Amando López
Comunidad Amando López is located along the Rio Lempa, 17 km south of the Litoral Highway in the Lower Lempa region of Usulután. The community takes its name from Father Amando López Quintanilla, one of six Jesuit priests assassinated along with their housekeeper and her daughter at the University of Central America (UCA) on November 16, 1989.
The community was established on December 4, 1991 by 110 families that spent much of the war living in the Colomoncagua refugee camp in Honduras, as well as former FMLN combatants. The day the settlers began establishing their new community, the Salvadoran Army brutally evicted them. They courageously returned only two days later and continued making their new home.
The community has one school that serves grades K-10, a school annex that also serves as an elevated emergency flood shelter, a Child Development Center, a community health clinic, a small library, and a women’s center. The community once had an agricultural cooperative, but its status has been challenged and remains in the state of legal uncertainty. The Community Association is the principal community organization – its leadership is democratically elected by community members every year. The Women’s Committee and school’s Parent’s Association are also active. In addition, the youth in the community recently formed their own youth group, which is very active, and the war wounded formed their own ALGES (Association of War Wounded in El Salvador) chapter.
Amando Lopez has little economic activity outside of agriculture, which is limited to keeping cattle. The once active agricultural cooperative is no longer functioning, and the community is served by only four small stores.
For more information about Comunidad Amanda Lopez, contact Roddy Hughes at voices@votb.org or (202) 529-2912.