POLITICAL VIOLENCE IN EL SALVADOR -- DELIBERATE DISINFORMATION BY THE EXTREME LEFT

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP84B00049R000902310006-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 27, 2006
• Sequence Number: 6
• Publication Date: July 27, 1982
• Content Type: MEMO

Approved For Release 2009/04/01: CIA-RDP84B00049R000902310006-2
GUIVt I ULw M IAL
r
.
27 July 1982
MEMORANDUM FOR: Director of Central Intelligence
FROM : National Intelligence Officer for Latin America
SUBJECT : Political Violence in El Salvador -- Deliberate Disinformation
by the Extreme Left
1. The attached table and graph summarizes data on political violence
in El Salvador deriving from the US Embassy summary.of press reports and
from other sources which are often presumed in the US and Europe to be
impartial.
2. The following summarizes the numbers deriving from these five sources
for 1931 and 1982:
US Emb/E1 Sal
1981 Press Reports Socorro Juridico CDHES UCA Committee of Mothers
5,331
13,353
16,276
11,929
1982 1,573
2,704
2,440
2,096 2,441
Note that the four groups have much higher numbers than those deriving from US
Embassy summaries of press reports.
3. CIA is now in the process of preparing a short analysis of the connections
eachof these groups has with elements of the extreme left in El Salvador. However,
it can be said that there is strong evidence that these groups exist in order to
mislead public opinion both in El Salvador and internationally. Each has been
connected with different groups composing the extreme left coalition. One
example is the Socorro Juridico which is usually described in the US media as the
legal aid office of the Roman Catholic Church, and its false numbers are usually
attributed to the Roman Catholic Church in El Salvador. In fact, the Archbishop
of El Salvador, in his March 1981 New York Times interview, said explicitly that
this organization has no formal relationship to the Catholic Church and that he
does not think i;t is fair in its assessment of political violence because it
never counts any of the victims of the extreme left. This same pattern is
repeated in each of these four groups.
Atts: (3)
CONFIDENTIAL
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From State 'Department July 1982 Certification
Deaths Attributable to Political Violence
1
2
1980
Press
Socorro CDHES
UCA Committee
--i
Report S
Juridico
`- of Mothers
October
819
1,383
1,038
November
779
718
962
December
575
700
687
otal:
2,173
2,801
2,637
1981
January
665
2,644
2,293
2,333
February
481
903
1,402
1,402
March
599
1,922
1,704
1,622
April
493
2,311
3,048
2,341
May
454
536
712
547
June
392
744
730
685
July
534
586
819
667
August
479
582
654
592
September
296
472
498
486
October
345
438
975
1,038
November
244
820
1,295
216
December
349
1,395
2,146
Total:
5,331
13,353
16,276
(11,929)
1982
January
279
466
626
539
631
February
3G1
532
405
387
405
March
438
326
905
483
905
April
194
805
235
353
235
May
301
-_375
269
334
_ 265
Total:
1,573
2,704
2,440
2,096
2,441
3
June
189
355
N/A
NJ /A
N/ A
1
The Human Rights Commission of El Salvador (CDHES).
L
`1'he University of Central America (UCA).
3
Mot yet released.
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3000
PRESS
REPORTS
2400
SOCORRO
JURIDICO
1800
CDHES
1200
UCA
600
0
CIVILIAN DEATHS
ATTRIBUTABLE TO POLITICAL VIOLENCE
DEAT}IS
' ' *data not avaiiabie
1.
f .? 1
1.
0
3
ICD
J
i o.
OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN JUL AUG SEP OCT NOV DEC JAN FEB MAR APR MAY JUN
1980
1981
1982
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