U.S. foreign policy and human rights violations in El Salvador

In this study, I will observe U.S. foreign policy and human rights in El Salvador during the Carter, Reagan, and Bush administrations. I am observing whether external factors contribute to human rights violations in a country. Particularly, stating that compared to the Carter and Bush administrations, the Reagan administration significantly contributed to human rights violations in El Salvador. I am trying to show how each administration had a distinct ideology towards El Salvador and how they tried to implement that ideology into their foreign policy. There were several ways each administration tried to execute their foreign policy, such as providing or suspending military and economic aid, discrediting or supporting human rights organizations, and accepting information from questionable sources. The findings show, for example, that as military aid was increased, human rights abuses, particularly civil rights, stayed relatively high. The conclusion reached was that there was a possibility, along with other factors, that there could be a link between policies made by one country and human rights abuses in another country.