Cuba Archive - Case 1105

Case ID: 1105

Title: N/A

First name: Salvador Cayetano

Last name: Carpio

Suffix: N/A

Aliases: N/A

Name also reported as: Commander Marcial, Ho Chi Minh of Central America

Age: 64

Gender: Male

Date of Birth: Day:6 / Month:8 / Year:1918

Civil Status: Unknown

Date of death/disappearance: Day:12 / Month:4 / Year:1983

Citizenship: El Salvador

Last known address: N/A

Last known city: N/A

Last known province-TOD: N/A

Last known province current: N/A

Last known country: El Salvador

Location death-address: N/A

Location of death - city: Managua

Location of death province - at TOD: N/A

Location of death province - current: N/A

Location of death - country: Nicaragua

Trial held?: N/A

Docket Number: N/A

Sentence details: N/A

Arrest or detention at time of death: No

Date of arrest: N/A

Imprisoned/Detained: Location: N/A

How long imprisoned/detained: N/A

Death attributed to: Castro regime

Death attribution detail: Fellow revolutionaries purportedly ordered by Fidel Castro

Associated Event: N/A

Case description:

Hardline revolutionary from El Salvador, reported by high-ranking Cuban intelligence defector Juan Antonio Rodríguez Mernier to have been killed by order of Fidel Castro for having murdered Mélida Anaya Montes (nom de guerre Ana Maria), his Salvadoran guerrilla deputy and rival. He was found dead of a gunshot wound in Managua, Nicaragua, shortly after attending Ana Maria's funeral there and his death was explained as a suicide. Carpio had been at odds with Fidel Castro and resented the Cubans' meddling. Castro, however, was used to getting his way and calling the shots for the Salvadoran guerillas. 
Carpio had been Leader of the Communist Party of El Salvador in the 1960s until he quit the party to found the Salvadoran revolutionary political-military organization, Fuerzas Populares de Liberación Farabundo Martí (FPL), in 1970.  The Salvadoran Communist Party was against armed struggle and instead engaged mainly in legal electoral and trade union organizing. Carpio believed the time was right for armed revolution to end the military dictatorship in El Salvador.  During the 1970s, Carpio's new organization, FPL, became the largest group on the Salvadoran left and the predominant force among the five organizations that joined together in 1980 under the umbrella of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN). Carpio played a leading role in both the FPL and the FMLN.
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Revolucionario de línea dura de El Salvador, que según reportó el desertor de alto rango de la inteligencia cubana Juan Antonio Rodríguez Mernier, fue asesinado por orden de Fidel Castro por haber asesinado a Mélida Anaya Montes, alias Ana María, guerrillera que era su rival. Fue encontrado muerto de una herida de bala en Managua, Nicaragua, poco después de asistir al funeral de Ana María allí, la muerte de Carpio se explicó como un suicidio. Carpio había estado en desacuerdo con Fidel Castro y estaba resentido por la intromisión de los cubanos. Castro, sin embargo, estaba acostumbrado a salirse con la suya y tomar las decisiones por las guerrillas salvadoreñas.
Carpio había sido líder del Partido Comunista de El Salvador en la década de 1960 hasta que renunció al partido para fundar la organización político-militar revolucionaria salvadoreña, Fuerzas Populares de Liberación Farabundo Martí (FPL), en 1970. El Partido Comunista Salvadoreño estaba en contra de la lucha armada. y en cambio se dedicó principalmente a la organización sindical y electoral que era legal. Carpio creía que era el momento adecuado para que la revolución armada pusiera fin a la dictadura militar en El Salvador. Durante la década de 1970, la nueva organización de Carpio, FPL, se convirtió en el grupo más grande de la izquierda salvadoreña y la fuerza predominante entre las cinco organizaciones que se unieron en 1980 bajo el paraguas del Frente Farabundo Martí de Liberación Nacional (FMLN). Carpio jugó un papel de liderazgo tanto en el FPL como en el FMLN.

Sources: Conflict of Evidence:

Violation Status: Reported: Highly likely / Highly reliable source(s)

Cause of Death: - Extrajudicial killing, possible/suspected

Occupations: - N/A

External Files: N/A

Relatives in Archive: N/A

Victim Type: - Other

Affiliations: N/A

Other Victims Same Event: N/A

Case Record - Salvador Cayetano Carpio