This collection features materials about El Salvador, primarily focusing on its post-colonial period and subsequent civil war. There are 52 materials within this collection mostly focusing on the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) and cassette recording of El Salvador in Focus. Paper materials include monographs focusing on United States intervention in EL Salvador and revolutionary strategies to gain liberation from said intervention.

El Salvador has felt the prolonged effects of colonialism since its independence in 1821. After independence, the country was governed by wealthy families who controlled the economic stability of El Salvador. Many of our materials focus on the freedom fighter Farabundo Marti, who led a popular rebellion in the1930s but was unsuccessful. Between the 1930s and the 1980s, oppressive regimes continued to control El Salvador and poverty and political violence was common. Many opposition parties rose as tensions continued to grow. In 1981 five revolutionary organizations formed to create Frente Farabundo Marti para La Liberacion Nacional (FMLN) to begin the first major military offensive against the government. This led to a civil war that lasted from 1981 to 1992. Throughout El Salvador’s post-colonial period, the oppressive governments were backed and financially supported by the U.S. in an effort to protect their corporate interests, and prevent the spread of communism and Marxism.