I was born in El Salvador, I lived in El Salvador for 13 years. Living in El Salvador was the best part of my life. My parents and I lived in a place called “El Escalon”; near the Embassy of one of richest countries of the world. We have everything in El Salvador, my dad is an Electrical Engineering for the company EEO the second biggest company in El Salvador. Our life in El Salvador was the best because we lived in a secure place. As a kid I had everything I wanted to have. We had the best places around our town; restaurants. malls, etc. Where we lived was the biggest community of houses in El Escalon. There were over 280 houses with 4 pools for the people who live there. It also had 3 parks for kids, tennis courts, basketball courts, 2 soccer fields and one small maze. This place became great because of the US Embassy that was made by the Americans. This place was basically full of American people mixing with Slavadorians.  The houses even have basements, the houses have the America style. All of this was supported because the government opened the doors to the U.S. We have a lot of industries in El Salvador that belong to the U.S. We have been supported by the U.S since the war against Iran started in the 1980s.  The reason for this is due to a secret plan under President Reagan to aid anti-communist rebels in Central America with money from weapons purchased by Iran that became know as the Iran Contra affair.

The Sandinista rebels came in 1961 and supported the spread of socialism, mostly in nearby El Salvador.  The political party FSLN sent weapons to another group of leftist rebels in El Salvador in 1980 and this continued continued for the next decade. Robert Kagan argues that the FSLN supported the Salvadoran rebels.  He also argues that the Sandinista supported the rebels because they thought that, by aiding the rebels, they would convince the Soviet Union to fully support Nicaragua against U.S. intervention in the region and ensure that Nicaragua remained economically viable.  Sandinista support for the Salvadoran rebels had a profound impact on U.S.-Nicaragua relations.  These relations between the US and central America were highly influenced by the American Cold War against the spread of communism.

Also the U.S. sent weapons to the rebels at El Salvador for the war, and helped them defend themselves. After all this, the government was affected by this issue throughout the 1980s. The government of El Salvador gave up our currency because El Salvador owed money to the U.S. for all the help they received from the U.S. with weapons and troops so they could fight against La Guerrilla. Also we wanted to have a better economy and they thought by changing the currency to the US dollar that it would help the country. This is most of the reason why some of the people left to the U.S.

Researching link: https://www.brown.edu/Research/Understanding_the_Iran_Contra_Affair/n-sandinistas.php