Romero_Trial_Transcript_8_25_04_53_2

8-25-04 Trial Transcript
KARL - D
274
1 remain the government and wanted to stay. Colonel Majano was
2 part of a reformist faction of the military that believed that
3 the military should not be in the government, that there
4 should be a Democratic system, and that eventually there
5 should be civilian rule.
6 In the October 1979 coup, which was a coup of
7 military officers against other military officers, the next
8 thing he did was he invited civilians into the government who
9 were civilians that -- primarily Christian Democrats -- that
10 were considered by hardline military officers the chief
11 enemies of the country.
12 He also was in favor and started a process of land
13 reform, which was probably the central most controversial
14 thing you could do in El Salvador, and I will explain that
15 later, but if there is anyone that hard line military officers
16 hate, and particularly people who are involved in both the
17 formal military apparatus, but also the death squad apparatus,
18 which means they take off their uniforms and then act without
19 the insignias of whatever part of the services they are in,
20 they have a tremendous amount of animus towards Colonel
21 Majano.
22 They think that the problems that El Salvador went
23 through and the fact that the military no longer is the ruler
24 of the country and there is now a civilian political party,
25 although one aligned very much with this former military
KARL - D
275
1 apparatus, began with this coup. And so they are very --
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