<P> On February 7, 1984, nine labor leaders, including all seven top officials of one major federation, were arrested by the Salvadoran National Police and sent to a military court . The arrests were part of Duarte's moves to crack down on labor unions after more than 80 trade unionists were detained in a raid by the National Police . The police confiscated the union's files and took videotape mugshots of each union member . During a 15 - day interrogation, the nine labor leaders were beaten during late - night questioning and were told to confess to being guerrillas . They were then forced to sign a written confession while blindfolded . They were never charged with being guerrillas but the official police statement said they were accused of planning to "present demands to management for higher wages and benefits and promoting strikes, which destabilize the economy ." A U.S. official said the embassy had "followed the arrests closely and was satisfied that the correct procedures were followed ." </P> <P> In 1984 elections, Christian Democrat José Napoleón Duarte won the presidency (with 54% of the votes) against Army Major Roberto d'Aubuisson, of the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA). The elections were held under military rule amidst high levels of repression and violence, however, and candidates to the left of Duarte's brand of Christian Democrats were excluded from participating . Fearful of a d'Aubuisson presidency for public relations purposes, the CIA financed Duarte's campaign with some two million dollars . </P> <P> After Duarte's victory, human rights abuses at the hands of the army and security forces continued, but declined due to modifications made to the security structures . The policies of the Duarte government attempted to make the country's three security forces more accountable to the government by placing them under the direct supervision of a Vice Minister of Defense, but all three forces continued to be commanded individually by regular army officers, which, given the command structure within the government, served to effectively nullify any of the accountability provisions . The Duarte government also failed to decommission personnel within the security structures that had been involved in gross human rights abuses, instead simply dispersing them to posts in other regions of the country . </P> <P> While reforms were being made to the security forces, the army continued to massacre unarmed civilians in the country side . An Americas Watch report noted that the Atlacatl Battalion killed 80 unarmed civilians in Cabanas in July, 1984 and carried out another massacre one month later, killing 50 displaced people in the Chalatenango province . The women were raped and then everyone was systematically executed . </P>

What was a major cause of the civil wars in many central american nations in the 1970s and 1980s