A Woman's Place · Episode 7 of 12 · 19 min
The Fourteen Families: Feudal Patriarchy in El Salvador
By 1930 El Salvador was less a republic than an estate, owned by a coffee oligarchy remembered as the fourteen families. The episode follows Prudencia Ayala, who ran for president when women could not vote, the 1932 Matanza, suffrage granted on the oligarchy's terms, and the 1980 murder of four American churchwomen.
Who's who
- Prudencia AyalaIndigenous-descended activist who declared for president in 1930
- Maximiliano Hernandez Martinezgeneral who took power in 1931 and presided over the 1932 massacre
- Farabundo Marticommunist organizer executed in February 1932
- Feliciano AmaPipil cacique of Izalco lynched in January 1932
- Ita Ford+1 more episodeMaryknoll sister murdered in 1980
- Maura Clarke+1 more episodeMaryknoll sister murdered in 1980
- Dorothy KazelUrsuline sister murdered in 1980
- Jean Donovanlay missioner murdered in 1980
Where it happens
- Sonzacate, El Salvadorbirthplace of Prudencia Ayala
- Western coffee zone, El Salvadorsite of the 1932 uprising and Matanza
- San Salvador, El Salvadorcapital where Ayala died and an avenue now bears her name
Timeline
- 1881-1882communal and ejido lands abolished
- 1930Ayala declares her presidential candidacy
- January 22-25, 1932uprising and La Matanza
- 1950constitution establishes universal suffrage
- December 2, 1980four American churchwomen murdered
- January 16, 1992Chapultepec Peace Accords end the war
Still debated
The Matanza death toll is a range of roughly 10,000 to 40,000. The fourteen families is emblematic rather than literal, and some famous quotations from the Harris report are not found in its verified text.
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