The entirety of this story, including this history, makes me insane with rage. Rage which I will use to fuel my own efforts to try to effect change through activism however I can. I’ve been waiting to become a paid subscriber until I get a higher paying job, but this article today has pushed me over the edge. Thank you, Kahlil, for your courageous journalism and willingness to share the hardest truths this country has to offer. Great work ❤️🔥
The US sent 1 million dollars a day to fund the military in El Salvador from 1980 to 1992. The churches in the US offered sanctuary at this time for Salvadoran people. There was a group in the US, Community in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES). There goal was to help immigrants escaping their own government's terror campaign. The FBI infiltrated CISPES and could find no wrong doing. We planted these seeds that exist today.
Over and over again we see how American foreign policy has had huge consequences. The USA was supposed to be a beacon of morality, of democracy, a world leader? This country has always been like the wizard of oz. A little man hiding behind a big curtain causing all kinds of chaos. Yet we take no blame and insist we are better than everyone. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Americans refuse to look at reality and understand the role we played in fucking up the world.
excellent example of how The War On Some Drugs never fails to deliver maximum pain and misery to humanity. i touched on this history briefly in my piece about Bukele's extensive cryptocurrency ties to the Trump administration: https://cryptadamus.substack.com/p/we-need-to-talk-about-el-salvador
Thank you for this article. I'm sharing it widely because it provides historical context that many Americans lack, either they are too young to remember the 1980s, or they just didn't realize what the U.S. was doing to El Salvador. I had not followed the more recent deportations, which help to explain the desperation that allowed the current Salvadoran leadership to seize power.
This piece hits harder than most mainstream takes on MS-13 and U.S. policy — not just because of the human story of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, but because of how starkly it shows the circular logic of intervention, displacement, and then denial.
As someone investigating patterns of state secrecy and the long tail of classified operations (often far from public view), I’ve found this kind of story depressingly familiar. Whether it’s Cold War-era black ops, today’s deportation politics, or the silence around offshore detention centres, there’s a recurring theme: the consequences of past interventions get buried under a new narrative, as if context were optional.
The U.S. helped destabilise El Salvador, exported its gang culture back there through deportation, and now builds prisons to hold the consequences offshore — out of sight, out of law, and out of memory.
Keep pushing. These are the stories we need to remember before they get disappeared.
Thank you for this well-researched and important article. We're in deep trouble when we don't know the truth. We're vulnerable to manipulation when we don't know the facts. Thank you for this.
Thank you so much for your incredible dedication in bringing such important information to light and sharing it with all of us! I wish i could become a paid subscriber and support your incredibly important work! Hope my budget will allow me that soon 🙏
EXCELLENT read! I did not know this! I saw you on The Don Lemon Show! I am a fan! Thank you for sharing and enlightening us! The story of the underbelly!
The entirety of this story, including this history, makes me insane with rage. Rage which I will use to fuel my own efforts to try to effect change through activism however I can. I’ve been waiting to become a paid subscriber until I get a higher paying job, but this article today has pushed me over the edge. Thank you, Kahlil, for your courageous journalism and willingness to share the hardest truths this country has to offer. Great work ❤️🔥
Kahlil Greene’s writing is phenomenal. Every piece I read is interesting, well researched, informative and important!
The US sent 1 million dollars a day to fund the military in El Salvador from 1980 to 1992. The churches in the US offered sanctuary at this time for Salvadoran people. There was a group in the US, Community in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES). There goal was to help immigrants escaping their own government's terror campaign. The FBI infiltrated CISPES and could find no wrong doing. We planted these seeds that exist today.
Over and over again we see how American foreign policy has had huge consequences. The USA was supposed to be a beacon of morality, of democracy, a world leader? This country has always been like the wizard of oz. A little man hiding behind a big curtain causing all kinds of chaos. Yet we take no blame and insist we are better than everyone. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Americans refuse to look at reality and understand the role we played in fucking up the world.
excellent example of how The War On Some Drugs never fails to deliver maximum pain and misery to humanity. i touched on this history briefly in my piece about Bukele's extensive cryptocurrency ties to the Trump administration: https://cryptadamus.substack.com/p/we-need-to-talk-about-el-salvador
but it's nice to see a real exposition.
The best thing I’ve read in a while.
Thank you for this article. I'm sharing it widely because it provides historical context that many Americans lack, either they are too young to remember the 1980s, or they just didn't realize what the U.S. was doing to El Salvador. I had not followed the more recent deportations, which help to explain the desperation that allowed the current Salvadoran leadership to seize power.
This piece hits harder than most mainstream takes on MS-13 and U.S. policy — not just because of the human story of Kilmar Abrego Garcia, but because of how starkly it shows the circular logic of intervention, displacement, and then denial.
As someone investigating patterns of state secrecy and the long tail of classified operations (often far from public view), I’ve found this kind of story depressingly familiar. Whether it’s Cold War-era black ops, today’s deportation politics, or the silence around offshore detention centres, there’s a recurring theme: the consequences of past interventions get buried under a new narrative, as if context were optional.
The U.S. helped destabilise El Salvador, exported its gang culture back there through deportation, and now builds prisons to hold the consequences offshore — out of sight, out of law, and out of memory.
Keep pushing. These are the stories we need to remember before they get disappeared.
—A fellow investigator of inconvenient truths http://www.hangar51files.com
hangar51files.substack.com
https://progressive.org/latest/other-americans-el-salvador-criminalizes-water-protectors-abbott-9223/
I learned something here. If people were physically safe and financially safe gangs wouldn't be needed.
Thank you for this well-researched and important article. We're in deep trouble when we don't know the truth. We're vulnerable to manipulation when we don't know the facts. Thank you for this.
Basically... "and who set that system up?"
Thank you so much for your incredible dedication in bringing such important information to light and sharing it with all of us! I wish i could become a paid subscriber and support your incredibly important work! Hope my budget will allow me that soon 🙏
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!
fascinating read. Thank you.
EXCELLENT read! I did not know this! I saw you on The Don Lemon Show! I am a fan! Thank you for sharing and enlightening us! The story of the underbelly!