All in the Detail

One more week of research left for me and thankfully, I am on track. Only a couple phrases had to be adjusted in the biographies: the description of UCAII and Fe y Alegria. To clarify these two areas I delved into some Catholic history. UCAII was the result of internal disputes at the Universidad Centroamericana over a publication between the Jesuits (not just the six that were killed, but the entire Jesuit community at the university). Ellacuria was in favor of publishing the work so he lead a walk-out, splitting the university into two houses: UCAI and UCAII. The six Jesuits that were killed all belonged to UCAII as all were strong advocates for liberating the poor of El Salvador. Fe y Alegria I learned is an education organization that did not start in El Salvador. It began in the 1950s and Lopez y Lopez helped to expand the center to San Salvador. The organization is still thriving today and you can check it out here: Faith and Joy
There is much more information on these two areas in the biographies, I just thought it would be interesting to share how these two phrases turned me to learning even more about the Jesuits and Central America.

The remaining days I have will be left to creating a timeline of events leading up to the massacre as well as the actual massacre itself. Most information I have found thus far begins on November 11, 1989 when the fighting guerrilla forces (FMLN) set off simultaneous attacks in the capital of San Salvador. The Salvadoran army was caught off guard and responded poorly to the well supplied combatants. There are many events that occur in the next five days such as the censoring of all information to the public, a search at the Loyola Center, occupation of troops in the neighborhood where the UCA is located, and the chain of command that created the plan to eliminate the "threats" that they perceived as Ellacuria and his fellow Jesuits. I found a flow chart on page 279 in Martha Doggett's work Death Foretold (purchase it here on Amazon: Death Foretold) of the Atlacatl Commando Unit and those responsible for the attack and murders. Their positions and nicknames are included in the chart as well. Hopefully by having a timeline of events that lead up to the assassinations on November 16, 1989 will give readers a better understanding of the dangerous situation and environment that consumed El Salvador for over ten years.