Revolutionary Life: the Inspirational Salvadoran Maria Guardado
26 May 2015
| Arturo J. Viscarra
Blogs
Revolutionary Life: the Inspirational Salvadoran Maria Guardado
35 years after his assassination, the life and death of Archbishop Oscar Romero are once again focusing the world’s attention on El Salvador's bloody civil war, and its long history of poverty, repression, and revolution. Romero, already the world’s most famous Salvadoran, was beatified by the Catholic Church this past Saturday, leaving him one step away from being immortalized as a saint.
But Romero is not the only Salvadoran whose life and death have inspired reflection, mourning, and celebration this May. Maria Guardado passed away on May 16, 2015 in Los Angeles at the age of 81. Fittingly, a memorial service and celebration of her life was held in Los Angeles, on the same day as her beloved Oscar Romero was beatified.
Her death is a huge loss for all of the communities and causes – the poor, immigrants, Los Angeles, the youth, poetry, Palestinian liberation, public transportation, torture abolition, and anti-imperialism, to name some – which she dedicated herself to. However, we should all take solace knowing that, like Romero, Maria’s legacy will live on.
Maria fled El Salvador after being tortured, raped, and nearly killed by paramilitaries in January of 1980, just a few months before a similar group assassinated Romero. Through her relentless work for justice over the last three decades, Maria became a well-known figure in the Los Angeles and international social justice communities. She continues to be most often described as a refugee and torture survivor, but she transcended those labels long ago. Maria was already deeply immersed in a life of individual and collective struggle when she resettled in the U.S. at the age of 49.
More:
http://www.telesurtv.net/english/bloggers/Revolutionary-Life-the-Inspirational-Salvadoran-Maria-Guardado-20150526-0001.html
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Maria Guardado
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