The American government seems poised to work closely with strongman leaders all over the world, including El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele. The United States has long been involved in Central American affairs, most prominently in the 1980s, when it supported brutal military repression of Salvadoran people. As historian Molly Todd writes, at that time, private Salvadoran and American citizens forged another kind of relationship, working across borders in opposition to the coalition between their governments.In El Salvador in the 1960s, Todd writes, peasants and workers joined with progressive Catholics and intellectuals to push against the country’s oligarchic rulers, known as the fourteen families. When the government responded with violence, the leftist coalition formed militant groups united under the umbrella of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN). In some cases, collaborations between local people and the militant groups took on local government functions. In response, the official government launched military operations, murdering, torturing, and displacing hundreds of thousands of people.Progressives in the US learned about these events partly from refugees and other Salvadorans living in the US. Many were appalled by their government’s support for the Salvadoran military and viewed the self-governance efforts in El Salvador as an admirable model for grassroots democracy.In the 1960s, partnerships between US and Latin American communities became a PR tool in the Cold War, symbolically linking anti-communists.Todd writes that a popular strategy was “witnessing” or “accompaniment.” Theologian Robert McAfee Brown described this as “walking alongside the victims—not trying to strategize on their behalf, or propose solutions for their problems, or otherwise give them the benefit of our ‘wisdom’—but simply being there in acts of physical solidarity.”American supporters raised money for humanitarian work, protested the US funding of the military, and traveled to Salvadoran villages that were under threat, providing some protection since the military was less likely to threaten visitors from the US.Weekly Newsletter[contact-form-7]One concept that emerged as a powerful tool was sister cities. Todd notes that the idea dates to the years after World War II, when European communities that had been on opposite sides forged connections for their rebuilding efforts. In the 1960s, partnerships between US and Latin American communities became a PR tool in the Cold War, symbolically linking anti-communists. In the 1980s, sister cities operated in a similar way, creating direct links between people and local institutions in the two countries, but for very different ends.Among the first of these was a sistering relationship between Madison, Wisconsin, and Arcatao, a small village near the Honduras border. The military had removed the town’s population, only to have hundreds of people repopulate it years later as an act of resistance. Supporters from Madison offered direct aid and support. Among them was school board member Mary Kay Baum, who hiked into the nearby mountains to avoid a military blockade and deliver the sister city proclamation to village residents.Ultimately, American progressives did affect US policy, writes Todd, “forc[ing] the Salvadoran government to comply with basic human rights in order to ensure continued funding from the US government.” And in places like Arcatao, their human connections with Salvadoran made a real difference in local people’s ability to resist a brutal regime.Support JSTOR Daily! Join our membership program on Patreon today.The post Fighting for El Salvador, from Wisconsin appeared first on JSTOR Daily.