Green & Red Podcast ENCORE: State Murders of Nuns in El Salvador and Black Panther Fred Hampton—Repression at Home and Abroad (G&R 444)

Date: December 3, 2025
Hosts: Bob Buzzanco & Scott Parkin

Main Theme

This episode commemorates two somber anniversaries in the history of state repression:

• The murder of four American Catholic churchwomen in El Salvador by US-backed Salvadoran military (December 2, 1980)
• The assassination of Black Panther leader Fred Hampton (December 4, 1969) by Chicago police in collaboration with the FBI

Bob Buzzanco and Scott Parkin explore the parallels between US-backed violence abroad and government repression at home, reflecting on how the American state neutralizes dissent that threatens ruling class interests.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. State Murders of Catholic Activists in El Salvador

Speaker: Bob Buzzanco
[02:08]–[21:40]

• Background of the Killings:

  • On December 2, 1980, three nuns and a lay missionary were raped and murdered by Salvadoran military as civil war gripped El Salvador.
  • The victims, including Sisters Maura Clarke, Ita Ford, Dorothy Kazel, and Jean Donovan, were providing humanitarian aid and support in rural, violence-stricken Chalatenango province.
  • Their presence was considered dangerous by both the Salvadoran and US government, who suspected them of aligning with leftist rebels.

• US Involvement and Complicity:

  • The Salvadoran military, responsible for the murders, was heavily funded, trained, and diplomatically shielded by the US.
  • The US response, especially with the Reagan administration's ascendancy, focused on anti-communist rhetoric, denying state responsibility and blaming the victims as political activists.
    • Quote (Bob Buzzanco reading Jeane Kirkpatrick):

      "We ought to be a little more clear about this than we actually are. They were political activists on behalf of the Frente." [13:35]

• Broader Context—Liberation Theology and Repression:

  • Liberation theology, the notion that the Church should prioritize the poor and oppose oppression, was gaining ground, alarming both the Vatican and Washington.
  • Archbishop Oscar Romero, once conservative, grew critical of the regime. His final sermon called for an end to state violence, for which he was assassinated on the altar the next day.
    • Quote (Archbishop Romero):

      "I implore you. I beg you. I order you. Stop the repression." [08:44]

• Scale of Violence and US Policy:

  • US military aid and diplomatic support continued throughout the atrocities, including during infamous massacres like El Mozote (700+ civilians killed).
  • The massacre and cover-up were justified by US officials, highlighting the routine nature of support for client states' human rights abuses.

• Reflection:

  • These murders "offer a lot of important lessons for today. No matter what one's role in society is…state repression and murder are on the table if the people who run these societies believe you stand in the way of their interests." [20:33]
  • The connection to broader US policy: "American presidents have in fact been war criminals just as a matter of national policy." [21:34]

2. The Assassination of Fred Hampton & State Repression at Home

Speaker: Scott Parkin
[21:56]–[41:31]

• Life and Activism of Fred Hampton:

  • Hampton was a 21-year-old dynamic organizer and revolutionary socialist, leading the Illinois Black Panther Party.
  • He built multiracial alliances through the original Rainbow Coalition and worked to unite street gangs, alarming authorities because it challenged "the need for police" with community self-governance.

• The Black Panther Party and COINTELPRO:

  • The Panthers, originally founded in Oakland in 1966, combined armed self-defense against police brutality with wide-ranging community programs.
  • The party was labeled by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover as "the greatest internal threat to the security of the nation." [27:24]
  • COINTELPRO (FBI Counterintelligence Program) waged a coordinated campaign of infiltration, disinformation, fomenting rifts, aggressive prosecutions, and assassinations—including Hampton.

• Details of Hampton’s Murder:

  • Hampton was betrayed by FBI informant William O'Neal, who drugged him the night of the police raid.
  • 14 police officers stormed the apartment; Mark Clark was instantly killed, and Hampton was shot in his sleep.
  • The police narrative falsely claimed a firefight, while Hampton never awakened.
    • Quote (Hampton’s fiancé hearing the officers):

      "He's alive, he's barely alive, he'll probably survive"—then she heard two more shots—"He's good and dead now." [33:00]

• Community & Political Response:

  • Outrage was widespread, spanning from radical activists to liberal organizations.
  • Over 5,000 people attended Hampton's funeral, and there was a national mobilization for investigations into the murder.
  • The episode highlights how not only the right but also "liberal complicity" enabled political violence, through silence or rationalization.

• COINTELPRO Exposure:

  • Activists' burglary into an FBI office later exposed COINTELPRO's details, including the FBI's role in Hampton’s assassination.

• Enduring Legacy:

  • Hampton remains a key figure in radical Black and working-class organizing, cited often by movements like Black Lives Matter and artists from Rage Against the Machine to Gil Scott-Heron.
  • "He represents a shining light that was snuffed out too soon...a multiracial, class-based alliance." [48:16]

3. Connecting the Dots: State Violence—Home and Abroad

Speakers: Both, with dialogue
[41:31]–[64:11]

• Parallels Between Repression Abroad and at Home:

  • The US ruling class and state respond with violence to perceived threats, be they Catholic activists in El Salvador or Black radicals in Chicago.
  • The same logic and casual indifference underpin state violence "whether it be in My Lai or El Mozote or wherever; drone striking a wedding party in Pakistan."

• Liberal Complicity and Historical Amnesia:

  • Liberals and establishment figures often rationalize or fail to confront state violence—either blaming the victims or avoiding meaningful critique.
    • Quote (Scott Parkin):

      "The liberal complicity in state violence is there...whether they're allowing it to happen and they don't say anything, or they say you shouldn't have been there in the first place..." [51:09]

• Absence of International Solidarity Today:

  • The hosts lament the decline of international solidarity and anti-imperialism within left movements, warning that transnational state repression requires transnational resistance.
    • "The ruling class is organized transnationally...people need those same kinds of transnational alliances." [54:56]

• Revolutionary Morality and Violence:

  • Discussion on "revolutionary morality"—how liberals and the mainstream often conflate state and revolutionary violence, creating false equivalence.
    • "Civil wars don't kill people. Militias and paramilitaries kill people." [18:39]
  • Recognition that not all violence or defense by revolutionary groups is equivalent to the violence of the state or right-wing repression.
    • Quote (Buzzanco):

      "I think there is this kind of concept of revolutionary morality that we have to contemplate as well, because...the circumstances, the conditions aren't changing really at all." [64:06]

Notable Quotes & Moments with Timestamps

• On True War Stories ([02:08], Buzzanco reads Tim O'Brien):

  “A true war story is never moral ... If a story seems moral, do not believe it... It’s absolute and uncompromising allegiance to obscenity and evil.”

• Archbishop Romero’s Plea ([08:44], Buzzanco quoting Romero):

  "I implore you. I beg you. I order you. Stop the repression."

• Jeane Kirkpatrick Blaming the Victims ([13:35], paraphrased):

  "The nuns were not just nuns. They were political activists... people who live by the sword die by the sword."

• Fred Hampton’s Vision ([23:17], Parkin quoting Hampton):

  "We're going to fight racism not with racism, but we’re going to fight with solidarity... We say, you are not going to fight capitalism with black capitalism. We're going to fight it with socialism..."

• On COINTELPRO & the Panthers ([27:24], Parkin):

  "J. Edgar Hoover, who was the head of the FBI for 50 years, described the Black Panther Party as the greatest internal threat to the security of the nation."

• On Multiracial Alliance and Threat ([30:52], Parkin):

  "...that could actually lead to...autonomous zones...where we don’t need police... That was very alarming. That sets a very concerning precedent for people in power."

• On the Ease of Violence ([43:28], Buzzanco):

  "...there’s just this casual approach to getting rid of people you consider problematic."

Important Timestamps for Segments

• [00:58]–[02:08] — Episode introduction and framing the dual anniversaries
• [02:08]–[21:40] — El Salvador: Context and US involvement, testimony, and cover-up
• [21:56]–[41:31] — Fred Hampton: Background, COINTELPRO, assassination, aftermath and legacy
• [41:31]–[51:09] — Linking repression at home and abroad; the casualness, liberal complicity
• [51:09]–[57:18] — Reflections on liberal complicity, historic responses, the left’s challenges
• [57:18]–[59:43] — Lessons for movements, labor's divided role, broader context in Latin America
• [60:07]–[64:11] — Final reflections: revolutionary morality, the persistence of violent state responses to dissent

Overall Tone & Takeaways

The episode’s tone is somber, unflinching, and direct, in keeping with its subject matter. Both hosts stress the need for activists and the public to recognize the ongoing, systematic nature of state repression—at home and abroad—and the necessity of building not only domestic but also international solidarity. They sharply criticize both right-wing and liberal establishment roles in perpetuating or enabling this repression and challenge their audience to maintain clarity about revolutionary morality and the realities of state violence.

This summary provides a comprehensive recounting of the episode’s arguments, evidence, and tone for those who have not listened to the entire discussion.