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Quiz about El Salvador
Quiz about El Salvador

El Salvador Multiple Choice Quiz | 10 Questions


This quiz contains a few simple questions about El Salvador's recent past.

A multiple-choice quiz by trojan11. Estimated time: 5 mins.
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Author
trojan11
Time
5 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
241,330
Updated
Feb 23 23
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Tough
Avg Score
6 / 10
Plays
401
- -
Question 1 of 10
1. El Brujo was a nickname given to a certain President who ruled from 1931 to 1944. What does this name mean? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. What was the real name of El Brujo? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. What was the proposed date for an armed uprising by the Salvadoran Communist Party in the early 1930s? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. Following the Communist uprising, 'La Matanza' began. What was 'La Matanza'? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. Which 'Napoleon' was famously active in Salvadoran politics? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. What was the date on which the streets of San Salvador filled with the largest peaceful protest in the nation's history? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. What happened on the 50th anniversary of La Matanza in 1982? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. ARENA is the most extreme left-wing of all of El Salvador's political parties.


Question 9 of 10
9. What was the date of the cease-fire between government and rebel forces? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. El Salvador's environment has suffered badly since Europeans first set foot in the country. What percentage of its natural rain forests has been destroyed? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. El Brujo was a nickname given to a certain President who ruled from 1931 to 1944. What does this name mean?

Answer: The Sorcerer

El Brujo was not one of life's nicer individuals. Whilst in office he presided over the killings of thousands of peasants in 1932 and justified his actions with the statement that "In El Salvador I am God." Many died under his hand. He also had many strange remedies for various ailments. Once, at a time when the country was being ravaged by smallpox, he ordered that red cellophane be wrapped around all the street lights in the cities, since he believed that coloured street lights would clean the air and stop the disease from spreading!
2. What was the real name of El Brujo?

Answer: Maximiliano Hernandez Martinez

Maximiliano Hernandez Martinez ("El Brujo") was born in 1882. Trained initially as a lawyer at the turn of the century he became bored and left for a military education in Guatemala. He was interested in the occult, believed in sorcery and frequently held seances. He died in exile in Honduras in 1966 aged 88 years after being stabbed to death by his chauffeur.
3. What was the proposed date for an armed uprising by the Salvadoran Communist Party in the early 1930s?

Answer: January 22, 1932

The uprising was a failure as the government learnt of the Communist plans ahead of time. A tip-off from an informer enabled the government to arrest three of the leaders. However, in spite of this set-back many Communists went ahead with the plan. On January 20, peasants armed with machetes occupied towns in the western highlands, a rich coffee growing area. Decades of rage and resentment were unleashed and at least 100 local government officials and wealthy landowners were dragged out of their homes and slaughtered by peasant rebels.
4. Following the Communist uprising, 'La Matanza' began. What was 'La Matanza'?

Answer: The massacre

The revenge massacre that followed the abortive uprising was savage. Jose Feliciano Ama, a rebel leader from Izalco, was hanged in front of a group of local schoolchildren. Government troops targeted anyone who had a 'native' appearance, dressed like a campesino or carried a machete. All were shot on the spot.

In Juayua, the centre of the uprising, troops killed all the men, women, children - and dogs. Peasants, guilty or not, were lined up and shot after first being forced to dig their own graves. Almost an entire generation of the indigenous population was destroyed. Even today, aside from certain special occasions, indigenous Salvadorans are rarely seen in their native dress or heard speaking their native tongue.

The memory of that time is still very strong.
5. Which 'Napoleon' was famously active in Salvadoran politics?

Answer: Jose Napoleon Duarte

Jose Napoleon Duarte was born in 1926. He came from a simple background. His father had the good fortune to win the national lottery and used the proceeds to send young Jose to study at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. After completing his education Duarte helped found the Christian Democratic Party (PDC).

He ran for president in 1972 but when it was clear that he had won, the military imposed a three-day blackout. Duarte was then sent into exile, where he remained for the next ten years.

He returned during the early eighties and stood again for president in 1984 during the civil war. This time he won a close vote. Promising to end the civil war, he failed utterly. Towards the end of his term as president he was diagnosed with terminal cancer. Jose Napoleon Duarte died in 1990 and the war which he so much wanted to end continued.
6. What was the date on which the streets of San Salvador filled with the largest peaceful protest in the nation's history?

Answer: January 22, 1980

On January 22, 1980 the streets of the capital were filled with more than 220,000 people demonstrating peacefully against the death squads and killings. During the course of the march shots rang out from somewhere around the presidential palace. Dozens of protestors were gunned down and the crowd fled for safety.
7. What happened on the 50th anniversary of La Matanza in 1982?

Answer: House-to-house searches by police

Fearing a 'memorial uprising' 1,000 policemen conducted house-to-house searches in a none-too-gentle fashion.
8. ARENA is the most extreme left-wing of all of El Salvador's political parties.

Answer: False

ARENA is a hardline right-wing of El Salvadorean political party and mainly represents the landowning classes.
9. What was the date of the cease-fire between government and rebel forces?

Answer: February 1, 1992

On February 1, 1992 a cease-fire, mandated by a peace accord and under the supervision of 1,000 UN troops took effect. Both sides were overjoyed that the war had ended and celebrations took place all over El Salvador.
10. El Salvador's environment has suffered badly since Europeans first set foot in the country. What percentage of its natural rain forests has been destroyed?

Answer: 95 percent

UN estimates stand at a staggering 95 percent. The remaining 5 percent is nowhere near sufficient to meet the country's needs, and so wood for construction now must be imported from Honduras. The rich variety of wild animals that once were plentiful in the forests are now extinct. Pollution is an ongoing problem made worse by foreign companies using El Salvador as a dumping ground for waste that requires treatment.

The peasants still have little or no say in what happens to the land on which they live and a sufficient supply of fresh clean water is difficult to maintain.
Source: Author trojan11

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor bloomsby before going online.
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