From Vietnam to El Salvador: The Saga of the FMLN Sappers and Other Guerrilla Special Forces in Latin America

This work by David L. Spencer is excellent. It describes in much detail the FMLN's use of special forces to conduct their guerrilla war against the El Salvador government from the early '80s until the early '90s. It is interesting to note that the FMLN sapper program was a direct copy of the Vietnamese effort and brought the FMLN much success. The reader also learns much about the Cuban involvement in the war and how Cuban advisors instructed the FMLN in sapper and combat swimmer operations and even participated on rare occasions in the fighting. Spencer must be given much credit for his excellent use of primary sources which included the interrogation reports of captured FMLN guerrillas and captured guerrilla diaries. This is truly a unique, fascinating work which is a must read for any student of modern guerrilla warfare.

"During the armed conflict carried out in El Salvador against International Communism during the decade of the 1980s,both the armed forces and the FMLN continually developed the use of special forces as the mechanism to defeat strategic objectives.However, the FMLN FES ALSO PLAYED AS IMPORTANT ROLE AT OTHER LEVELS, such as the operational and tactical levels....."[from the book of introduction by Jose Angel Moroni Bracamonte]