Use of images from the collections of the Tom & Ethel Bradley Center is strictly prohibited by law without prior written consent from the copyright holders. The responsibility for the use of these materials rests exclusively with the user. The Bradley Center may assist in obtaining copyright/licensing permission to use images from the Richard Cross collection. http://www.csun.edu/bradley-center/contact
Description
A Salvadoran Army soldier and member of the Atlacatl Battalion prepares his M60 machine gun before beginning a counter-insurgency operation near Usulután. The M60 machine gun he holds is a weapon designed, manufactured, and supplied the government of EL Salvador by the United States and is chambered for 7.62x51mm NATO ammunition. The Atlacatl Battalion was the first rapid-reaction infantry unit in El Salvador to be trained and equipped by the United States. The Battalion massacred more than one thousand people in six hamlets located in the municipality of Meanguera, in northern Morazán Department, El Salvador between December 11 and 13, 1981. Forty to 50 percent of the victims were murdered in El Mozote on 11 December. In spite of early reports of the massacre by journalists Raymond Bonner of the New York Times, and Alma Guillermoprieto of the Washington Post, the U.S. government denied it happened and the massacre remained underreported until the 1990s. Richard Cross took this image in 1982 while covering the presidential election and War of Liberation in El Salvador. Un soldado salvadoreño y miembro del Batallón Atlacatl prepara su ametralladora M60 antes de comenzar una operación de contrainsurgencia cerca de Usulután. La ametralladora M60 es un arma diseñada, fabricada y suministrada al gobierno salvadoreño por los Estados Unidos y es de calibre 7.62x51mm OTAN. El Batallón Atlacatl fue la primera unidad de infanteria de reacción rápida en ser entrenada y suministrada por los Estados Unidos. El Batallón masacró a más de mil personas en seis aldeas ubicadas en el municipio de Meanguera, en la parte septentrional del departamento de Morazán en el Salvador entre el 11 y 13 de diciembre de 1981. Entre cuarenta y cincuenta por ciento de las víctimas fueron asesinadas durante el 11 de diciembre. A pesar de los reportes de la masacre por los periodistas Raymond Bonner del diario New York Times y de Alma Guillermoprieto del diario Washington Post, el gobierno estadounidense negó los hechos y la masacre recibio poca cobertura periodística hasta la década de los noventa. Richard Cross tomó esta fotografía en 1982 durante su estadía en El Salvador cubriendo las elecciones y la guerra de liberación.
El Salvador. Ejército--Infantry Soldiers M60 machine gun Military maneuvers--El Salvador--Usulután (Department) El Salvador--History--1979-1992 Civil war
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