I also visited a museum on campus, known as Centro Romero. Centro Romero is dedicated to the Archbishop Romero, who has become a symbol for the atrocities Salvadorans faced during the civil war, and to the Jesuit priests and 2 women that were killed on campus. Archbishop Romero was assassinated as he was giving mass. He was very outspoken in support for the poor of El Salvador and spoke freely against the heinous crimes the government was committing. University students, faculty, and members of the Catholic church were suspected of being guerillas and/or guerilla supporters. In 1989, the military surrounded the UCA campus. As the story goes, the Jesuit priests on campus were accused of hiding guerillas on campus and the military entered the campus in hopes of finding them. As it turns out, the military did not find any members of the guerillas, yet massacred 8 Jesuit priests and a woman and her daughter that happened to be spending the night. The Center has pictures of bodies and as disturbing as they were I found myself looking at them because the thought of how the Salvadoran government killed innocent people is repulsing and I had to see for myself what types of atrocities took place. The Center is very moving and serves as a reminder of the history El Salvador has faced and the issues it still faces. Although the war ended in 1992 with the Peace Accords, there are still a number of issues the majority of people face. Mass poverty, low levels of education, limited economic resources, and feminicide are just some of these issues. A visit to this Center is a must for those visiting El Salvador.
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