Contributed by: Captain Herard von Santos.
recently closed the Congress American History X, held from 12 to 15 July 2010, in Managua, on the premises of the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua, the first congress I attend, such as an independent researcher specializing in American military theme. Perhaps most important of this Congress, according to some watchers, is the inclusion of a table devoted to military history.
This fact is finally proper recognition for the work of all those who have dedicated our lives to rescue the regional military history, but also was a showcase for a glimpse of the new promises in this area, researchers little are slowly establishing itself as the regional lead inevitably will become increasingly important in the analysis of the conflicts that ravaged our region.
While with us, we had some knowledge of who we are devoted to this subject, it was gratifying to meet in person and discover our desire to work collaboratively, to rescue this heap of stock so maliciously sometimes forgotten. The X Congress put into perspective the severe deficiency of sociologists and other specialists who have addressed the issue according to their academic specialty, but leaving aside the merits of studying social conflict, war.
The war itself, the difficult world to interpret, quantify, understand, and above all, to analyze from an academic perspective. And was time that we speak of the Central American wars, not as an afterthought in a studio, but as something primary and fundamental to be studied and analyzed. This is the great merit of the Bureau of Military History of the X Congress of history, the presence of a military study on equal terms as other academic studies and other social sciences.
We had the opportunity to attend the presentation of several works on the regional military theme and meet the authors of the new generation of military historians now starting to take shape in the region. Colleagues were also Guatemala, Nicaragua, Puerto Rico, Spain, Great Britain, Argentina, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Cuba, France, Venezuela, Canada, Belize, Honduras, Panama, Mexico, USA. Colombia and Brazil. Important was the presentation of the work Military History of Nicaragua, Colonel. Francisco Barbosa, the first systematic effort to address the country's military history. The work of 600 pages is a testament to the quality and objectivity with which it was written and is in the region, the first serious academic effort of this kind.
My friend, Cap. Cornejo Douglas presents his book History of the Salvadoran Air Force, Volumes I and gave us a preview of Volume II thereof. It is in my opinion, the first professional studio in the region, which covers the use of airpower in a counterinsurgency campaign. Used to read such material in Western sources, is the first time something of this caliber is available in Latin America, I must say that your reading will be satisfied even the most demanding.
Although the author of From Marilyn Monroe and the Revolution Mr. Berne Ayala could not attend the conference, your work was performed by me. Berne represents the new wave of authors who treat the history of the conflict from the perspective of the chronicle, in this case, the above work is a real, hard evidence of what was the phase of guerrilla war from 1985 to 1989, in what was the Salvadoran conflict, hence the importance to the military history of these accounts narrated by the protagonists. His two previous works, The Offensive To The Top and Beyond, and Misery and Grandeur Guerrilla represent a first-order inputs for researchers who study the Salvadoran conflict 20 years.
For me, this my last two books, Elite Soldiers in Central America and Mexico and the El Salvador-Honduras War Illustrated, the first on the history of the regional elite units since 1946 born in these lands and in some cases would deliver fierce wars against leftist insurgents that ravaged our lands between 1961 and 1996. The second is a paper co-authored with Dr. David Spencer, and is the first known example of this type. It is a work entirely photographic, which uses photography to tell the war waged in El Salvador and Honduras, in July 1969. The quality of the photos and the material used would have a very well made and work in which weighted have been used hitherto unpublished photographs and a great historical value.
On the other hand, had the pleasant presentation of the COL. Ortega Gaytan, the Guatemalan military historian best known and who made the presentation: American military conflicts of the early twentieth century, work that soon will be released in book form. In addition, we saw two of his most famous works, The Kaibiles and Los Marinos. Fundamental works if you want to address the history of military institutions that brotherly country.
Professor Patrick Werner, we present preliminary findings of its study of the Battle of San Jacinto. This presentation was of invaluable importance as we learn the application of the latest technologies in a military study of its kind in Central America. Professor Werner little use in their research radars to search for mass graves, metal detectors to search for caps and weapons, ballistic use techniques also used in forensics to identify the trajectories of the bullets and their concentrations in this battle now throws an interpretation. Techniques I hope we can continue to use in the region for the benefit of regional military history.
With it, we had the pleasure to meet the first woman, not being military is devoted to investigating these issues, I mean Ms. Adriana Rivera, the performance was framed by the military Gesta Benjamin Zeledon, Nicaraguan patriot famous, whose history is so far, almost unknown to the general public. I say with great pride that Lic. Rivera is added to other famous regional research on military topics such as the Cap. Lucila Sierra in Guatemala and Nicaragua Ms. Soraya Sanchez, also welcome colleagues to this important task.
Last but not least, I mention my friend Dr. David Spencer, besides the book we wrote together, Dr. Spencer is an assiduous researcher of Latin American conflicts, three of his works are of dicadas the Salvadoran conflict and are in my opinion, works a must read for those interested in this topic, From Vietnam to El Salvador, military strategy and tactics of the FMLN, and Fighthing Armor in El Salvador.
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