September 2012 El PES Volverá a Llamarse PDC y el CN También Busca ser PCN http://elmundo.com.sv/el-pes-volvera-a-llamarse-pdc-y-el-cn-tambien-busca-ser-pcn dead The PES Will Again Be Named the PDC and CN Also Seeks to Be the PCN es El Mundo https://web.archive.org/web/20140202103750/http://elmundo.com.sv/el-pes-volvera-a-llamarse-pdc-y-el-cn-tambien-busca-ser-pcn 2 February 2014 16 February 2026 Further reading 35em yes 1980 D. El Salvador https://cidh.oas.org/annualrep/79.80eng/chap.5c.htm en Inter-American Commission on Human Rights 16 February 2026 Keogh Dermot Dermot Keogh June 1984 The Myth of the Liberal Coup: The United States and the 15 October 1979 Coup in El Salvador https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/03058298840130020601 en Millennium: Journal of International Studies 13 2 Sage Publishing 10.1177/03058298840130020601 4633859321 16 February 2026 subscription Vela Carlos E. 20 October 2026 El Golpe de 1979: La Oportunidad Perdida https://beta.elfaro.net/opinion/el-golpedeoctubrede1979 The Coup of 1979: A Lost Opportunity es El Faro 20 October 2026 External links Proclama de la Fuerza Armada de la República de El Salvador Proclamation of the Armed Forces es yes yes 16 October 2024 Último Golpe de Estado Militar https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtnInDGyWDk The Last Military Coup YouTube es El Noticiero 6 29 August 2025 El Salvador Politics Socialism Category:1970s coups d'état Category:1979 in El Salvador Category:1979 in politics Category:Cold War conflicts Category:1979 conflicts Category:Coups d'état in El Salvador Category:October 1979 in North America Category:Salvadoran Civil War