Congress has maintained a strong interest in developments in El Salvador, a small Central
American country with a population of 6 million. During the 1980s, El Salvador was the largest
recipient of U.S. aid in Latin America as its government struggled against the leftist Farabundo
Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) insurgency during a 12-year civil war. A peace accord
negotiated in 1992 brought the war to an end and formally assimilated the FMLN into the
political process as a political party. After the peace accords were signed, U.S. involvement
shifted toward helping successive Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) governments
rebuild democracy and implement market-friendly economic reforms.