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Another bizarre event last week slightly bruised relations between Duarte and the U.S. A Salvadoran peasant union member told the U.S. embassy that his 14-year-old son had been murdered by a right-wing death squad. Embassy officials promptly issued a statement denouncing the killing and urging a government inquiry. President Duarte scolded the mission for not informing him first or verifying the facts. Six days later, the union member, Alirio Montes, offered such a jumbled, contradictory story that union officials concluded the killing never happened. Said Ambassador Pickering: "We were reacting to what we thought was a bona fide report."