Back to results

Eastern Kentucky University

Commitment Beyond Morality: American Complicity in the Massacre at El Mozote, El Salvador, 1981

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

<p>In order to highlight the complicity of the American government, this thesis will discuss in depth the most important massacre perpetrated by the Salvadoran military. While the American government maintained publicly that respect for human rights was one of the main goals of its mission in El Salvador, the six billion dollars of aid and American actions in the region belied another reality. This examination argues that it is clear that the massacre at El Mozote in late 1981 was the direct result of U.S. foreign policy initiatives. Although the Americans kept themselves insulated to provide for plausible deniability, the policies of the Carter and Reagan administrations institutionalized the murder of civilians as a necessary element of American foreign policy in El Salvador. </p>

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Arts (MA)
Level thesis:degree_level
Master's
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
History
Grantor dc:publisher
Eastern Kentucky University
Year
2011

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Hill, Dustin

Subjects

dc:subject × 8

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • Copyright 2011 Dustin Hill

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Repository record dc:identifier
https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/49
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:encompass.eku.edu:etd-1048

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Eastern Kentucky University
Base URL
encompass.eku.edu/do/oai/
Last updated
2026-07-24
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Hill, Dustin. Commitment Beyond Morality: American Complicity in the Massacre at El Mozote, El Salvador, 1981. Master's thesis, Eastern Kentucky University, 2011. https://encompass.eku.edu/etd/49