El Salvador, still raw from a civil war that ended three decades ago, united to preserve peace in its upcoming elections after a deadly attack during the campaign.
Sunday, two supporters of the opposition political party, the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), died after a bullet attack against their vehicle.
“Faced with this crime that causes the entire country to mourn without distinction of political colors, the only worthy position is the defense of peace,” the Central American University (UCA) stated in a statement.
A security agent, a driver and a private guard, all employees of the Ministry of Health, were arrested and charged with the crime.
Not long before the pandemic touched down in El Salvador, which over the years has been the Central American country hardest hit by gang violence, the nation was inching toward a precarious peace. In downtown San Salvador, the capital, tags daubed by gangs on roadside walls had been painted over with graffiti. When we visited the nearby neighborhood of Iberia, a traditional gang fiefdom, their presence was also less apparent, though certain rules still had to be obeyed. We lowered our car windows as we entered, a practice MS-13 imposes to spot outsiders. Minutes later, a young man approached us, selling packets of potato chips and asking a few pointed questions. “It must be the muchachos wanting to know who you are,” observed a local police officer.
People participate in a March 23, 2019, procession to commemorate the 39th anniversary of the murder of St. Oscar Romero in San Salvador, El Salvador. The Salvadoran saint was shot and killed March 24, 1980, as he celebrated Mass. (CNS/Reuters/Jose Cabezas)
As El Salvador President Nayib Bukele s administration faces more and more international criticism for alleged authoritarianism and for putting the country s young democracy in danger, a movement of young activists is seeking inspiration from St. Óscar Romero in denouncing injustice and opening new ways toward social change.
Generación Romero (Generation Romero, in Spanish) was created in 2015 as a network of faith communities, social movements and groups of young activists who identify with the prophetic voice of Romero, the archbishop of the capital of San Salvador, who was murdered in 1980.