DOCSLIB.ORG

CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS Butchered)

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS Butchered) 674 5, 1987 CHRISTOPHER HITCHENS butchered). In the final stages of the syndrome the pa- he following exchangetook place at President tient starts to make excuses for the U.S. Administration Napole6n Duarte’s press conference here on Oc- that even the Administration is too shy to offer. tober 29, three days after the murder of Herbert Before the flag-kissing photo opportunity Duarte had ac- TErnesto Anaya, who headed the unofficial Salva- cused the Sandinista government of being responsible for doran Human Rights Commission: the civil war in El Salvador, a claim that no Washington hawk has had the face to make. He has stated publicly that wlll he was quite unaware of the use of Ilopango Air Force Base to of for the illegal supply of forces. Ilopango is about of of In twenty minutes by car from the center of San Salvador and is the headquarters of the Salvadoran Air Force. If Duarte 1s did not know that it was being used to attack Nicaragua, 1 to then he has effectively ceded power to an arrogant foreign to m~nlmum of You patron. he did know, while affirming the contrary and of while arguing that the flow of arms was in the other direc- of tion, then he has effectively ceded power to an arrogant U.S. not if foreign patron. In true Sadat style, Duarte has also “written” a book, of titled My This volume was co-authored by Diana Page and published onlyin English. It is dedicated to, One could make a number of observations about this among others, the Boy Scout movement (a large statue to reply. First, of course, we do know who killed Abraham Baden-Powell is one of the unexpected delights of the capi- Lincoln. And though many in the United States do go miss- tal’s bourgeois district) and is not available in El Salvador. ing every year, it is rare to find that they have been kid- When Sadat produced a similar book in the aftermath of his napped and murdered by the Highway Patrol or by an aux- Nobel Prize, he was careful to excise most of the shady po- iliary police force attached to the I.R.S. Then ;ne has to litical past he had described in an earlier volume. Duarte, notice the uncharacteristic modesty of the third sentence. who is jealous of President Oscar Arias’s Nobel Prize and Duarte has been President for only threeand a half years,but who claims credit for the Arias “peace process,” chiefly im- before that he was the leading civilian member of the ruling putes shadiness to others. He contrives to imply that many junta. His time inoffice coincided withthe death of no fewer of the death squad killings have been the work of the guer- than 30,000 of his fellow citizens. All these crimes, exceptfor rillas, who seek to magnify the contradictions. Experience the murder of Archbishop Romero, havenow been amnestied. and investigation have shown that there is no need to simu- If Duarte were anywhere near as popular in El Salvador late rightist atrocities in El Salvador. I had the opportunity as he is in the United States, he would be a very successful to ask Maria Julia Hernhndez, the tireless head of the hu- politician indeed. What is striking about him is the extent to man rights office Tutela Legal at the archbishopric, if she which he believes in his own image:an image reflected inthe thought that the left had indeed been shooting the civilian coversof rather than in the hearts and minds of opposition as a provocation. Her pretended merriment did Salvadorans. On his latest visit to Washington, in October, not mask contempt for the suggestion. he embarrassed even his fulsome hosts by stooping and kiss- On November 15, the last Sunday of my stay, Archbishop ing the American flag. There 1s hardly a wall in downtown Arturo Rivera y Damas preached a homily in whichhe San Salvador that does not bear an ironic tribute, in poster warned that the death squads were backin business. He or graffito form, to this ab~ectgesture. gave details ofseveral cases, including the murder of a Duarte is suffering from an advanced case of the Sadat church worker. Common to all the slaylngs, according to syndrome, an affliction for which there is no known cure. Tutela Legal, 1s the involvement of army and police person- Typically, the victimbegins to count political success in nel. President Duarte 1s forced to describe complaints of this termsof the number of foreign celebritiesvisited or type as “irrelevant.” He has taken the side of the armed ceived. Cravings for U.S. military aid are experienced and forces, and the armed forces have a short way with politi- become tragically harder to assuage even when thedosage is clans who are halfhearted about them. When U.S. Ambas- increased to life-threatening levels. One dinner at the White sador Edwin Corr, speaking from his bunker in the center of House isimagined to equal fifty meetingswith domestic the city, said that he saw his job in El Salvador as “making political groups, A dinner at the White House withwife sure the cattle get to Cheyenne,’’ he had hit on more than a equals a hundred such humdrum encounters. The sufferer phrase with which to offend all Salvadorans. He was trying begins to fetishlze editorials In U.S. newspapers while ignor- to say that there would be no military coup on his watch. In Ing the humbler indigenous prints (an admittedly easy task a way, there hasn’t been one. The armed forces have an- in San Salvador, where and del nexed the Christian Democrats without the trouble or awk- have beenbombed and closed, and the latter’s editor wardness of a seizure of the Presidential Palace. .
Load more

Recommended publications
  • A Prophet for All Ages
    STJHUMRev Vol. 4-2 1 A Prophet for All Ages Charles Plock, C. M Charles Plock, C. M. is currently a chaplain at St. John’s University. For the past two years he has been translating the homilies of Archbishop Romero for the Archdiocese of San Salvador that is advocating the cause for the canonization of Romero. He worked in the Republic of Panama for ten years and at St. John the Baptist Parish in Brooklyn before beginning ministry at the university. Introduction During the past two years I have had the privilege of translating the Sunday homilies of Archbishop Oscar A. Romero, a charismatic figure in the history of the Church of Latin America, as well as the universal Church. As James R. Brockman stated in his book, Romero: This was a man who lived his life amid the poverty and injustice of Latin America. He became a priest before Vatican II and a bishop after Medellin. As archbishop of San Salvador, he became the leader of the Church in his native land. But as archbishop he also became a man of the poor, their advocate when they had no other voice to demand justice for them. He suffered and gave his life on their behalf.1 From a historical perspective, Romero was the Archbishop of San Salvador during a time when most of Latin America was guided by the United States’ Doctrine of National Security. As a result of this policy most of the nations in Latin America were ruled by military dictatorships that were backed by the United States government.
    [Show full text]
  • “Your Love and Your Grace. It Is All I Need.” Joan L. Roccasalvo, C.S.J. Week of November 16, 2017
    “Your love and your grace. It is all I need.” Joan L. Roccasalvo, C.S.J. Week of November 16, 2017 How many times had they prayed in solitude and in public, “Give me your love and your grace. It is all I need?” A thousand times? In the end, they had no time to utter lengthy prayers, perhaps not even this final verse of St. Ignatius’ self-offering. Leisurely, they had prayed it for years. Now they were suddenly called on to live it in death. In the stealth of night, in those early hours of November 16th, 1989, six Jesuits were prodded from a deep sleep and dragged out of their beds to the grounds of their University of Central America. That moment had come when the prayer of self-giving would ask of them a final Yes. They were not entirely caught by surprise. Their residence had been visited a few days before. It was a warning as though to say: ‘Teach, but stay out of our business.’ Of all people, a young student of the Jesuit high school was enlisted to execute in cold blood six Jesuits, their cook and her daughter: Ignacio Ellacuría, the University Rector, an internationally known philosopher and tireless in his efforts to promote peace through his writings, conferences and travels abroad; . They also split open his head and spread his brains on the grass to make it clear why he had been killed. They certainly understood the symbolism of the head, the seat of the intellect. Segundo Montes. Head of the University of Central America sociology department, director of the new human rights institute, superior of the Jesuit community.
    [Show full text]
  • Un Testimonio Monseñor Oscar Arnulfo Romero Galdamez English
    1 To Saint Romero of America To Márgara To my children To my grandchildren To my family, kin and friends alike Ever since the overwhelming news of Monsignor Romero‟s death – and having given thought to the incredible gift that the Lord bestowed upon me to be near a saint – I have not been able to calm my conscience for not writing about the moments I had the privilege to share with him. My wife, Márgara, and my children, Aída Verónica, Jorge José, Rebeca and Florence, were witnesses to many of these moments when Monsignor came to our home. When I remember Monsignor Romero, I have come to understand what it is like to live in sanctity, to practice humility and commitment, to convert to God every day and to do whatever He asked during the times when it was not clear what road the country should take. Monsignor Romero never aspired to become a prophet and mediator, as he indeed became; instead, his objective was to serve the Church and feel for its mission as the archbishop that he was. I have given testimony of my experience with Monsignor Romero in North Carolina, at the Riverside Church in New York City, at the Woodrow Wilson Center in Washington, at La Trobe University in Australia and in New Zealand. But I did not keep records of these testimonies, given that I find it difficult to express myself in writing. Thanks to interviews by Héctor Lindo (2002) and Ricardo José Valencia (2005), of El Faro (2005), as well as the editing that Ana María Nafría undertook of these interviews and other conversations that expanded on some of the points, it is now possible to present my homage to the memory of Monsignor Óscar Arnulfo Romero.
    [Show full text]
  • ¡A Todos Ellos Gracias!
    BOLETÍN N° 17 • AÑO • 26 JULIO 2020 De izq. a der.: los obispos Jorge de Viteri y Ungo, Tomás Miguel Pineda y Saldaña, y José Luis Cárcamo y Rodríguez. Le siguen los Arzobispos Antonio Adolfo Pérez y Aguilar, José Alfonso Belloso y Sánchez, Mons. Luis Chávez y González, San Oscar Arnulfo Romero Galdámez, junto a Mons. Arturo Rivera y Damas, S.D.B. Por úlitmo Mons. Fernando Sáenz Lacalle y Mons. José Luis Escobar Alas ¡A todos ellos gracias! En este próximo contexto, de las fiestas en honor al Divino Salvador del Mundo, patrono del país, traemos a cuenta esa constelación de obispos que han testimoniado, hasta el día de hoy el su amor al Pueblo de Dios, su fidelidad a la Iglesia Católica, y su fe en Cristo Jesús, Nuestro Salvador. La erección de la Provincia eclesiástica de El Salvador religiosa que ocasionó un doloroso enfrentamiento de la (...) acaeció el 11 de febrero de 1913 e implica dos cambios Iglesia católica con el Estado salvadoreño. Cosa sabida es importantes en la estructura del servicio que la Iglesia Católica de todos que la Asamblea Constituyente de ese tiempo presta a los salvadoreños. Primero, fueron erigidas dos nuevas nombró al presbítero y doctor José Matías Delgado, diócesis: una en el occidente del país, Santa Ana; y otra en el primer obispo de San Salvador; designación que la Santa oriente, San Miguel, con sus respectivos obispos. En segundo Sede Apostólica desconoció, y no solo, sino que condenó lugar, la diócesis más antigua, San Salvador, fue ascendida al como un abuso de poder.
    [Show full text]
  • Marzo/ Abril 2018
    Monseñor Oscar Romero Pastor y Martir de la Iglesia Un periódico de la Arquidiócesis de Newark, NJ Marzo-Abril 2018 Marzo-Abril 2018 2 La Vida de la Iglesia Marzo, Mes significativo para los Hispanos en la Iglesia de Newark ste mes de marzo ha sido largo y ancho de los Estados Unidos Cardenal del informe preparado sobre para nosotros los hispanos involucrando a parroquias, diócesis y los documentos redactados en los de Newark un mes de gran regiones episcopales. A pesar del mal encuentros parroquiales y que fueran regocijo y orgullo de ser tiempo que azotaba esa noche, nuestro discutidos en el encuentro diocesano católicos miembros de nuestra pueblo respondió llenando la Catedral que tuvo lugar en el Centro Juvenil de EArquidiócesis de Newark, representados y participando activamente en la Santa Kearny. Nuestro Cardenal bendijo a los por la Oficina del Ministerio Hispano y Misa presidida por nuestro Arzobispo y delegados, deseándoles el mayor éxito en bajo el liderazgo de nuestro Arzobispo, con la presencia de numerosos sacerdotes su futura labor hasta la culminación del Cardenal Joseph (José) Tobin. que atienden las comunidades hispanas. V encuentro Nacional y agradeciéndole El viernes 2 de marzo tuvimos la La nutrida asistencia fue una respuesta su participación y amor a la iglesia a oportunidad de participar en una Misa de apoyo a la posibilidad que nos está la vez que recalcaba la importancia del especial para los hispanos en nuestra brindando nuestra iglesia para elevar V Encuentro que ayudará a actualizar Catedral del Sagrado Corazón, para nuestra voz y dar a conocer a nuestros los métodos y estrategias pastorales de celebrar nuestra participación en las obispos y a toda la comunidad sobre acuerdo al momento que vivimos.
    [Show full text]
  • María JULIA HERNÁNDEZ En Eltiempo
    María JULIA HERNÁNDEZ en elTiempo Claudia Hérodier Editora Ing. Hugo Martínez Ministro de Relaciones Exteriores Director Nacional Comisión Bicentenario de El Salvador Coordinación General Ana Magdalena Granadino Directora General de Cultura Logística Mirna Fuente de Aguirre Dirección General de Cultura Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores Coordinación Editorial Claudia Hérodier Agradecimientos especiales: Gloria Hernández Chavarría Mons. Gregorio Rosa Chávez Mons. Ricardo Urioste Padre José María Tojeira S.J. Paula Figueroa David Morales Nidia Díaz María Elena Galván de Girón María Ester Alvarenga Ovidio Mauricio González Claudia Hérodier Quienes con sus testimonios han hecho realidad este homenaje en honor de la Dra. María Julia Hernández. Diseño y diagramación Ana Magdalena Granadino Renzo E Dante Oznner Rodas&Rivas Diseño Gráfico y Publicidad Impresión Talleres Gráficos UCA Colección 1810-2010 Mujeres y Hombres Protagonistas de Nuestra Historia Dirección General de Cultura Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores El Salvador Primera edición Esta edición consta de 3,000 ejemplares Impresos en San Salvador, 2011. Derechos Reservados. Prohibida su reproducción total o parcial. Hecho el depósito que marca la ley. MaríaJulia HernÁNDEZ en elTiempo Contenido UNA HERMANA EN LA MEMORIA Gloria Hernández Chavarría 11 TESTIMONIO SOBRE MARÍA JULIA HERNÁNDEZ María Elena Galván de Girón 17 POR SU CATEGORÍA HUMANA, EXTRAORDINARIA MUJER Monseñor Ricardo Urioste 21 ¿CÓMO HACER IGLESIA DESDE UN LAICADO? Paula Figueroa 25 MARÍA JULIA HERNÁNDEZ UNA GRAN MUJER Monseñor Gregorio Rosa Chávez 29 ¡GRACIAS, MARÍA JULIA! María Ester Alvarenga 33 MARÍA JULIA HERNÁNDEZ FERVIENTE DEFENSORA DE LOS DERECHOS HUMANOS Nidia Díaz 39 MIS RECUERDOS SOBRE MARÍA JULIA HERNÁNDEZ David Morales 45 MARÍA JULIA HERNÁNDEZ: PLENAMENTE MUJER Padre José María Tojeira S.J.
    [Show full text]
  • The Church and Popular Political Organizations
    1 The Church and Popular Political Organizations Third Pastoral Letter of Archbishop Romero, Co-authored by Bishop Arturo Rivera y Damas, Bishop of Santiago de María, Feast of the Transfiguration, August 6, 1978 To our beloved brothers and sisters, the auxiliary bishop of San Salvador, the priests, religious, and laity of the archdiocese of San Salvador and the diocese of Santiago de María; to you and to all men and women of good will: the peace of Jesus Christ, our divine Savior. IN THE LIGHT OF THE TRANSFIGURATION, AND OF THE MEMORY OF PAUL VI We, the archbishop of San Salvador and the bishop of Santiago de Maria, had already been thinking of sending this pastoral letter to our dioceses to mark our return from our ad limina visit to Rome and as an act of homage to our divine Savior on our patronal feast of the transfiguration. Never did we imagine, however, that the sudden death of his Holiness Paul VI, now of happy memory, would give both these events a new significance. Who could have imagined the eloquent coincidence of Paul VI's death and our own titular feast of the transfiguration! The final message of his lucid teaching --- the short address he had written to be read at the angelus of August 6 --- now becomes for us a cherished family heirloom because it was inspired by the divine Patron of El Salvador: That body transfigured before the astonished gaze of his disciples, his Holiness said, is the body of Christ our Brother, but it is also our body summoned to glory.
    [Show full text]
  • Mons. Romero and Liberation Theology, Martin Maier
    Mons. Romero and Liberation Theology, Martin Maier Mons. Romero and Liberation Theology1 Martin Maier S.J. The opportunity to discuss the question of Mons. Romero’s relationship with liberation theology arose once again with his beatification on 23 May 2015. Some try to disassociate him completely from it. Others call him a liberation theologian. I do not agree with either camp. The issue is complicated because Mons. Romero underwent a profound change in his attitude towards liberation theology. This article is an attempt to analyse the extent to which the method and central content of liberation theology is present in the homilies, pastoral letters and diary of the blessed archbishop and martyr. We will see that Mons. Romero has become a source of great inspiration for renowned proponents of liberation theology. 1. Two opposing views Roberto Morozzo della Rocca, in his book, “Oscar Romero. The Biography”,2 a somewhat pretentious title, states the case for disassociating Mons. Romero from liberation theology. The author maintains, “Liberation theologians have presented Romero’s actions as the incarnation of this ideology, even though he was not a follower of it.”3 This assertion invites criticism. Firstly, it suggests that liberation theology is an ideology. There is no mention by name of a liberation theologian, and no source is quoted. “Following” a theology is a strange turn of phrase. It would seem that the author is guided by prejudice and interest. Controversy has superseded scientific research. Jesús Delgado is another proponent of Mons. Romero’s voluntary disassociation from liberation theology. In the 2003 book, “Oscar Romero.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction
    Introduction The soil of the American continent keeps blossoming thanks to the heroic lives of men and women who made a difference in other people’s lives by the extraordinary manner in which they lived their faith. Their lives at times inspired commitment to the work of evangelization and human development, or to leading a religious life more faithful to the gospel of Jesus Christ. A saint is an ordinary person who lives his or her faith in an extraordi- nary manner. Some years ago, the apostolic exhortation of John Paul II The Church in America (Ecclesia in America) reminded the whole church about not only the universal call to holiness but also how necessary it is to write down the stories of those who live it: The Saints are the true expression and the finest fruits of America’s Christian identity. The fruits of holiness have flourished from the first days of the evangelization of America. Thus we have Saint Rose of Lima (1586–1617), “the New World’s first flower of holiness,” proclaimed principal patron- ess of America in 1670 by Pope Clement X. After her, the list of American saints has grown to its present length. The beatifications and canonizations which have raised many sons and daughters of the continent to public veneration provide heroic models of the Christian life across the range of nations and social backgrounds. The Saints and the Beatified of America accompany the men and women of today with fra- ternal concern in all their joys and sufferings, until the final xi xii | Introduction encounter with the Lord.
    [Show full text]
  • Salvadoran Rebel Offensive & Related Developments: Summary of Events & Statements, Sunday, Nov
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by University of New Mexico University of New Mexico UNM Digital Repository NotiCen Latin America Digital Beat (LADB) 11-22-1989 Salvadoran Rebel Offensive & Related Developments: Summary Of Events & Statements, Sunday, Nov. 19 Deborah Tyroler Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/noticen Recommended Citation Tyroler, Deborah. "Salvadoran Rebel Offensive & Related Developments: Summary Of Events & Statements, Sunday, Nov. 19." (1989). https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/noticen/3551 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Latin America Digital Beat (LADB) at UNM Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in NotiCen by an authorized administrator of UNM Digital Repository. For more information, please contact [email protected]. LADB Article Id: 071670 ISSN: 1089-1560 Salvadoran Rebel Offensive & Related Developments: Summary Of Events & Statements, Sunday, Nov. 19 by Deborah Tyroler Category/Department: General Published: Wednesday, November 22, 1989 [See CAU 11/15/89 and 11/17/89 for details on earlier events mentioned below.] According to AP, rebels had withdrawn from the Zacamil, Metropolis, Mejicanos and Soyapango neighborhoods of San Salvador by Sunday. In a Radio Venceremos broadcast, the FMLN claimed that rebels had shot down 12 government helicopters and fighter planes and to have put 27 military vehicles out of action. The FMLN also reported that rebels had forced government troops to take defensive positions in Usulutan department. Heavy fighting was reported on the periphery of the department capital of the same name. In the city of Zacatecoluca, the rebels said government troops had suffered 285 casualties since the offensive began.
    [Show full text]
  • The Violence of Love the Pastoral Wisdom of Archbishop Oscar Romero 1St Edition Pdf, Epub, Ebook
    THE VIOLENCE OF LOVE THE PASTORAL WISDOM OF ARCHBISHOP OSCAR ROMERO 1ST EDITION PDF, EPUB, EBOOK Oscar Romero | 9781570755354 | | | | | The Violence of Love The Pastoral Wisdom of Archbishop Oscar Romero 1st edition PDF Book Romero never shrank back in the face of suffering. The church cannot agree with the forces that put their hope only in violence. Archbishop Oscar Romero 17 ratings. To be beatified, a posthumous, usually an unexplainable medical miracle verified by the prelate members of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints after an archdiocesan and Vatican-based medical and theological investigation, and signed by the Pope must be attributed to his intercession, or alternatively he could be declared a martyr. But afterward came the resurrection. Romero is also one of the ten 20th-century martyrs depicted in statues above the Great West Door of Westminster Abbey in London. The office was in the Romero home on the plaza, and the Romero children delivered letters and telegrams in the town. The "About" page. Anna L. We plant the seeds that one day will grow. Here again we find the same key to understanding the persecution of the church: the poor. Truth and memory: the Church and human rights in El Salvador and Guatemala. Retrieved 27 December In , U. If we could see that Christ is the needy one, the torture victim, the prisoner, the murder victim, and in each human figure so shamefully thrown by our roadsides would see Christ himself cast aside, we would pick him up like a medal of gold to be kissed lovingly.
    [Show full text]
  • CHAPTER = EL SALVADOR the Low Point of the Bush Administration's
    @CHAPTER = EL SALVADOR The low point of the Bush administration's human rights policy toward El Salvador was its handling of the case of the six Jesuit priests who were murdered, according to all indications by the army, during the November 1989 offensive launched by the Salvadoran guerrilla organization, the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front ("FMLN"). Prior to the FMLN's November offensive, the Bush administration appeared to have departed from some of the policies of the Reagan administration, particularly in its seeming willingness to pressure the Salvadoran armed forces to prosecute military officers for human rights abuses. But the administration's handling of the murder of the six Jesuit priests showed a reversion to the Reagan-era role of apologist for Salvadoran army abuses, largely overshadowing the more positive aspects of U.S. policy toward El Salvador in 1989. The murder of the six priests (and their two domestic workers) at their residence in the University of Central America ("UCA") on November 16 is, in symbolic terms, the most important human rights case since the murder of Salvadoran Archbishop Oscar Romero in 1980. Like the Romero assassination, the Jesuit murders show that in El Salvador, no dissenting voice, no matter what its stature, can be safe -- that the space for peaceful political opposition is once again closed. A great deal of circumstantial evidence implicates the army in the Jesuit killings, as well as the eyewitness testimony of a domestic worker who heard shots fired and saw men in the residence in uniforms like the ones worn by soldiers. The circumstantial evidence includes the fact that the army was patrolling the area at the time, the fact that the massacre took place during the military-imposed curfew, the leisurely pace with which the executions were carried out, the military's previous hostility and denunciations of the UCA and the Jesuits, and the search of the pastoral residence by soldiers two days before the murders.
    [Show full text]