<P> The full - fledged civil war lasted for more than 12 years and saw extreme violence from both sides . It also included the deliberate terrorizing and targeting of civilians by death squads, recruitment of child soldiers and other violations of human rights, mostly by the military . An unknown number of people disappeared during the conflict, and the UN reports that more than 75,000 were killed . The United States contributed to the conflict by providing large amounts of military aid to the government of El Salvador during the Carter and Reagan administrations . The Salvadoran government was considered "friendly" by the U.S. in the context of the Cold War . </P> <P> The United Nations has estimated that the FMLN guerrillas were responsible for 5% of the murders of civilians during the civil war, while approximately 85% of all killings of civilians were committed by the Salvadoran armed forces and death squads . </P> <P> In 1990 the UN began peace negotiations and on January 16, 1992, a final agreement, The Chapultepec Peace Accords, was signed by the combatants in Mexico City, formally ending the conflict . </P> <P> El Salvador is the smallest country in Central America after Belize . As in many nations of Latin America, the history of El Salvador has been characterized by marked socioeconomic inequality . In the late 19th century coffee became a major cash crop for El Salvador, bringing in approximately 95% of the country's income . However, this income was restricted to only 2% of the population, sharply dividing the people between a small but powerful elite and an impoverished majority . Socioeconomic tension grew through the 1920s and were compounded by a drop in coffee prices following the stock - market crash of 1929 . In 1932 the Central American Socialist Party was formed and led an uprising of peasants and indigenous people against the government . The government brutally suppressed it in what became known as the 1932 Salvadoran peasant massacre or simply "La Matanza" (the Massacre), with the military murdering between 10,000 and 40,000 people . Farabundo Martí, the leader of the uprising, was eventually arrested and put to death, and the military subsequently took power over the country . "La Matanza" also served to reinforce feelings of strong distrust and animosity among the populace towards the government, the military and the landed elite . </P>

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