FAQ

Salvador was never intended to be a fully accurate dramatization, but rather, as noted in the intro screen text, a fictionalized version of the true story. The historical background is largely accurate, although critics have noted Oliver Stone's biased approach when addressing the US contribution to the events. Some names of various supporting characters were changed, including the character Kathy, played by Cindy Gibb; Kathy's real name was Jean Donovan. The real Richard Boyle was not as arrogant or profane as the film makes him out to be; it has also been disputed as to whether or not he truly held much resentment for fellow journalist Sydney Schanberg after their time in Cambodia during the emerging Khmer Rouge takeover and genocide. The film takes many fictional liberties with the story, but most of this is in character portrayal. not the portrayal of political events. Of lesser importance, there are some errors with cultural portrayal including the use of the term "yuppie", which didn't fall into mainstream use until years after the events of this film took place.

There are exaggerations in various aspects, such as death squads. The death squads were formed in response to leftists kidnapping, ransoming, and about half the time executing the kidnapped person (it began with Ernesto Regalado-Duenas in 1971). Almost every major family had a member kidnapped and executed, and so the death squads were a response. The government committed atrocities without a doubt, but so did the leftists, even on citizens in pueblos that would not support them.

The term "ARANA", referring to the militant alliance of El Salvador citizens in the film, is a gibberish parody of the real-life ARENA group, Alianza Republicana Nacionalista (English: Nationalist Republican Alliance), a militant right-wing group at the time the film's events took place in reality.

Many, although not all, of the film's main characters were indeed based on real people, most obviously protagonist Richard Boyle, but also Óscar Romero, Cathy Moore (based on lay missionary Jean Donovan), Ambassador Thomas Kelly (based on Robert E. White), John Cassady (based on John Hoagland) and Major Maximiliano "Major Max" Casanova (based on Roberto D'Aubuisson). Dr. Rock, Boyle's disc jockey friend, was based on real-life Eric 'Dr. Rock' Isralow, who, contrary to the character portrayed in the film, was actually noted by friends and family as a "music historian" with a spacious home containing large amounts of music albums and memorabilia; he was also published in a weekly column and worked on several different San Francisco-based radio stations. It is unclear who the characters Maria and Claudia are based upon. Cathy's 3 friends, nuns and missionaries, were based on the real-life Maura Clarke, Ita Ford and Dorothy Kazel, all of whom, along with Jean Donovan, were tragically beaten, violated and later knifed to death in an organized act orchestrated by the government. The film takes vast artistic liberties with the source material and so minor characters and background characters are largely fictional, although Oliver Stone based these characters heavily on real historical context.

Richard "Rick" Boyle was able to find continuing work in other countries as a journalist, and also helped with the making of this film. He unfortunately died while working in the Philippines in 2016. His book "Flower of the Dragon" found some mild posthumous success as readers on the book aggregation website Goodreads expressed interest in finding copies, although Boyle and publishers retain the copyright. It is unknown whether Boyle reunited with Maria and the children or not, or if he was ever able to see his infant son with "Claudia" (or if Claudia was based on a real person or not) again. Boyle was literally living in his own car, broke and addicted to drugs and booze, when Oliver Stone heard of his work. Luckily for Boyle, the film drew some attention to his work as a journalist, although much of his life was quite difficult due to his traumatic experiences and lack of money.

In the late 1970s the US backed a series of dictatorships and military juntas in Latin America fearing the region was being gradually taken over by communist regimes allied to the Soviet Union as Cuba had been. In El Salvador a succession of military dominated right wing governments fought a vicious civil war against a number of Cuban sponsored left-wing rebel groups which were collectively know as the FMLN. The situation worsened with the fall of Nicaragua to the communist Sandinistas who also began to support the FMLN and shelter them within Nicuragua's borders. This prompted the US to massively increase aid to the El Salvadoran military and establish their own anti-communist guerilla force from Nicaraguan exiles known as the 'Contras'. Throughout the 1980s El Salvador and the surrounding areas were wracked by political violence including massacres, the rape and murder of a group of American nuns and the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Romero who had openly criticized the government.

With the end of the Cold War, suspension of military aid from the USSR to Cuba and subsequent removal of the Sandinistas from power in Nicaragua, foreign support of the El Salvadoran communist rebels evaporated. In 1992 a peace accord was signed restoring a democratic civilian government, disarming the rebels and granting amnesty to the armed forces for their actions during the war.

Out of a population of only 5 million it is estimated that up to 80,000 people were killed or simply disappeared and a further million driven from their homes as refugees. A later 'Commission for Truth in El Salvador' concluded that the government was guilty of huge repression and human rights violations including sponsoring paramilitary death squads. However it further stated that the FMLN were also guilty of human rights violations including kidapping, bombings, rape and murder. Afterwards the El Salvadoran parliament passed an amnesty law covering all violent acts in the war. Today El Salvador is universally recognised as a free and democratic society with one of the most prosperous economies in Latin America. However, it suffers one of the highest murder rates in the world, partly as a result of the ex-combatants becoming involved in cocaine smuggling which had been used to fund the conflict.