El Salvador History Trivia

1. El Brujo was a nickname given to a certain President who ruled from 1931 to 1944. What does this name mean?

From Quiz El Salvador

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!

From Quiz El Salvador

Answer: Pedro de Alvarado

Under orders from Cortes, de Alvarado left Mexico with some 100 cavalry, 150 foot soldiers and several thousand indigenous allies. He crossed the Rio Paz in 1524. At first the native Pipil people fled before him: towns and villages were deserted, as de Alvarado's reputation for awful ruthlessness had travelled before him. The way to further conquest was open.

From Quiz El Salvador III

Answer: 293 people per square kilometer

El Salvador is a small but overcrowded country. Approximately 58% of 6.2 million plus people live in or around the towns, many in abject poverty. Research shows that (excluding micro states) only one other country crams more people into the square kilometer than than El Salvador; that country is England.

From Quiz El Salvador

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.

From Quiz El Salvador III

Answer: Carlos Romero

With the brutal General Carlos Romero removed things seemed promising for a short while. A number of civilian political figures were given positions in the new government and they proclaimed that things would change and boasted that there would be reforms. However, it was not to be. The young officers who began all this with the best intentions had precious little experience and were soon outwitted by older and more senior officers who had no intention of allowing change. It was back 'killings as usual'. By January 1980 most of the civilian members of the government had resigned in disgust - or from fear.

From Quiz El Salvador

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.

From Quiz El Salvador

Answer: Atonati

The Pipil archer named Atonati severely wounded de Alvarado in the first encounter between the Spanish and indigenous fighters. The wound left the Spanish Commander with one leg a good four inches shorter than the other.

From Quiz El Salvador III

Answer: Oscar Arnulfo Romero

Archbishop Romero was murdered in front of the entire congregation whilst celebrating mass in a cancer hospital. He was the eleventh priest to be murdered in three years.

From Quiz El Salvador

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.

From Quiz El Salvador

Answer: 1540

Despite early successes the native people of El Salvador fell prey to internal dissent; a fact that the Spanish were quick exploit. Instead of remaining united, small tribes confronted the Spanish and they were picked off one by one. By 1540 the Spanish held complete dominion over El Salvador and incorporated it into the Spanish Captaincy-General of Guatemala.

From Quiz El Salvador III

Answer: USA

American aid to the less than egalitarian regime of El Salvador at that time is estimated at six billion dollars for hardware alone, plus many millions more for incidentals such as training Salvadorean military personnel by the thousand in the USA.

From Quiz El Salvador

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.

From Quiz El Salvador III

Answer: CIA had been organizing and leading operations in El Salvador

It was disclosed that until 1985, at least, CIA paramilitary groups had been organizing and 'leading' Salvadorean army units into combat areas and calling in air strikes.

From Quiz El Salvador

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.

From Quiz El Salvador

Answer: 1821

El Salvador signed, along with the other Central American nations, the Declaration of Independence on September 15, 1821. The ceremony took place in Guatemala City.

From Quiz El Salvador

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.

From Quiz El Salvador

Answer: Mexican Empire

Mexico, as the largest of the Central American countries, took the lead after the declaration of independence from Spain and the smaller Central American nations aligned under her leadership in what was known as the Mexican Empire. This empire, however, was very short lived as the other countries of Central America very soon discovered that being bossed around by Mexico was every bit as bad as being ruled by Spain. Within months of its creation the Mexican empire collapsed completely.

From Quiz El Salvador

Answer: Synthetic dyes

Idigo was the prime export of El Salvador when Europe introduced synthetic dyes 1878 and this process meant that the expensive indigo was no longer be needed in any large quantities by European importers. Had it not been for the advent of coffee plantations, which happened at around the same time, the effect on El Salvador's economy would have been ruinous. Oddly enough, idigo is making a comeback; foreign demand is high and so efforts are being made in El Salvador to plant suitable land for this commodity.

From Quiz El Salvador III

Answer: Massacred the people of El Mozote

The Atlacal Battalion was a US trained and armed rapid deployment battalion, it was the first unit of its kind in the Salvadoran forces. Upon arrival at El Mozote on December 10, the soldiers ordered everyone out of their houses and into the village square where the villagers were questioned about guerilla activities. The next morning, December 11, they separated the men, women and children and locked them up in separate groups in the church, convent and houses. A little later the soldiers proceeded to torture and execute the men; then they machine-gunned the women and finally they slaughtered the children including babies. A small group of children who had been locked up in the church were shot through the windows. After killing the entire population the soldiers set fire to the village and then proceeded to Los Toriles some 2 km away and repeated the process. Hundreds died in the massacre of El Mozote, the death count is estimated at 900. Officials from the US embassy at the time played down reports and refused to visit the site because of safety concerns. Exhumation of remains in 2003 (the bodies lay unattended for quite some time after the massacre and were on full view for many days) revealed the bones of 100 children all under the age of ten, amongst many others. The Atlacal Battalion continued to commit many atrocities over the years despite widespread international condemnation of their methods. In November 1989 they murdered six Jesuits, their cook, and her daughter. Despite pressure from laywers and civil rights groups, not one individual has yet been brought to book for these crimes.

From Quiz El Salvador

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.

From Quiz El Salvador

Answer: The Soccer War

The war of 1969 is known as the Soccer War but that is something of a misnomer. The real cause behind this conflict arose from the fact that some 300,000 Salvadorans had settled in Honduras and many Hondurans resented losing their jobs to the hard working immigrants; also a long standing dispute over the border location was a long way from being settled. The two countries had other quite major differences; such as how to apply the rules and regulations relating to the Central American Common Market. The Salvadoran immigrants complained of bad treatment and harassment and in many cases were expelled from Honduras. Basically unrest was seething. The whole thing came to head during the World Cup play-offs between the two countries and war erupted in July 14, 1969. The war lasted only four days. Militarily, El Salvador won but much damage was done to the economy of both countries. In total there were some 3,000 dead and twice as many wounded. The main highway from San Salvador to Santa Ana was used as an airstrip during this war and the marks of badly landed aircraft can still be seen.

From Quiz El Salvador

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.

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Last Updated Apr 22 2024 11:05 AM

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