National Broad Front (Salvador)

On October 15, 1979 , a military coup took place in El Salvador. A revolutionary government junta came to power, putting forward a program of large-scale social reforms. The junta's policy was met with great caution by the right-wing forces. Latifundists feared the division of land, entrepreneurs - nationalization, conservative politicians and the military - concessions to the pro-communist movements. The coming to power of the social reformist junta was a signal for the right-wing radicals : the armed forces of El Salvador were no longer a reliable guarantee, the creation of one’s own political structure was necessary.

The charismatic leader of the Salvadoran right was Roberto d'Aubusson , an officer of the National Guard and military intelligence, an associate of General Medrano , the founder of the death squad of the Union of White Warriors . Major d'Aubusson was a fanatical anti-communist , prone to forceful methods of political struggle. He took the events of 1979 unambiguously - as the next stage of the communist takeover of Central America, after the Sandinists came to power in Nicaragua ^[1] .

On October 31, 1979, Roberto d'Aubusson resigned from military service. A few days later, under his leadership, a meeting was held that established the political organization National Wide Front ( Frente Amplio Nacional , FAN ). The US CIA described the FAN as “a semi-legal ultra-right organization created to overthrow the reformist regime” and noted “shadow contacts with military and civilian paramilitary organizations” ^[2] . This refers to the "death squads" and the militia of the prosperous peasantry ORDEN - formally dissolved by the junta, but retaining its armed cells ^[3] .

FAN d'Aubusson saw the task of preventing the establishment of a communist regime of the Soviet or Cuban type in El Salvador. In January 1980, he publicly announced this in a speech on TV ^[1] . He was supported by ultra-right minded people - primarily army officers and militants of the "death squads." The closest associates of d'Aubusson were the army colleagues Eduardo Alfonso Avila and Roberto Mauricio Staben , the organizer of the FAR squadron, Hector Antonio Regalado .

The ultra-right organization El Salvador Nationalist Movement ( Movimiento Nacionalista Salvadoreño , MNS ), created in the spring of 1979 by a group of neo - fascist- minded young businessmen and lawyers, joined the FAN. Among the founders of MNS and FAN were Armando Calderon Sol (future president of El Salvador ) ^[4] , Alfredo Mena Lagos , Ernesto Panama Sandoval ^[5] . Landowners and entrepreneurs have provided significant financial assistance. The coordinator of economic relations FAN was a large agricultural entrepreneur Ricardo Valdivieso .

The creation of the FAN found a positive response among the middle class - employees, engineers, doctors, small producers and traders. They saw in d'Aubusson a strong man who could stop the danger looming on the country ^[6] . Several right-wing mass organizations joined the FAN - the Peace and Labor Movement ( Movimiento pro Paz y Trabajo , MPT ), the Salvador Women's Front ( Frente Femenino , FFS ), and the peasant association of the eastern region ^[1] . Subsequently, it was noted that women activists from FFS showed particular decisiveness ^[7] . The organizational basis of the nationwide deployment was composed of ORDEN cells ^[8] .

The FAN had a number of signs of a political party, but it was not. It was a kind of “preliminary structure” for the creation of the party in the near future. Ricardo Paredes defined FAN as the “army double” designed to create an informational and organizational connection “from peasants to very high-ranking officials” ^[9] . The FAN structure formed the basis for the operational coordination of legal right-wing radicals with the "death squads." The organization has become an independent force of the Salvadoran Civil War . Of particular importance was the "personal charisma and political mysticism of Major d'Aubusson" ^[3] .

On March 6, 1980, the ruling junta approved the law on agrarian reform. On March 24, Oscar Arnulfo Romero , Archbishop of San Salvador, Oscar Arnulfo Romero , was killed by fighters of the "death squad" (presumably under the leadership of Hector Antonio Regalado) - the Salvadoran ultra-right were extremely hostile to church hierarchs, considering them to be accomplices of the Communists. On April 29, the decisive stage of agrarian reform was announced ^[8] .

The totality of these events unfolding against the backdrop of the outbreak of war and terror ^[1] was perceived as the approach of a military rebellion. On the one hand, the pro-communist movements FPL , ERP (since October 1980 - FNOFM ) waged a guerrilla war against the government. On the other hand, the coup d'Aubusson was clearly preparing, based on the FAN.

Authorities took a proactive move: on May 7, 1980, Roberto d'Aubusson and 23 other FAN military and civilians were arrested at the San Luis farm (near Santa Tecla ). They were charged with the murder of Romero and a conspiracy to seize power. FAN activists and especially FFS activists launched a protest campaign - in particular, women staged a picket outside the home of US Ambassador Robert White under the slogan “White go home” ^[8] (the Jimmy Carter administration was classified as political opponents by the far right). A week later, the arrested were released. However, d'Aubusson and his closest associates were forced to emigrate to Guatemala.

FAN structures, both political and operational, continued to function despite a government ban. Soon, Roberto d'Aubusson returned to El Salvador. In the fall of 1981 , the National Republican Alliance (ARENA), a full-fledged far-right political party that claimed power, was created on a political basis by FAN ^[7] .