EL SALVADOR

EL SALVADOR
San Romero de
América
Beyond Polarization
A PHOTOESSAY BY LORNE MATALON
SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOr—MARÍA ISABEL DELARIO IS
crying. Her body is bent, her face buried in her arms,
her hands rest on the metal cast depicting the face of
a murdered archbishop, a man nominated for sainthood
by Pope Francis.
Delario is at the tomb of Archbishop Óscar
Arnulfo Romero y Galdámez in the basement of the
Catedral Metropolitana de San Salvador. Some
people around her wear shirts emblazoned with the
words, “San Romero de América.” “For me he’s still
alive” she says. Another worshiper, Carlos Martínez,
adds, “Romero’s message was that the Church must
work to end inequality. And that was a message that
people in power did not want hear.”
Reverence for Romero is evident when you land
in San Salvador. A massive sign facing the tarmac
announces that you’re arriving at an airport named
for Romero. As you enter the country, his image is
stamped into your passport. This story is about how
Romero’s image continues to be manipulated 36
years after his murder.
How it happened that a man murdered by a government-linked
death squad and derided for years
by the rich and powerful in El Salvador is now so
honored is a key to understanding the country today.
In 2015, Romero was beatified by Pope Francis, an
Argentine and the first Latin American pontiff, a
man who understands Romero’s legacy to millions
of people across the Americas.
But his nomination for sainthood has not been
met with universal acclaim here.
Retired General Mauricio Ernesto Vargas commanded
the Third Infantry Brigade and Military
Detachment 4. Both units were accused of human
rights abuses during the civil war 1980-1992. Vargas
denies the allegations. He was listed in a U.S. Congressional
document titled, “Barriers to Reform: A
Profile of El Salvador’s Military Leaders.” The son
of a founder of the country’s Christian Democratic
Party, Vargas went on to become one of the signers of
the Peace Accords in 1992. He represented the Salvadoran
army in negotiations with Frente Farabundo
Martí para la Liberación Nacional (Farabundo Martí
National Liberation Front/FMLN), the coalition of
70 ReVista SPRING 2016