Dennis the 'Bloody Peasant'
9th May 2012, 10:01
24 demonstrators were killed and many wounded after police opened fire on anti-government protesters outside the Metropolitan Cathedral in San Salvador, capital of El Salvador.
The protest in the Central American country was organised by the left-wing group known as the Popular Revolutionary Bloc. Witnesses said the steps of the cathedral were littered with bodies. Freelance photographer Ken Hawkins told the Los Angeles Times there had been no warning from government forces before the shooting started.
The left-wing group was currently holding a number of hostages at French and Costa Rican embassies in the city. The Costa Rican ambassador, Julio Esquivel, had recently been released but France's ambassador, Michel Dondenne, and seven others were still held hostage. They were demanding the release of five of its leaders but the military government, under Gen Humberto Romero, claimed it was holding only two.
Later that year, Gen Romero was ousted in an army-led coup.
The protest in the Central American country was organised by the left-wing group known as the Popular Revolutionary Bloc. Witnesses said the steps of the cathedral were littered with bodies. Freelance photographer Ken Hawkins told the Los Angeles Times there had been no warning from government forces before the shooting started.
The left-wing group was currently holding a number of hostages at French and Costa Rican embassies in the city. The Costa Rican ambassador, Julio Esquivel, had recently been released but France's ambassador, Michel Dondenne, and seven others were still held hostage. They were demanding the release of five of its leaders but the military government, under Gen Humberto Romero, claimed it was holding only two.
Later that year, Gen Romero was ousted in an army-led coup.