When the FMLN launched its second final offensive on November 11th, the Army High Command appears to have had a list of several individuals who they sought to liquidate in the midst of the violence. The list included leaders of the civilian opposition who had relatively recently returned to the country to participate in the 1988 and 1989 elections as well as other religious who had been working to end the violence in the country.
Last night, Tim republished the Subversive Cross which he initially posted on November 16, 2009.
On November 16, 1989, that same fateful day in El Salvador when the Jesuits were murdered, Lutheran Bishop Medardo Gomez was also targeted by the military. For Bishop Gomez and his Lutheran church were also voices who denounced the injustice they saw in Salvadoran society. They were deemed to be subversives by the government for siding with the poor and doing such radical things as operating a refugee camp for families fleeing the armed conflict, or for teaching the poor that they were entitled to equal human rights with the rich and powerful.
You know the government's view of your church when it sets up a machine gun post directly across the street from your church, your church named Resurrection Church – the church of Easter, and the machine gun is always aimed at the front door of the church.Go over to Tim's page to read the entire post.
The other intended victims of the army in mid-November, including Bishop Gomez, took refuge in Embassies scattered throughout the capital. As a result, they survived. The Salvadoran Jesuits thought that they were safe on the campus as the army had already searched the UCA and had it surrounded.
So while it is important that we remember the work of the Jesuits and why they died, it is also important to remember that they were not the only ones who were targeted that week. The Salvadoran High Command was prepared to wipe out nearly all civilian opposition figures that they deemed a threat.
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