Mark Danner

The Truth of El Mozote

In a remote corner of El Salvador, investigators uncovered the remains of a horrible crime—a crime that Washington had long denied. The villagers of El Mozote had the misfortune to find themselves in the path of the Salvadoran Army’s anti-Communist crusade. The story of the massacre at El Mozote—how it came about, and why it had to be denied—stands as a central parable of the Cold War.