Organización Democrática Nacionalista
Encyclopedia
ORDEN, or Organización Democrática Nacionalista (National Democratic Organization) was a Salvadoran
paramilitary organization founded under the military rule of Julio Adalberto Rivera, headed by José Alberto Medrano
, and supported initially by the Green Berets. ORDEN was accused of human rights
violations by Amnesty International
and helped control the 1972 elections, in which reform-minded José Napoleón Duarte
lost to Arturo Armando Molina
(of Rivera's party, the Party of National Conciliation
(PCN)) due to fraud.
ORDEN was founded in 1961 and officially disbanded in 1979. It was originally founded to monitor the rural population for signs of left-wing organisation, and it was the intelligence-gathering instrument of the Salvadoran armed forces (FAES) while also acting in anti-insurgent operations and helping in military recruitment. Its structure was composed of senior military officers directly responsible to the president, and it functioned as the brain of a security network that spanned the entire country, providing information and ordering the operation of death teams.
In 1965, all of El Salvador's military, paramilitary, and other forces were united under one system of information: ASENSAL, or Agencia Nacional de Seguridad Salvadoreña (National Security Agency of El Salvador). A 1983 report said that one in five people in El Salvador were informers for ASENSAL.
After 1967, its existence and function was made public and it served to strengthen the base of support for the PCN, which won all the elections between 1962 and 1969. The importance of ORDEN lay in its being an organization composed of peasants and farmers responsible for repressing their own class. In 1967, the paramilitary organization mobilized over 100,000 people. After the election of Fidel Sánchez Hernández
, also in 1967, the president took control of ORDEN.
El Salvador
El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
paramilitary organization founded under the military rule of Julio Adalberto Rivera, headed by José Alberto Medrano
José Alberto Medrano
José Alberto Medrano was a Salvadoran general who, starting in the 1960s, headed ANSESAL and ORDEN , a paramilitary group supported by the Green Berets...
, and supported initially by the Green Berets. ORDEN was accused of human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
violations by Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
and helped control the 1972 elections, in which reform-minded José Napoleón Duarte
José Napoleón Duarte
José Napoleón Duarte Fuentes was a Salvadoran political figure who, from March 3, 1980, to 1982, led the civil-military Revolutionary Government Junta that took power in a 1979 coup d'état...
lost to Arturo Armando Molina
Arturo Armando Molina
Colonel Arturo Armando Molina is a former President of El Salvador. He served between July 1, 1972 and July 1, 1977. Molina was a member of the National Conciliation Party....
(of Rivera's party, the Party of National Conciliation
Party of National Conciliation
The Party of National Conciliation is a conservative political party in El Salvador. It was the most powerful political party in the country during the 1960s and 1970s, and was closely associated with the Salvadoran military. Julio Adalberto Rivera Carballo, a candidate of the National...
(PCN)) due to fraud.
ORDEN was founded in 1961 and officially disbanded in 1979. It was originally founded to monitor the rural population for signs of left-wing organisation, and it was the intelligence-gathering instrument of the Salvadoran armed forces (FAES) while also acting in anti-insurgent operations and helping in military recruitment. Its structure was composed of senior military officers directly responsible to the president, and it functioned as the brain of a security network that spanned the entire country, providing information and ordering the operation of death teams.
In 1965, all of El Salvador's military, paramilitary, and other forces were united under one system of information: ASENSAL, or Agencia Nacional de Seguridad Salvadoreña (National Security Agency of El Salvador). A 1983 report said that one in five people in El Salvador were informers for ASENSAL.
After 1967, its existence and function was made public and it served to strengthen the base of support for the PCN, which won all the elections between 1962 and 1969. The importance of ORDEN lay in its being an organization composed of peasants and farmers responsible for repressing their own class. In 1967, the paramilitary organization mobilized over 100,000 people. After the election of Fidel Sánchez Hernández
Fidel Sánchez Hernández
Fidel Sánchez Hernández was a politician, general, and former President of El Salvador. It could be said that Sánchez Hernández led his country during a tumultuous era...
, also in 1967, the president took control of ORDEN.
See also
- Patrullas de Autodefensa Civil (PACs, or Civilian Self Defense Patrols): GuatemalaGuatemalaGuatemala is a country in Central America bordered by Mexico to the north and west, the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, Belize to the northeast, the Caribbean to the east, and Honduras and El Salvador to the southeast...
- Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC, or United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia): ColombiaColombiaColombia, officially the Republic of Colombia , is a unitary constitutional republic comprising thirty-two departments. The country is located in northwestern South America, bordered to the east by Venezuela and Brazil; to the south by Ecuador and Peru; to the north by the Caribbean Sea; to the...
External links
- History Commons Democratic Nationalist Organization (ORDEN). Accessed November 25, 2008.
- El Salvador; History: Military dictatorships Encyclopædia Britannica. 2008. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Accessed November 25, 2008.