El Salvador prosecutors said ex-president approved 1989 massacre of Jesuits

By MARCOS ALEMAN
Associated Press

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — Prosecutors in El Salvador say they have evidence that former President Alfredo Cristiani was present at a meeting that approved the 1989 massacre of six Jesuit priests and two others by soldiers. Prosecutors who announced the case against Cristiani last year said late Monday that the plot to kill the Jesuits during the country’s 1980-1992 civil war went all the way to the top. Cristiani, who left El Salvador in 2021 and whose whereabouts are unknown, has always denied knowledge of or involvement in the killings. Prosecutors say they’ll show evidence during the trial that the then-president knew about and approved the 1989 killings. They also say he held a phone call to reassure one of the priests before he was murdered.