Skip to main content

Image / Soldiers resting, Usulután, El Salvador, 1982

Have a question about this item?

Item information. View source record on contributor's website.

Title
Soldiers resting, Usulután, El Salvador, 1982
Creator
Cross, Richard, 1950-1983
Date Created and/or Issued
1982-03
Publication Information
California State University, Northridge
Contributing Institution
California State University, Northridge
Collection
Richard Cross Photographs (Bradley Center)
Rights Information
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 group of Salvadoran Army soldiers, all members of the Atlacatl Battalion, sit or stand on the bed of a utility truck after having participated in a counter-insurgency operation near Usulután. Some of the soldiers can be seen holding an M16A1 assault rifle chambered to fire 5.56x45mm NATO ammunition and designed, manufactured, and supplied to the Salvadoran government by the United States. A soldier standing in the middle can be seen holding an M79 grenade launcher, also designed, manufactured, and supplied by the United States. 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 grupo de soldados del ejército salvadoreño, todos miembros del Batallón Atlacatl, yacen sentados o parados sobre la cama rodante de un camión despúes de haber participado en una operación de contra-insurgencia cerca de Usulután. Varios de los soldados se observan cargando un fusil de asalto M16A1 de calibre 5.56x45mm OTAN y diseñado, fabricado y suministrado al gobierno salvadoreño por los Estados Unidos. El soldado parado en el medio de la imagen se observa cargando un lanza granadas M79, también diseñado, fabricado y suministrado por los Estados Unidos. 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.
Type
image
Format
Photographs
image/jpeg
color slides
Extent
35 mm
Identifier
99.01.RCr.sl.B21.01.03.11
http://digital-collections.csun.edu/cdm/ref/collection/p17169coll1/id/12748
Subject
El Salvador. Ejército--Infantry
Soldiers
M-16 rifle
M79 grenade launcher
Military maneuvers--El Salvador--Usulután (Department)
El Salvador--History--1979-1992
Civil war
Place
Usulután (El Salvador)
Relation
99.01.RCr.sl.B21.01.03.11.tif
Richard Cross Photographs
California State University Northridge. University Library. Special Collections & Archives. Tom & Ethel Bradley Center

About the collections in Calisphere

Learn more about the collections in Calisphere. View our statement on digital primary resources.

Copyright, permissions, and use

If you're wondering about permissions and what you can do with this item, a good starting point is the "rights information" on this page. See our terms of use for more tips.

Share your story

Has Calisphere helped you advance your research, complete a project, or find something meaningful? We'd love to hear about it; please send us a message.

Explore related content on Calisphere: