British Aid to El Salvador, 1970 - 2009: Foreign Policy, Humanitarianism, and Solidarity

McIndoe, Emily (2023) British Aid to El Salvador, 1970 - 2009: Foreign Policy, Humanitarianism, and Solidarity. PhD thesis, University of Liverpool.

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Abstract

This thesis analyses British aid to El Salvador between 1970 and 2009. Aid in this context encompasses government aid (bilateral aid, arms sales and development aid), humanitarian aid and solidarity aid. Through the use of oral history interviews and archival research, this thesis seeks to establish the extent and impact of the different facets of British aid, looking at British foreign policy, humanitarian action and solidarity. In doing so, the thesis highlights a wide variety of organisations (including the British government, British Catholic NGOs such as CAFOD and CIIR, and solidarity organisations such as ESCHR, ELSSOC and ESNET) that played crucial roles in providing aid to El Salvador, analysing their different methods, aims and motivations. The different approaches of each of these organisations combined to result in a wide-reaching, broad appeal aid programme, run by a complicated network of organisations and individuals. British foreign policy towards El Salvador was limited in financial value, but stringent anti-communism and loyalty to the US resulted in increasing support for the Salvadoran government in the 1980s. Humanitarian NGOs such as CAFOD and CIIR, meanwhile, responded to the humanitarian disaster caused by the civil conflict, led by the guiding principle of the preferential option for the poor. The widespread human rights violations being committed by the Salvadoran government against its own people provoked outrage around the world and prompted widespread campaigns to apply pressure on the Salvadoran government in the hope of ending the violations. The British public took up this cause with enthusiasm, resulting in a thriving El Salvador solidarity movement in Britain that focused on three main areas; human rights, partisan political support and personal relationships. A cursory look at the existing historiography suggests that Britain had a very minimal relationship with El Salvador. However, as is demonstrated, there was actually a sustained, varied aid programme that adapted to the changing context in El Salvador. Thus, this thesis argues that British aid to El Salvador between 1970 and 2009 was, in fact, widespread, long-lasting and varied, encompassing governments, humanitarian NGOs, church groups, trade unions, and many other actors on the British left, and, therefore is deserving of much more consideration and analysis than it currently receives.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Divisions:	Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Histories, Languages and Cultures
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	29 Aug 2023 10:16
Last Modified:	29 Aug 2023 10:16
DOI:	10.17638/03170490
Supervisors:	Redden, Andrew Bocking-Welch, Anna
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3170490