Secret Anti-Communist Army
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| Secret Anti-Communist Army | |
|---|---|
| Ejército Secreto Anticomunista | |
| Dates of operation | 4 August 1977 – 28 December 1989[1][2] (12 years, 4 months, 3 weeks and 3 days) |
| Active regions | Guatemala, El Salvador[1] |
| Size | Unknown[1] |
| Wars | Guatemalan Civil War[3] Salvadoran Civil War[4] |
"The Command of the Secret Anti-Communist Army [ESA] is presenting by means of this bulletin an ‘ultimatum’ to the following trade unionists, professionals, workers and students: ... [it] warns them all that it has already located them and knows perfectly well where to find these nefarious communist leaders who are already condemned to DEATH, which will therefore be carried out without mercy..."
The Secret Anti-Communist Army (Spanish: Ejército Secreto Anticomunista, ESA) was a front organization that operated in Guatemala and El Salvador during the Guatemalan Civil War.[3][1][2][6] Like other earlier organizations, such as the MANO and the CADEG, the ESA existed as a front for a covert program of selective assassination by the Guatemalan security services. The first documentation of it came from the New York Times on 4 August 1977.[6]
The ESA made its existence more widely known during the upheaval caused by the September 1978 bus fare strikes in Guatemala City. On 18 October 1978, the ESA authored the first of a series of public bulletins containing "death lists" of persons which the organization considered to be "communists".[7] It claimed to be independent, but was coordinated and staffed by members of the military and security services and was allegedly run by Colonel German Chupina Barahona, Director General of the National Police (PN) from 1978 to 1982.[8][9][10] Often, the lists of targets were provided by the Minister of the Interior, Donaldo Alvarez Ruiz.[6]