“War crimes from the Salvadoran civil war go on trial in a federal courtroom in Memphis, Tennessee today. Colonel Nicolas Carranza, former Vice-Minister of Defense of El Salvador, comes face-to-face with five individuals who accuse him of torture, extrajudicial killing and crimes against humanity.”
The lawsuit, brought by the Center for Justice and Accountability, describes Carranza as a nasty piece of work. His history tells a familiar tale:
“Colonel Nicolas Carranza, a naturalized U.S. citizen living in Memphis, was Vice-Minister of Defense of El Salvador from late 1979 to early 1981. In that position, he exercised command and control over the three units of the Security Forces – the National Guard, National Police and Treasury Police – responsible for widespread attacks on civilians. Despite being removed from his position as Vice-Minister due to U.S. pressure over his human rights record, Colonel Carranza was later brought back in 1983 as head of the brutal Treasury Police, where he exercised command over the members of that group. After being forced out of the Treasury Police, Carranza came to the United States in 1985. He became a U.S. citizen in 1991. In 1984, the New York Times reported that Colonel Carranza had been a paid informant for the CIA.”
This must be the kind of American-supported democracy Daniel Pipes has in mind.
The real history of American foreign policy interventions is a brutal and bloody tale and confirms once again that the sole global superpower has long been a supporter of state terrorism.