Motive Behind the Murders
The United States had a lot of involvement in El Salvador during their civil war due to their fear of the country falling victim to communism. The US, under the Reagan administration, intervened unnecessarily and supported violent measures that were taken by the military dictatorship of a government that was in control at the time. Whether or not the support of that violence was intentional or just ignorant, the US government had a very different take on the war than the Cleveland Latin American Mission team. I believe that the murders were committed to send a message, above anything else. What was going on in El Salvador was dangerous, and the United States and El Salvador likely wanted to lessen the amount of American civilians in the area, so they used fear to try and turn them away. With less Americans in El Salvador, less people would be aware of the atrocities that were being committed by both governments. (1)
Why the Churchwomen
The churchwomen were easy targets because they, unlike most Americans in El Salvador, were likely not expecting any trouble. Women typically aren't the victims of war crimes, at least not in this way. Unfortunately, rape is quite common practice during wartime. However, the message that was sent with these murders is what stands apart. For the El Salvadoran government to use women as pawns was very much atypical, though the message was amplified by this fact, because it proved that no one was safe or protected in that environment. (2)
1. Mike Allison, "El Salvador's brutal civil war: What we still don't know," Aljazeera, March 1, 2012, https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/02/2012228123122975116.html
2. Aryn Baker, "The Secret War Crime," Time, https://time.com/war-and-rape/
Image: Tracy Barnett, "The four churchwomen murdered in El Salvador," Global Sisters Report, June 19, 2017, https://www.globalsistersreport.org/news/four-churchwomen-murdered-el-salvador-47386
2. Aryn Baker, "The Secret War Crime," Time, https://time.com/war-and-rape/
Image: Tracy Barnett, "The four churchwomen murdered in El Salvador," Global Sisters Report, June 19, 2017, https://www.globalsistersreport.org/news/four-churchwomen-murdered-el-salvador-47386