By Shauneen Miranda

Dr. Hector Lindo-Fuentes discussed the history of El Salvador and United States relations with the UMD community on Wednesday, Oct. 16. 

Lindo-Fuentes, a professor emeritus of history and Latin American studies at Fordham University, began studying relations between the U.S. and El Salvador around five years ago. He has written three books on Central American and Salvadoran history since. 

“We have a lot of Salvadorans in our community,” sophomore communications major Cindy Morales said. 

Salvadorans make up a large population within the university and around the U.S. In 2017, an estimated 2.3 million Salvadorans lived in the U.S., according to the Pew Research Center. 

Lindo-Fuentes’ lecture addressed U.S. foreign policy on imperialism and El Salvador’s reaction to U.S. intervention. He connected U.S. intervention in Cuba, Nicaragua and Panama with El Salvador. 

For Amy Campos, a freshman biology major with Salvadoran parents, the lecture gave her more insight into a topic she did not know much about. 

“It was really weird to see how early on the United States tried getting into El Salvador, and how even now El Salvador has actually held up its own,” Campos said. “They’re not dictated by the United States and still have their own culture.” 

President Donald Trump’s administration signed an agreement in September to divert Central American migrants seeking asylum to El Salvador in order to decrease the flow of migrants at the U.S. border, according to NPR. 

Lindo-Fuentes noted a lack of opposition to this agreement, which he thinks relates to the vulnerability of the Salvadoran immigrant population in the U.S.

“People are afraid to do anything that would alienate the American administration because there are so many people who have no papers,” Lindo-Fuentes said. 

Lindo-Fuentes also noted the small number of gangs in El Salvador that came to form the U.S.’s views on the Central American nation. 

“There’s few people who come from gangs. Most of the people are looking for asylum because they are running away from that,” he said. 

Morales said Lindo-Fuentes provides a voice for the Latin American community. She added that he helps break the stereotype of Central Americans being uneducated. 

“Salvadorans in the U.S. are pretty hard-working people… Some of them are even college professors,” Lindo-Fuentes added with a laugh.