The announcement of the sanction, which consists of the prohibition of entry into the US of ex-soldiers and members of their immediate family, occurs while the Assembly Reconciliation Bill is discussed.
The United States sanctioned 13 Salvadoran ex-military on Wednesday for its connection with the murder in November 1989 of six Jesuit priests -Five Spaniards and one Salvadoran- and two women during the civil war that shook El Salvador between 1980 and 1992.
In a statement, the Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, explained that the sanction, which consists of the prohibition of entry into the United States. of former soldiers and members of his immediate family, “is due to his participation in serious violations of human rights in El Salvador related to the planning and execution of extrajudicial killings” occurred on the campus of the José Simeón Cañas Centromericana University (UCA ).
The ex-military, of different ranks, were identified as Juan Rafael Bustillo, Juan Orlando Zepeda, Innocent Orlando Montano Morales, Francisco Elena Fuentes, Guillermo Alfredo Benavides Moreno, Yusshy René Mendoza Vallecillos and José Ricardo Espinoza Guerra. The group is completed by Gonzalo Guevara Cerritos, Carlos Camilo Hernández Barahona, Óscar Mariano Amaya Grimaldi, Antonio Ramiro Avalos Vargas, Ángel Pérez Vásquez and José Alberto Sierra Ascencio.
“The United States condemns all human rights violations that took place since both sides of the brutal civil war in El Salvador, including those committed by governmental and non-governmental parties, ”said Pompeo in the note.
In addition, he explained that the US Government supports accountability, reconciliation and ongoing peace efforts in El Salvador.
“We value our permanent working relationship with the Armed Forces of El Salvador, but we will continue to use all available tools and authorities, as appropriate, to address human rights violations and abuses worldwide, regardless of when they occurred or who He committed them, ”he added.
The announcement of the sanction occurs after the Legislative Assembly began the day for the deputies to listen to the victims of serious human rights violations that occurred during the armed conflict. During the first day of the forum, the president of the Assembly, Mario Ponce, said he expects the Reconciliation Law to be approved before February 28.
The dawn of November 16, 1989, in the midst of the largest insurgent offensive recorded during the Salvadoran civil war, a command of elite soldiers executed the religious, in what has been considered a crime against humanity.
The Jesuits killed were Spaniards Ignacio Ellacuría, Segundo Montes, Ignacio Martín-Baró, Amando López and Juan Ramón Moreno, and Salvadorian Joaquín López. The UCA worker Elba and her 16-year-old daughter, Celina Ramos, were also executed.
Ellacuría, then rector of the UCA, denounced the conditions of poverty in which the majority of the peasant population in the country lived.
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