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Antiguo Cuscatlán, San Salvador, El Salvador — Central America (West Coast)
 

Massacre at the Central American University (UCA)

Masacre de la Universidad Americana (UCA)

 
 
Massacre at the Universidad Americana (UCA) Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed by J. Makali Bruton, June 3, 2015
1. Massacre at the Universidad Americana (UCA) Marker
Inscription.


∙ Ignacio Ellacuria
∙ Amando Lopez
∙ Joaquin Lopez
∙ Ignacio Martin-Baro
∙ Segundo Montes
∙ Juan Ramon Moreno

16 de noviembre de 1989

 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Education. A significant historical year for this entry is 1989.
 
Location. 13° 40.725′ N, 89° 14.142′ W. Marker is in Antiguo Cuscatlán, San Salvador. It is on Calle del Cantábrico. On the Universidad Centroamericana campus, at the building that is now the "Centro Monseñor Romero.". Touch for map. Touch for directions.

Regionally, it is in North America, specifically in Central America, in Mesoamerica, on the Ring of Fire, in the Pacific Rim, and in the Western Hemisphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain and also a Spanish colony.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: The Francisco Javier Ibisate Building (about 90 meters away, measured in a direct line); Dr. Ignacio Martín-Baró (about 120 meters away); Elba and Celina Ramos Auditorium (about 120 meters away); Students Peace Plaza (about 150 meters away); Francisco Andrés Escobar Building (about 150 meters away); Florentino Idoate (about 150 meters away); Construction of the North-South Highway and the Central American University (about 150 meters away); Mural of the Martyrs of the UCA (about 180 meters away).
 
Also see . . .  Massacre of Jesuits in El Salvador: 20 Years Later. In the early hours of November 16, 1989,
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one week after the fall of the Berlin Wall signaled the beginning of the end of the Cold War in Europe, six Jesuit professors, their housekeeper, and her teenage daughter were roused from sleep by US-trained Salvadoran special forces, led outside, and shot to death on the lawn of the Central American University José Simeón Cañas (UCA) in San Salvador.... In the months before their deaths, during some of the bloodiest conflict of a protracted civil war, the Jesuits and their colleagues at the UCA had advocated dialogue between the government and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), a coalition of guerrilla groups, in an effort to bring about what the Jesuit theologian Jon Sobrino, also an UCA professor, called “a more human and more Christian negotiated solution to the conflict.”...
(Submitted on June 8, 2015.) 
 
Wide view of Massacre at the Universidad Americana (UCA) Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed by J. Makali Bruton, June 3, 2015
2. Wide view of Massacre at the Universidad Americana (UCA) Marker
This rose garden was planted next to the marker in the area where the Jesuit priests were murdered.
Additional marker near the room where Elba and Celina Ramos were killed. image. Click for full size.
Photographed by J. Makali Bruton, June 3, 2015
3. Additional marker near the room where Elba and Celina Ramos were killed.
Massacre at the Universidad Americana (UCA) image. Click for full size.
Photographed by J. Makali Bruton, June 3, 2015
4. Massacre at the Universidad Americana (UCA)
A small museum dedicated to the Jesuits and other murdered Catholic religious contains the clothing that they wore that night.
The building where the massacre happened, now "Centro Monseñor Romero." image. Click for full size.
Photographed by J. Makali Bruton, June 3, 2015
5. The building where the massacre happened, now "Centro Monseñor Romero."
Chapel at the Universidad Americana (UCA) image. Click for full size.
Photographed by J. Makali Bruton, June 3, 2015
6. Chapel at the Universidad Americana (UCA)
This small chapel is next door to the "Centro Monseñor Romero" and contains the burial niches of the Jesuits.
Interior of the Chapel at the Universidad Americana (UCA) image. Click for full size.
Photographed by J. Makali Bruton, June 3, 2015
7. Interior of the Chapel at the Universidad Americana (UCA)
The Jesuit burial niches are to the far left.
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on April 2, 2023. It was originally submitted on June 4, 2015, by J. Makali Bruton of Washington, District of Columbia. This page has been viewed 817 times since then and 24 times this year. Photos:   1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7. submitted on June 4, 2015, by J. Makali Bruton of Washington, District of Columbia. • Andrew Ruppenstein was the editor who published this page.
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Jun. 16, 2026