Jennifer Jean Casolo was an American citizen who was arrested on November 26, 1989 by El Salvadoran government troops during the November 1989 "Final Offensive" of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) in San Salvador. Shafik Handal Revolution or Death, We will win! El Salvador in struggle. ...

Arrest

A 1983 graduate of Brandeis University, the 28-year old Casolo was in El Salvador,under the sponsorship of Texas-based Christian Education Programs, and was arrested after a raid on her residence supposedly revealed a massive cache of weapons buried in her backyard, believed to be intended for use by the FMLN during their assault on the capital. The cache consisted of 213 blocks of TNT, more than a hundred 60-millimeter Soviet mortar rounds, 405 electrical detonators, and 20,000 rounds for Soviet AK-47 assault and Dragonov sniper rifles. Brandeis University is a private university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. ... // TNT may refer to: Trinitrotoluene, the chemical explosive usually known as TNT Alkyl nitrites, TNT is a UK brand for this medicinal and recreational Turner Network Television, cable television network TNT N.V., Dutch international transport and logistics corporation, and its divisions TNT Express, Global Express Delivery Services TNT Logistics... Soviet redirects here. ... Avtomat Kalashnikova model 1947 g. ... An Ethiopian soldier practices with the Dragunov as part of a joint exercise with American troops The Dragunov (Драгунов) is a Russian sniper rifle, more formally known as the Snaiperskaya Vintovka Dragunova (Снайперская винтовка Драгунова), which translates into English as Dragunov Sniper Rifle, and is often abbreviated as SVD (СВД). It was the worlds...

During interrogation and after release Casolo maintained that the arms cache had either been planted in her house by government agents that evening as they climbed over her roof and would not allow her in the back yard or had been buried there prior to May when Casolo rented the house.

World Reaction

The arrest of Casolo, an American citizen and self-professed pacifist, generated front-page coverage around the world and provoked instant efforts by U.S. members of Congress, congressional staffers, and religious and human rights leaders to obtain her release. However, evidence would later emerge that Casolo was a member of CISPES (The Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador), a US-based organization whose members offered moral and material support throughout the 1980s to a number of organizations in El Salvador, including the FMLN. The Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador, based in New York City, is an American NGO which supports the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front in El Salvador. ...

After days of pressure, President Cristiani ordered Casolo released for lack of evidence and deported on December 13, 1989. After spending the Christmas holiday with her family in the U.S. Casolo undertook a nationwide public speaking tour to declare her innocence and denounce the Government of El Salvador and the United States' involvement in that country.

After her release, Casolo was asked to testify before a Congressional subcommittee on the conduct of U.S. Embassy officials in San Salvador during her detention. She later went to become a relatively well-known peace activist and is presently a PhD candidate in Geography. On the Berkeley website, Casolo listed her research interests as "Gender, political ecology, development theory, Latin American indigenous cultures".

References

• "Embassies Under Siege: Personal Accounts By Diplomats On The Front Line", edited by Ambassador Joseph G. Sullivan, 1995

• "Her Salvadoran ordeal over, Jennifer Casolo hits the road to end the war she left behind." People Weekly v. 33 (Jan. 22 '90) p. 64-5

• "The Evidence Against Casolo", W.W. Terry, The Oregonian, April 20, 1990, page B5.