ABSTRACT
By 1960 the oligarchy and the Armed Forces had institutionalized their relationship and solidified their respective places in El Salvador. After the Cuban Revolution the United States cast about for an alternative to right-wing military dictatorship and left-wing revolution in Latin America. From a small electoral showing in the 1964 municipal and National Assembly elections, the Christian Democratic Party (PDC) eclipsed other opposition parties and by 1968 was challenging the National Conciliation Party (PCN) for control of the Assembly. In April 1969 Honduras, using a new agrarian reform law, notified Salvadorean farmers that they had thirty days to leave their land. El Salvador responded by closing its border to immigrants and filing a complaint with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. El Salvador invaded Honduras, destroyed most of its air force on the ground, and advanced far enough to cut the roads to Nicaragua and Guatemala. Meanwhile, the opposition parties decided to form a coalition for the 1972 presidential elections.
