El Salvador: Declassified documents opens the lid on Jesuits' murders

[Judi Lynn]

Saturday, November 28, 2009
El Salvador: Declassified documents opens the lid on Jesuits' murders
By Edgardo Ayala - IPS

SAN SALVADOR, Nov 27 (IPS) - Thousands of pages of declassified U.S. documents shedding light on the 1989 murders of six prominent Jesuit clerics, their housekeeper and her 16-year-old daughter in El Salvador could give a new twist to the case that opened in the Spanish courts in January.

The documents, which were presented to Spain's National Court by attorneys representing the victims' families, provide new clues that could lead to an increase in the number of people accused of the murders, Spanish lawyer Almudena Bernabeu, who is representing the organisations that brought the case, told IPS in a telephone interview from Madrid.

The declassified documents from the late 1980s and early 1990s indicate the CIA (U.S. Central Intelligence Agency) and U.S. State Department had foreknowledge of the Salvadoran military leadership's plan to kill the then-rector of the José Simeón Cañas Central American University (UCA) in San Salvador, along with four other Spanish priests and a Salvadoran priest on Nov. 16, 1989.

The documents, which include cables to Washington from U.S. embassy, military and CIA officials, "provide important, compelling elements," said Bernabeu, without entering into detail, because the case is in the hands of the justice system.

More:
http://ionglobaltrends.blogspot.com/2009/11/el-salvador-declassified-documents.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FzqKG+%28i+On+Global+Trends%29

[subsuelo]

1. Not a popular story for the mainstream media

http://news.google.com/news/search?aq=f&um=1&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&q=El+Salvador+declassified">Google News search for El Salvador declassified

Unless someone knows a better way to search Google News, I'm only showing this IPS story, LA Times and LAHT covering it.

[L. Coyote]

4. Results 1 – 10 of about 57 for jesuits murder

http://news.google.com/news/search?aq=f&um=1&cf=all&ned=us&hl=en&q=jesuits+murder

El Salvador honors 6 slain = all 116 news articles »
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Inter Press Service
Bay Area Indymedia
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Massacre of Jesuits in El Salvador “Premeditated”
Latin American Herald Tribune - http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=347996&CategoryId=23558


MADRID – Declassified CIA documents show that the 1989 massacre of six Jesuit priests in El Salvador followed three days of planning by senior Salvadoran military officers, an expert witness said on Tuesday before Spain’s National Court, which is hearing a case brought on behalf of the slain clerics.

The documents were introduced by Terry Karl, professor of Latin American studies at California’s Stanford University, who said the probe of the Jesuits’ murder must be pursued “to shatter the impunity that still exists in El Salvador.”

National Court Judge Ignacio Velasco agreed in January to accept a case brought by the Spanish human rights group APDHE and the U.S.-based Center for Justice and Accountability against 14 Salvadoran military officers.

The prosecution in Spain is based on the principle of “universal jurisdiction,” ...............

[subsuelo]

5. yes, but how many talk about the declassified documents?

just taking a rough sampling:

http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN16440263
No mention of declassified documents

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2009/11/16/ap/latinamerica/main5674031.shtml
No mention of declassified documents

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/new.php?n=17728
No mention of declassified documents

http://www.progressive.org/mpertil111609.html
No mention of declassified documents


Nothing on BBC's 'Americas' home page
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/default.stm

Big story there of course is the "gatecrashers" at Obama's dinner party. I guess that's supposed to be more compelling than U.S. foreknowledge of plans to kill these priests.


Plenty of stuff about Tiger Woods and Black Friday shopping sales on the news sites though. CNN's 'Americas' section of course, the big headline is evil Chavez teaming up with Ahmadinejad.

[L. Coyote]

2. VIDEO: On 20th Anniversary of Killings of 6 Jesuit Priests by US-Backed Salvadoran Forces

The historic details in this video are very important basics on US-backed counter-democracy militarism in Central America.

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On 20th Anniversary of Killings of 6 Jesuit Priests by US-Backed Salvadoran Forces, Thousands to Protest “School of the Assassins” at Ft. Benning
http://i3.democracynow.org/2009/11/20/blase


Thousands are gathering at Fort Benning in Georgia this weekend for the annual protest to shut down the US Army training center dubbed by critics as the “School of the Assassins” for having trained some of the worst human rights violators in Latin America. This year’s protest will mark the twentieth anniversary of the murder of six Jesuit priests in El Salvador by the US-backed Salvadoran military. It comes days after the priests were posthumously bestowed El Salvador’s highest civilian award, marking the first time the Salvadoran government has honored the priests since their deaths. To talk about the priests and the overall state of Latin American affairs, we’re joined by Blase Bonpane, director of the Office of the Americas. A former Maryknoll priest, he has worked for more than four decades to promote human rights in Latin America.

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[L. Coyote]

3. VIDEO: Six Jesuit Murders - 20th Anniversary Lecture

Six Jesuit Murders - 20th Anniversary Lecture
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x407702