Archbishop Romero Assassinated; US Continues El Salvador Aid

Archbishop Óscar Romero of El Salvador was shot dead while saying Mass on March 24, 1980, by a gunman linked to right-wing death squads. The UN Truth Commission (1993) found that death squad organizer Roberto D'Aubuisson ordered the assassination. The US continued to provide military aid to El Salvador's government despite the murder and the December 1980 rape-murder of four US churchwomen by Salvadoran security forces.