PresidentJimmy Carter, who died Sunday, is remembered as a humanitarian and a champion ofhuman rightsaround the globe.
Some experts speculate that the guerrillas would have won were it not for U.S. involvement.
In January 1980, the U.S. reached out to Pope John Paul II about Romero.
Jimmy Carter and Saint Óscar Romero (from left)Jessica McGowan/Getty Images; Leif Skoogfors/Getty Images
In theletter, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Carters national security adviser, noted a shift in Romeros rhetoric.
The archbishop, he wrote, has strongly criticized the Junta and leaned toward support for the extreme left.
He asked that the Pope intervene.
Romerometwith the Pope in Rome shortly thereafter.
But Romero kept pushing.
In February, he reached out to the U.S. with great concern.
Hewroteto President Carter expressing his misgivings about the possibility of the U.S. sending aid to his country.
Romero knew he was putting himself at risk.
But he had to keep going.
Brothers, you are part of our own people.
You are killing your own brother and sistercampesinos, he said.
The man entered the room, shot Romero, and fled.
CartercalledRomeros assassination a shocking and unconscionable act.
DAubuisson had beentrainedby the U.S. at the Defense Departments notorious School of the Americas.
Thats not to say the Carter administration didnt care about human rights.
I have been researching the Salvadoran Civil War for years.
The president following Carter, passionately anti-CommunistRonald Reagan, made El Salvadors civil war his own.
When he took office in 1981, aid increased exponentially.
The battalions leader, Domingo Monterrosa, attended the School of the Americas, like DAubuisson.
But major human rights violations happened under Carters watch, as well.
Salvadoran National Guard troops arrested Francisco Ventura and Jose Humberto Mejia after a political demonstration.
With permission, they brought the men to the property of the U.S. Embassy.
From there, men dressed as civilians put Ventura and Mejia in the trunk of a private car.
They were never seen again.
There was more violence against members of the church.
Especially after Romeros killing, this event drew outrage.
Carterstopped aidbriefly, but he soon brought it back.
Pope Francis declared Romero a saint in 2018.
