Roberto D'Aubuisson

Roberto D'Aubuisson Arrieta (August 23, 1943 – February 20, 1992) was a far-right Salvadoran soldier, politician and death-squad leader. In 1981, he co-founded and became the first leader of the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) and served as President of El Salvador's Constituent Assembly from 1982 to 1983.[2][3][4] He was a candidate for President in 1984, losing in the second round to José Napoleón Duarte. After ARENA's loss in the 1985 legislative elections, he stepped down in favor of Alfredo Cristiani and was awarded the honorary post of party president for life.[5] He was named by the UN-created Truth Commission for El Salvador as having ordered the assassination of then-Archbishop Óscar Romero in 1980.[6]

This article is about a Salvadoran partisan. It is not to be confused with the American counterinsurgent "Blowtorch Bob" Komer.
Roberto D'Aubuisson
Major Roberto D'Aubuisson
Born
Roberto D'Aubuisson Arrieta

(1943-08-23)August 23, 1943
Santa Tecla, El Salvador
DiedFebruary 20, 1992(1992-02-20) (aged 48)
San Salvador, El Salvador
NationalitySalvadoran
Other names
  • Chele
  • Blowtorch Bob
OccupationSoldier, politician
Known forpresident and founder of ARENA, President of the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador,[1] death-squad leader, allegedly ordered the assassination of Archbishop Óscar Romero
Spouse(s)Yolanda Munguía (divorced), Luz María Angulo (his death)
Children4
Parents
  • Roberto d'Aubuisson (father)
  • Joaquina Arrieta (mother)

Early life

D'Aubuisson was born to Roberto d'Aubuisson Andrade, a salesman of French roots, and Joaquina Arrieta Alvarado, a career civil servant, in Santa Tecla, La Libertad Department, El Salvador, graduating from the national military academy in 1963. He was part of La Tandona, the class of 1966 at the Escuela Militar. In 1972, he was trained in communications at the School of the Americas, a United States Department of Defense Institute that provides military training to government personnel in US-allied Latin American nations. After completing his studies at the Institute, he subsequently became a member of the Salvadoran military intelligence.[7][8]

Death squads

D'Aubuisson involved himself in death squad activity while in the military, and he became associated with the second death squad to emerge in El Salvador in the mid–1970s, called the White Warriors Union. In October 1979, after a group of progressive officers deposed the government of Carlos Humberto Romero in a coup d'état and established the Revolutionary Government Junta (JRG, 1979–1982), D'Aubuisson was forced out of military service for his death squad connections, although he continued working for senior military commanders secretly. D'Aubuisson was regularly featured on Salvadoran television denouncing alleged traitors and Communists, who were then murdered shortly afterwards by death squads.[9]

On May 7, 1980, six weeks after the assassination of Óscar Romero, D'Aubuisson and a group of civilians and soldiers were arrested on a farm. The raiders found weapons and documents identifying D'Aubuisson and the civilians as death squad organizers and financiers, and of planning a coup d'état to depose the JRG.[10] D'Aubuisson was soon released from prison, after 8 of the 14 military garrison commanders voted for his release, overruling the JRG.[11]

His opposition to the JRG gave him international infamy. In August 1981, The Washington Post reported that D'Aubuisson "openly talked of the need to kill 200,000 to 300,000 people to restore peace to El Salvador". Shortly afterwards, on September 30, he founded ARENA (Nationalist Republican Alliance), a far-right political party. D'Aubuisson accumulated much political capital among Salvadorans for his anti-leftist stridency and for his reputation as an effective counter-insurgency strategist. He often accused the JRG of being a Marxist threat to El Salvador.[12]

1982 legislative election

Despite alleged electoral fraud and political violence, the March 28, 1982 Salvadoran legislative election of a Constituent Assembly was an ARENA victory, gaining them 19 of 60 seats and their allies 17 seats. D'Aubuisson's people were thus the majority, who then elected Álvaro Magaña as interim-president of El Salvador. D'Aubuisson became President of the Constituent Assembly. The JRG's government ended in May.[13][14][15]

On 31 March 1983 Roberto D'Aubuisson was allowed entry to the United States by the State Department after deeming him not barred from entry any longer. When asked about D'Aubuisson's association with the assassination of Archbishop Romero, the State Department responded that "the allegations have not been substantiated."[16] In November 1993, documents by the State Department, Defense Department, and the Central Intelligence Agency were released after pressure by Congress increased. The 12,000 documents revealed that the administrations of President Reagan and President Bush knew of the assassinations conducted by Roberto D'Aubuisson, including that of Oscar Romero, and still worked with him despite this.[17]

Presidential campaign

On March 25, 1984, D'Aubuisson campaigned for the Salvadoran presidency. On May 2, 1984, he lost the presidency to José Napoleón Duarte of the Christian Democratic Party, receiving 46.4% of the vote to Duarte's 53.6%. D'Aubuisson claimed fraud and U.S. interference on behalf of Duarte, who was later confirmed to have been a CIA asset.

Death

In 1992, D'Aubuisson died at 48 after a prolonged battle against esophageal cancer and bleeding ulcers.[18]

Commission reports

After the Salvadoran civil war, the United Nations Commission on the Truth for El Salvador and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights stated that D'Aubuisson "gave the order to assassinate the Archbishop" to military officers who also tried to kill judge Atilio Ramírez Amaya "to deter investigation of the case".[19][20][21] Views of him among contemporary Salvadorans are mixed and often drawn across party lines; ARENA supporters revere him for his right-wing beliefs and steadfast opposition to communism, while FMLN supporters vilify him for his alleged human rights atrocities and involvement in Archbishop Romero's assassination. On January 20, 2007, President Antonio Saca of the ARENA party paid homage to D'Aubuisson upon the anniversary of his death, promising "to continue the ARENA party, based upon his ideologic legacy." Amid opposition debate, ARENA tried to name D'Aubuisson a "meritorious son of El Salvador", a national honor, but failed due to the efforts of protesting Church leaders and human rights workers.[22] He was known as "Chele" (light-skinned face) and was alleged to have been a leader of anti-communist death squads that were alleged to have tortured and killed thousands of civilians before and during the Salvadoran Civil War. To political prisoners he was known as "Blowtorch Bob", due to his frequent use of a blowtorch in interrogation sessions.[19][23][24]

In 1986, ex-US ambassador Robert White reported to the United States Congress that "there was sufficient evidence" to convict D'Aubuisson of planning and ordering Archbishop Romero's assassination, describing D'Aubuisson as a pathological killer, as early as his 1984 Salvadoran presidential run.[10] In April 2010, Alvaro Saravia, a former army captain who had admitted taking part in Romero's murder, testified in an interview with the Salvadoran newspaper El Faro that D'Aubuisson had given the order to proceed with the killing of the Archbishop.[25]Additionally, the report of the UN truth commission in El Salvador following the Salvadoran Civil War found that D'Auibuisson was arrested on a farm following the assassination of the archbishop, along with weapons and documents tied to the assassination.

Sons

In February 2007, D'Aubuisson's son Eduardo, along with two ARENA politicians and their driver, were killed in Guatemala. Investigators suggested that the murders may have been connected to drug-trafficking groups.[22][26] In March 2015, D’Aubuisson’s surviving son, Roberto D’Aubuisson Jr., was elected mayor of Santa Tecla, a neighboring municipality of the capital San Salvador.

Tony Plana was cast as Maj. Maximiliano "Max" Casanova in the movie Salvador by Oliver Stone, a thinly disguised depiction of D'Aubuisson.[27] In the 1989 film Romero (film), D'abuisson was depicted as Lt. Columa, cast by Eddie Velez.[28]

References
  1. Historia del Órgano Legislativo de la República de El Salvador 1824-2006: 1936-2006
  2. Horvitz, Leslie Alan; Catherwood, Christopher (14 May 2014). Encyclopedia of War Crimes and Genocide. Infobase Publishing. p. 119. ISBN 9781438110295. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  3. Ameringer, Charles D. (1992). Political Parties of the Americas, 1980s to 1990s: Canada, Latin America, and the West Indies. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 293. ISBN 9780313274183. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  4. "EL SALVADOR ELECTS NEW LEADER OF ASSEMBLY". The New York Times. AP. 25 December 1983. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  5. "Salvador Rightist D'Aubuisson Quits Party Post". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. 1 October 1985. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  6. Brockett, Charles D. (21 February 2005). Political Movements and Violence in Central America. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521600552. Retrieved 19 October 2016.
  7. Wayne Partridge. "The School of the Americas: leadership or terrorist training?: jailed Ky. nun to be among protesters at annual rally Sunday", Lexington Herald-Leader (KY), 20 November 1999, 1A: "But the school can hardly be blamed for the misdeeds of its graduates, supporters say. D'Aubuisson, for example, attended only a six-week radio maintenance and repair course at the school."
  8. Severo, Richard (21 February 1992). "Roberto d'Aubuisson, 48, Far-Rightist in Salvador". The New York Times. Retrieved 20 May 2018.
  9. LeoGrande, William M. (1998). Our Own Backyard: The United States in Central America, 1977-1992. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. p. 49. ISBN 0807848573.
  10. Rod Nordland. "How 2 rose to vie for El Salvador's presidency," Philadelphia Inquirer, 23 March 1984, A1.
  11. LeoGrande, William M. (1998). Our Own Backyard: The United States in Central America, 1977-1992. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. p. 47. ISBN 0807848573.
  12. Loren Jenkins, "El Salvador," The Washington Post, 16 August 1981, Washington Post Magazine, p. 10.
  13. Timeline: El Salvador: A chronology of key events, BBC News, 15 February 2008. Retrieved 20 August 2008.
  14. Latin American election statistics: El Salvador elections and events, 1981-83, Social Sciences Humanities Library, University of California at San Diego. Retrieved 20 August 2008.
  15. An interview with Edward S. Herman: "Freedom is not on the march," International Socialist Review, 41, May–June 2005. Retrieved 20 August 2008.
  16. Knutson, Lawrence (6 April 1983). "Salvadoran Rightist Leader Issued Visa". Associated Press.
  17. Krauss, Clifford (9 November 1993). "U.S., Aware of Killings, Worked With Salvador's Rightists, Papers Suggest". The New York Times.
  18. Marjorie Miller (21 February 1992). "Roberto D'Aubuisson, 48; Reputed Head of Salvadoran Death Squads". Los Angeles Times.
  19. Shawn Foster. "Window to honor slain church workers: window will stand in memory of assassinations," The Salt Lake Tribune (UT), 22 April 1995, Religion section, D1.
  20. el_salvador/tc_es_03151993_casesD1_2.html "Chapter IV, Cases and patterns of violence: Part D., Death squad assassinations: Section 1, Illustrative case: Oscar Romero," From madness to hope: the 12-year war in El Salvador, Truth Commissions Digital Collection: Reports: El Salvador. Provided by United States Institute of Peace. Retrieved 20 August 2008.
  21. "El Salvador, 11.481a: Irregularities in the investigation," Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Retrieved 20 August 2008.
  22. Marc Lacey. "4 Salvadorans killed in way that evokes ’80s conflict," The New York Times, 21 February 2007. Retrieved 20 August 2008.
  23. Editorial. "No hero for El Salvador ...," The Salt Lake Tribune (UT), 24 February 1992, A10.
  24. Marianne Armshaw. "Trial of Salvadoran generals opens in Florida" National Catholic Reporter, 20 October 2000. Retrieved 20 August 2008.
  25. Anne-Marie O'Connor. "Participant in 1980 assassination of Romero in El Salvador provides new details" Washington Post, 6 April 2010.
  26. Rosenberg, Mica. "A murder spree in Central America," Time, 5 March 2007.
  27. Salvador: Oliver Stone, lose the fast and loose approach The Guardian, 9 April 2009.
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