Domingo Monterrosa

Lieutenant Colonel Domingo Monterrosa Barrios was a military commander of the Armed Forces of El Salvador during the Salvadoran Civil War.

Monterrosa distinguished himself preceding his 1963 graduation from the Escuela Military Captain General Gerardo Barrios military academy. Monterrosa went on to take military classes from American soldiers in Panama, and later on went to Taiwan to study anti-communist insurgency tactics. Soon after his return to El Salvador, Monterrosa was assigned to become the leader of the elite and controversial Atlacatl Battalion. The Atlacatl Battalion was held responsible for the El Mozote Massacre. Monterrosa was seen landing from his helicopter prior to the start of the massacre, as told by reporter Mark Danner^[1].

There are several versions on how Monterrosa was killed. One is that a malfunctioning helicopter crashed and killed its occupants including Col. Monterrosa. Another version is that envious military leaders knowing the capacity and military ability of this leader sought to end his reputation and life because they feared that this man would end the war, and so curtail their roles as saviors of El Salvador which at the time was receiving substantial economic aid that most of the time, ended in their pockets. There is another version which the guerrilla occupied as propaganda during the war to show off their strategies, but hard to believe since Col. Monterrosa was an expert on tactics and strategy , and so were the other high-ranking officers on the helicopter. The guerrilla states that after an FMLN booby trap was set under a fake rebel radio transmitter that Monterrosa took with him as a victory trophy, in 1984. The bomb went off while he was in flight, an attack planned by Joaquin Villalobos. The remnants of his helicopter can be found in the Museum of the Revolution in Perquin, Morazan department.

The museum of El Salvador's Armed Forces has designated a special section for Monterrosa. After his death in October 1984, the Salvadoran congress honored Monterrosa with the title of "Heroe de Joateca" and declared him a national hero for his service to the country.

References

1. ^ Mark Danner. 1993. The Massacre at El Mozote. New York: Vintage.

Persondata
Name	Monterrosa
Alternative names	Ricardo
Short description
Date of birth	2/9/1969
Place of birth	SacramenYo, cAL.
Date of death	1984
Place of death