ABSTRACT
El Salvador's internal transformation during the civil war distinguishes that country's experience with small war from that of many others. This chapter argues that significant political, and social changes within Salvadoran society created a more legitimate political system and together with changes in the world arena permitted reconciliation between the Government of El Salvador and the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front. El Salvador's stability and progress were increasingly threatened over the years by the growing number of people, especially landless farmers, excluded from sharing equitably in the nation's economy and participating meaningfully in the political system. The conflict grew out of a history of social, economic, and political inequities. In El Salvador, as in Latin America as a whole, democracy became the principal source of legitimate government in the 1970s and 1980s. El Salvador had long had a reputation for violent repression. The US embassy began keeping records in 1980 and calculated 750 noncombatants killed per month by political violence.
