Legión Nacional Pro-Patria (El Salvador)
The Legión Nacional Pro-Patria was a paramilitary association founded during the ethnocide in western El Salvador in 1932 .
The Legion was founded on February 29, 1932 by Major General Calderón , who was the commander in charge of the massacre . The Calderón Legion originally recruited veterans from the massacre who had to identify and capture suspected communists.
Guardias Cívicas
In 1937 the Legión Nacional Pro-Patria was renamed Guardias Cívicas and the members were supported by the state. They were under the control of the FAES and the Guardia Nacional and were trained by officers from both organizations.
The Guardias Cívicas , together with their civilian counterpart, the Asociación Civica , formed a nationwide network of state surveillance.
Membership in the Guardias Cívicas brought privileges such as uniforms , power over non-members, impunity for crimes and the right to carry a firearm.
The Guardias Cívicas, in turn, were subject to strict control by the upper and middle classes. Fear of communism in connection with the 1932 uprising led to the surveillance of the Guardias Cívicas. The Guardias Cívicas gradually changed into social associations and clubs that cultivated the national ideology of anti-communism.
The Partido Pro-Patria (PPP) was the state party in Martínez's time .
Remarks
- ↑ Calderón was the grandfather of the future President of El Salvador Armando Calderón Sol .
- ^ Robert H. Holden Armies without Nations: Public Violence and State Formation in Central America, 1821-1960 Oxford University Press, 2004.