U.S. bans 13 El Salvadoran officials over 1989 priest killings

JAN. 29, 2020 / 9:58 PM
By Darryl Coote

Jan. 29 (UPI) -- The State Department on Wednesday sanctioned 13 current and former El Salvadoran military officials for their roles in the high-profile extrajudicial killings of eight people, including six Jesuit priests, over 30 years ago during the South American country's civil war.

The six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter were killed on Nov. 16, 1989, by uniformed gunmen at Central American University in the capital of San Salvador during the height of a major leftist rebel offensive during the civil war.

During the 12-year Salvadoran Civil War, the United States backed the rightist government with military and financial aid in their fight against leftist rebels but the deaths of the priests who supported a political solution to the conflict attracted widespread condemnation and attention, souring U.S. support and prompting it to cut military aid to the government.

The extrajudicial killings were widely seen as intended to silence human rights activities and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reiterated this sentiment in a statement Wednesday, stating the 13 former and current military individuals, ranging in rank from general to private, were being censored "due to their involvement in violations of human rights ... related to the planning and execution" of the eight people.

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https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2020/01/29/US-bans-13-El-Salvadoran-officials-over-1989-priest-killings/8231580351505/?sl=1&ur3=1


















Roses planted in the yard where the priests, their housekeeper, and her daughter were murdered.