The U.S. supported and financed the creation of a second junta to change the political environment and stop the spread of a leftist insurrection . Napoleón Duarte was recalled from his exile in Venezuela to head this new junta . However , a revolution was already underway and his new role as head of the junta was seen by the general population as opportunistic . He was unable to influence the outcome of the insurrection . Óscar Romero , Archbishop of San Salvador , denounced injustices and massacres committed against civilians by government forces . He was considered " the voice of the voiceless " , but he was assassinated by a death squad while saying Mass on 24 March 1980 . Some consider this to be the beginning of the full Salvadoran Civil War , which lasted from 1980 to 1992 . An unknown number of people " disappeared " during the conflict , and the UN reports that more than 75,000 were killed . The Salvadoran Army 's US-trained Atlacatl Battalion was responsible for the El Mozote massacre where more than 800 civilians were murdered , over half of them children , the El Calabozo massacre , and the murder of UCA scholars
El Calabozo massacre
El Calabozo massacre
El Salvador