Death Squad

Death Squad" mercenary stops for lunch in El Salvador. "I bought him a beer and took three shots before he went ballistic', 1980.

This photo was taken by Derek Hudson, a well-known British photographer. Here's what he said about the incident and photo

:

"I came across this guy during the civil war in El Salvador in the 1980s. He was one of a gang of mercenaries known as the Death Squad. We were in a rural backwater called Suchitoto, which at the time could best be described as a one-donkey town, and he was sitting in the local cafe having eaten his lunch, his revolver casually placed in front of him.

I bought him a beer and, as he raised the bottle, managed to get three shots in before he went ballistic. He was swearing and called his friends with rifles over and pushed me about. I don't know what would have happened if they'd realized I'd shot off some frames already. I realized I'd taken a big risk, but I didn't think about it at the time. I quickly ordered more beers, hoping to calm them down, and then just left.

I was working freelance. If you were a news photographer in New York in the 1980s, conflicts in Central America were part of the beat. I ended up going to El Salvador for weeks on end. The situation was perpetually confused - nobody really knew who was killing who.

It was tense and dangerous, but there was a certain respect for the media. You felt protected in a vehicle marked "TV" or "Press," unlike nowadays in places like Syria. Of course, we did get shot at, but rarely on purpose."