A junior officer's coup established a "moderately leftist government [that] lasted for only a few weeks before other officers, responding to pressures from the oligarchy and the United States, staged a countercoup," a foretaste of what was to come 20 years later. The US Embassy urged support for the military regime, stating that the internal security forces are behind the present government, are strongly anti- Communist, and constitute major force for stability and orderly political and economic development." Their rule was necessitated by "subversive anti-government activities" such as "underground propaganda," the Embassy explained, offering an insight into the concept of "subversion" as understood by the Kennedy liberals. Dr. Fabio Castillo, a former president of the National University, testified before Congress that the US had openly participated in the countercoup and had opposed the holding of free elections.29 The conservative junta was quickly recognized by President Kennedy, whose preference for civil-military regimes was noted earlier (chapter 2, end of section 2), after they had "pledged to take tough actions against the students [who had protested against the outlawing of political parties, the main proof offered of a Communist plot], cut relations with Castro, and warmly welcomed foreign investment." The trends of earlier years continued: production, including food production, increased, largely for export, along with starvation and general misery. These trends were enhanced by the Alliance for Progress programs of Kennedy and Johnson. By 1969, 300,000 Salvadorans (one in eight citizens) had fled to Honduras to find food and work. Military aid rapidly increased along with US training and coordination of the military and other security forces of the region.