Students march in El Salvador

Weekly News Update, No.444, 2 August 1998

On July 30 about 150 Salvadoran students marched to commemorate the anniversary of a 1975 massacre of students at the University of El Salvador (UES) who were protesting military repression. The march began at the UES campus and ended in front of the Salvadoran Social Security Institute (ISSS) building, where 12 students were killed and more than 20 disappeared when the now disbanded National Guard put down the 1975 protest. Members of the General Association of University Students (AGEUS), which organized the march, placed flowers at the spot in memory of the victims. The students painted "Avenue of the July 30 Martyrs" along the sidewalk as they marched down San Salvador's 25th Avenue North; they have asked the capital's leftist mayor, Hector Silva, to officially give the avenue that name. Marchers also protested the high cost of living provoked by the neoliberal economic policies of the current government of rightwing president Armando Calderon Sol. [La Nacion (Costa Rica) 7/31/98 from AFP]