Before the leaders could speak, however, two hundred officers from the state’s combined security forces surrounded the school, while two dozen men stormed the building and kidnapped them. Soon afterward, their bodies were found near Lake Ilopango, just east of the capital, showing signs of torture. CIA cables at the time cited intelligence that García and other high-ranking military officials had backed the operation. Ambassador White sent a message to Washington: “The military have explicitly rejected dialogue and heralded a policy of extermination.”
