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Paying the Price: Ignacio Ellacuría and the Murdered Jesuits of El Salvador
Ignacio Ellacuria was a key, although controversial, figure in Salvadoran public life. This book offers a history of the Church in El Salvador, an analysis of Ellacuria's philosophy and theology, an introduction to liberation theology, and an account of the critical importance of the University of Central America.
528 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1994
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April 28, 2022
4.5*
Weeks before he was murdered, Ignacio Ellacuría was asked by a Spanish newspaper whether he was afraid of the threats he so often received. Ellacuría answered, “Never. I’m not afraid. Fear is not a feeling which normally overcomes me. It would be too irrational to kill me. I’ve done nothing wrong.”
This answer is, as I’ve learned, typical Ellacuría. The apparent arrogance hiding something much deeper and truthful. The danger of being misunderstood. The belief in Reason.
I came to this book because I still think about November by Jorge Galán on a regular basis. Through it, I developed an interest in Liberation Theology and Central American politics. When you put these two together, Ignacio Ellacuría is inescapable. Born in November 1930 in the Basque country, Ellacuría entered the Society of Jesus at 17 and was sent to El Salvador 2 years later, a country he would adopt as his own. A common theme amongst Ellacuría’s enemies in El Salvador was that he was too “Spanish”, and as such he had no business interfering in Salvadoran’s politics. But Ellacuría was salvadoreño through and through, committed to the country where he lived most of his life and to which he dedicated a great part of his theology and social analysis.
Paying the Price, however, is not a biography of Ellacuría. Sadly, none seem to be available in English or even easily available for Spanish readers. Because Teresa Withfield is an expert on international cooperation and conflict mediation, the book is much more about what led to the murders of Ellacuría, five of his Jesuit colleagues, and two Salvadoran women, and the overreaching consequences of these crimes. The book also offers a comprehensive overview of the politics in El Salvador and of the damaging meddling of the United States in the region.
What happened is actually quite simple; it only seems complicated on account of the constant lies and obfuscation of those responsible for the crime as well as the actions of the United States, which spent years abetting the murderers by giving credence to versions of the story that everyone knew were lies.
Ignacio Ellacuría was a well-known theologian and philosopher with a glowing reputation in intellectual and religious circles, both in Europe and in the United States. He dedicated his life to the construction of a theology of liberation and to the improvement of social conditions in El Salvador and the Third World. These two things – liberation theology and the societal conditions in the Global South – were indelibly linked. The University of Central America (UCA) was the instrument Ellacuría used to improve El Salvador. This was partly – and begrudgingly – done through the education of the elites; that only the elites were able to attend the UCA was a fact that clearly sat wrong with Ellacuría and his fellow Jesuits; it seemed counter-intuitive that a University intent on serving the poor of El Salvador had very few poor people studying in it. The real point of the UCA, though, was its academic production: the magazines and journals it edited and the institutes it hosted. The articles published by ECA (Central American studies) were closely followed by the various political actors in El Salvador, to the point where bombs were often thrown into the University following the publication of controversial articles. The ECA was also a vehicle for serious-minded foreigners to learn about El Salvador; the quality of its texts and analysis undeniable. The Institute of Public Opinion was the first institution of its kind to systematically poll the opinion of Salvadoran society. The Institute of Human Rights analysed Human Rights abuses in El Salvador, of which there were almost too many to count. And finally, there was the Institute of Philosophy, which housed Ellacuría’s philosophical and theological ideas for many years.
The UCA was dangerous, but it was not the main problem. Ellacuría was. Because of his international reputation, his profound knowledge of the issues, and his obvious charisma, Ellacuría was able to sit at the table with both the government and the guerrillas. It helped that he had taught so many of them personally. It helped, particularly, that he’d been analysing El Salvador’s society for many years. Even those who did not like him – and here I am making a distinction between those who disliked him and those who hated him so much they wanted him dead – felt compelled to listen to him. It was impossible to dismiss these Jesuits because they knew what they were talking about. Ellacuría’s intelligence and reputation doomed him. Because of his work at the UCA, of his standing both with moderate factions within the political system and with the guerrillas, he became dangerous.
Since the beginning of the Salvadoran Civil war (1979-1992) Ellacuría had tried to get the government and the guerrillas to negotiate. He had realized that the nature of the war and the polarization felt at every level of Salvadoran society meant that there could never be an undisputable winner. Negotiation and compromise were the only logical means to bring forth peace and the beginnings of prosperity. This view was naturally disparaged by many people, most significantly by the Salvadoran army, whose ring-wing faction saw the UCA as a den of communism and iniquity. Ellacuría was often singled-out: he was “satanic”, the “anti-christ” and, my personal favourite, a “Basque agitator”. But after years of war even the government started tuning in to the possibility of negotiation, which was why, on the 16 of November 1989, the Atlacatl battalion, trained by the United States military, and responsible for a myriad of human rights abuses everywhere in El Salvador, invaded the UCA and murdered Ellacuría, Ignacio Martin-Baró, Segundo Montes, Juan Ramón Moreno, Joaquín López y López, Amando López, and Elba and Celina Ramos.
Ellacuría was a man in the habit of being right. He had been right when he said that negotiation was the only way out of the civil war. He had been right about the emergence – and the necessity – of Third Way forces in Salvadoran society (aligned neither with the government nor with the guerrillas). And he had been right when he said that it did not make sense to kill him. In fact, the murders of the Jesuits brought about such international outrage that the Army was unable to escape unscathed – considering that they were so, so obviously guilty. Killing Ellacuría would also not arrest the slow climbing towards peace. On the contrary: the murders actually hastened the process, as it became clear to everyone how out of control the army was.
The role of the United States was as predictable as it was horrifying. After years of pumping El Salvador with US dollars, the American government was forced to pretend that El Salvador was not a failing state, even amidst a bloody civil war. It also spent years pretending not to see how the funds sent to El Salvador were fueling right-wing militias and death squads. The Salvadoran military played US officials like a fiddle, not because they were stupid, but because they wanted to be fooled. The story of the FBI agents who bullied and intimidated Lucía Cerna, the only witness to the Jesuit murders who was forced to escape to the United States, can only be interpreted as collusion with the murderers.
The six Jesuits and the two women were killed because the army wanted to kill Ellacuría. They slaughtered them all because they didn’t want any witnesses, but Ellacuría was the one they really wanted to get. It is a testament to the quality of his work and the power of his convictions that a slew of Army Generals decided that this philosopher, this teacher, this priest was a man who had to go.
There are many interesting aspects in this book. The media campaign against the Jesuits that led so many people to believe that the UCA really was an advanced outpost of communism in El Salvador. The intricacies and frivolities of North American policy and how it affected millions of people in places most Americans would be hard pressed to find on a map. However, this is not an easy book to read without some previous knowledge of the subject. It goes into levels of detail that leave the reader confused. This happens with the subjects Whitfield is more comfortable with, such as the investigation into the murders and the role of US officials and the State Department.
On the other hand, the brightest aspect of the book is Ellacuría himself. Whitfield becomes clearer when she’s writing about him. As she is not an expert in Theology or Philosophy, she was forced to synthesize his ideas and make them more intelligible to the unaware reader. Although his fellow Jesuits deserve books of their own, particularly Martin-Baró and Segundo Montes, Ellacuría is the most fascinating of subjects, not only for his ideas, but also for his character. One feels Whitfield herself is quite in awe of him. In fairness, it's hard not to be. Clearly, most of the people she talked to, whether they hated him or loved him, felt strongly about Ellacuría. They were all very aware of his many, many qualities. They were also aware that it was because of his qualities - of who he was, what he believed in - that they killed him.
Weeks before he was murdered, Ignacio Ellacuría was asked by a Spanish newspaper whether he was afraid of the threats he so often received. Ellacuría answered, “Never. I’m not afraid. Fear is not a feeling which normally overcomes me. It would be too irrational to kill me. I’ve done nothing wrong.”
This answer is, as I’ve learned, typical Ellacuría. The apparent arrogance hiding something much deeper and truthful. The danger of being misunderstood. The belief in Reason.
I came to this book because I still think about November by Jorge Galán on a regular basis. Through it, I developed an interest in Liberation Theology and Central American politics. When you put these two together, Ignacio Ellacuría is inescapable. Born in November 1930 in the Basque country, Ellacuría entered the Society of Jesus at 17 and was sent to El Salvador 2 years later, a country he would adopt as his own. A common theme amongst Ellacuría’s enemies in El Salvador was that he was too “Spanish”, and as such he had no business interfering in Salvadoran’s politics. But Ellacuría was salvadoreño through and through, committed to the country where he lived most of his life and to which he dedicated a great part of his theology and social analysis.
Paying the Price, however, is not a biography of Ellacuría. Sadly, none seem to be available in English or even easily available for Spanish readers. Because Teresa Withfield is an expert on international cooperation and conflict mediation, the book is much more about what led to the murders of Ellacuría, five of his Jesuit colleagues, and two Salvadoran women, and the overreaching consequences of these crimes. The book also offers a comprehensive overview of the politics in El Salvador and of the damaging meddling of the United States in the region.
What happened is actually quite simple; it only seems complicated on account of the constant lies and obfuscation of those responsible for the crime as well as the actions of the United States, which spent years abetting the murderers by giving credence to versions of the story that everyone knew were lies.
Ignacio Ellacuría was a well-known theologian and philosopher with a glowing reputation in intellectual and religious circles, both in Europe and in the United States. He dedicated his life to the construction of a theology of liberation and to the improvement of social conditions in El Salvador and the Third World. These two things – liberation theology and the societal conditions in the Global South – were indelibly linked. The University of Central America (UCA) was the instrument Ellacuría used to improve El Salvador. This was partly – and begrudgingly – done through the education of the elites; that only the elites were able to attend the UCA was a fact that clearly sat wrong with Ellacuría and his fellow Jesuits; it seemed counter-intuitive that a University intent on serving the poor of El Salvador had very few poor people studying in it. The real point of the UCA, though, was its academic production: the magazines and journals it edited and the institutes it hosted. The articles published by ECA (Central American studies) were closely followed by the various political actors in El Salvador, to the point where bombs were often thrown into the University following the publication of controversial articles. The ECA was also a vehicle for serious-minded foreigners to learn about El Salvador; the quality of its texts and analysis undeniable. The Institute of Public Opinion was the first institution of its kind to systematically poll the opinion of Salvadoran society. The Institute of Human Rights analysed Human Rights abuses in El Salvador, of which there were almost too many to count. And finally, there was the Institute of Philosophy, which housed Ellacuría’s philosophical and theological ideas for many years.
The UCA was dangerous, but it was not the main problem. Ellacuría was. Because of his international reputation, his profound knowledge of the issues, and his obvious charisma, Ellacuría was able to sit at the table with both the government and the guerrillas. It helped that he had taught so many of them personally. It helped, particularly, that he’d been analysing El Salvador’s society for many years. Even those who did not like him – and here I am making a distinction between those who disliked him and those who hated him so much they wanted him dead – felt compelled to listen to him. It was impossible to dismiss these Jesuits because they knew what they were talking about. Ellacuría’s intelligence and reputation doomed him. Because of his work at the UCA, of his standing both with moderate factions within the political system and with the guerrillas, he became dangerous.
Since the beginning of the Salvadoran Civil war (1979-1992) Ellacuría had tried to get the government and the guerrillas to negotiate. He had realized that the nature of the war and the polarization felt at every level of Salvadoran society meant that there could never be an undisputable winner. Negotiation and compromise were the only logical means to bring forth peace and the beginnings of prosperity. This view was naturally disparaged by many people, most significantly by the Salvadoran army, whose ring-wing faction saw the UCA as a den of communism and iniquity. Ellacuría was often singled-out: he was “satanic”, the “anti-christ” and, my personal favourite, a “Basque agitator”. But after years of war even the government started tuning in to the possibility of negotiation, which was why, on the 16 of November 1989, the Atlacatl battalion, trained by the United States military, and responsible for a myriad of human rights abuses everywhere in El Salvador, invaded the UCA and murdered Ellacuría, Ignacio Martin-Baró, Segundo Montes, Juan Ramón Moreno, Joaquín López y López, Amando López, and Elba and Celina Ramos.
Ellacuría was a man in the habit of being right. He had been right when he said that negotiation was the only way out of the civil war. He had been right about the emergence – and the necessity – of Third Way forces in Salvadoran society (aligned neither with the government nor with the guerrillas). And he had been right when he said that it did not make sense to kill him. In fact, the murders of the Jesuits brought about such international outrage that the Army was unable to escape unscathed – considering that they were so, so obviously guilty. Killing Ellacuría would also not arrest the slow climbing towards peace. On the contrary: the murders actually hastened the process, as it became clear to everyone how out of control the army was.
The role of the United States was as predictable as it was horrifying. After years of pumping El Salvador with US dollars, the American government was forced to pretend that El Salvador was not a failing state, even amidst a bloody civil war. It also spent years pretending not to see how the funds sent to El Salvador were fueling right-wing militias and death squads. The Salvadoran military played US officials like a fiddle, not because they were stupid, but because they wanted to be fooled. The story of the FBI agents who bullied and intimidated Lucía Cerna, the only witness to the Jesuit murders who was forced to escape to the United States, can only be interpreted as collusion with the murderers.
The six Jesuits and the two women were killed because the army wanted to kill Ellacuría. They slaughtered them all because they didn’t want any witnesses, but Ellacuría was the one they really wanted to get. It is a testament to the quality of his work and the power of his convictions that a slew of Army Generals decided that this philosopher, this teacher, this priest was a man who had to go.
There are many interesting aspects in this book. The media campaign against the Jesuits that led so many people to believe that the UCA really was an advanced outpost of communism in El Salvador. The intricacies and frivolities of North American policy and how it affected millions of people in places most Americans would be hard pressed to find on a map. However, this is not an easy book to read without some previous knowledge of the subject. It goes into levels of detail that leave the reader confused. This happens with the subjects Whitfield is more comfortable with, such as the investigation into the murders and the role of US officials and the State Department.
On the other hand, the brightest aspect of the book is Ellacuría himself. Whitfield becomes clearer when she’s writing about him. As she is not an expert in Theology or Philosophy, she was forced to synthesize his ideas and make them more intelligible to the unaware reader. Although his fellow Jesuits deserve books of their own, particularly Martin-Baró and Segundo Montes, Ellacuría is the most fascinating of subjects, not only for his ideas, but also for his character. One feels Whitfield herself is quite in awe of him. In fairness, it's hard not to be. Clearly, most of the people she talked to, whether they hated him or loved him, felt strongly about Ellacuría. They were all very aware of his many, many qualities. They were also aware that it was because of his qualities - of who he was, what he believed in - that they killed him.
February 10, 2019
A remarkable story buried under an unmanageable excess of detail. A 500 page book with almost 100 pages of endnotes. An excellent resource for understanding the specific personal and political dynamics of the violence in El Salvador in the 80s-90s, but an exhausting read.
January 10, 2013
I just borrowed this book about El Salvador's war of independence in the 1960's - 1990's. My interest has been piqued by meeting a young man, Christian, who lived in El Salvador at this time. He saw one of his sisters, a brother, and an uncle shot to death by a military death squad. He walked for days with the rest of his family & villagers to Honduras & lived in a refugee camp for his childhood. As a teenager, Christian joined some friends in becoming insurgent soldiers in order to kill those who had killed their loved ones. Christian ended up as the only survivor of 14 boys who were mowed down during an ambush.
Later he escaped to San Salvador, the capital city, & found a job with a Lutheran Church. Still involved with the insurgency, Christian's roommate was horribly tortured and killed. Christian received a blood-smeared letter announcing that he would killed next. The Lutheran priest and the embassy whisked him to safety in SWEDEN! Freezing cold, unable to understand a single word, Christian became educated through his college level before returning to his country.
He now makes & paints decorative wooden crosses to sell for his livelihood and donations to his church. He helps run a sanctuary for homeless people, drug addicts, prostitutes and others in the church's neighborhood. I am vastly inspired by Christian's life story.
Later he escaped to San Salvador, the capital city, & found a job with a Lutheran Church. Still involved with the insurgency, Christian's roommate was horribly tortured and killed. Christian received a blood-smeared letter announcing that he would killed next. The Lutheran priest and the embassy whisked him to safety in SWEDEN! Freezing cold, unable to understand a single word, Christian became educated through his college level before returning to his country.
He now makes & paints decorative wooden crosses to sell for his livelihood and donations to his church. He helps run a sanctuary for homeless people, drug addicts, prostitutes and others in the church's neighborhood. I am vastly inspired by Christian's life story.
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