View source for Adrian Esquino Lisco

{{one source|date=September 2009}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=September 2021}}
'''Adrian Esquino Lisco''' (died September 8, 2007) was an [[El Salvador]]an activist and spiritual chief and advisor to El Salvador's [[Indigenous peoples of the Americas|indigenous community]].<ref name=bh>{{cite news |first=Adam |last=Bernstein|title= Adrian Esquino Lisco, 68, spiritual chief of indigenous Salvadorans
|url=http://www.boston.com/news/globe/obituaries/articles/2007/09/21/adrian_esquino_lisco_68_spiritual_chief_of_indigenous_salvadorans/|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |publisher=[[Boston Herald]]|date=2007-09-21 |accessdate=2007-09-23}}</ref> Lisco rose to international prominence during the [[Salvadoran Civil War]] when he called attention to [[human rights]] atrocities committed against El Salvador's indigenous peoples, who number about 1 percent<ref>[[El Salvador]]</ref> of the country's 7 million people.<ref name=bh/>
==Early life==
Adrian Esquino Lisco was born in Comarca San Ramon, in western [[Sonsonate Department]], [[El Salvador]].<ref name=bh/> He was of indigenous [[Nahua peoples|Nahua]] heritage.<ref name=bh/> Esquino Lisco's older brother had been killed during the suppression of the [[1932 Salvadoran peasant uprising]] (also called ''La matanza'') by the Salvadoran dictatorship.<ref name=bh/> Esquino Lisco was described as a short, soft-spoken man who was less than 5 feet tall.<ref name=bh/> He was a [[farmer]] and [[artisan]] by profession.<ref name=bh/>
Esquino Lisco's father founded the [[Asociación Nacional de Indigenas de El Salvador]] (ANIS) in 1954.<ref name=bh/> The main purpose of ANIS was to preserve the culture, [[customs]] and [[language]] of El Salvador's indigenous groups, including the [[Lenca people|Lenca]], [[Maya peoples|Maya]] and Nahua.<ref name=bh/> The organization generally worked behind the scenes to preserve El Salvador's indigenous heritage.  Many indigenous Salvadorans considered it too dangerous to speak their native languages or even wear traditional clothing ever since the massacre that ended the [[1932 Salvadoran peasant uprising]].<ref name=bh/>
Adrian Esquino Lisco inherited the title of ''spiritual chief'' in 1976<ref name=bh/> and became head of the Asociación Nacional de Indigenas de El Salvador.  He attended a number of [[indigenous peoples]] conferences during the late 1970s throughout the world.<ref name=bh/>
Through Esquino Lisco's work, ANIS finally won legal recognition from the Salvadoran government of President [[José Napoleón Duarte]] in 1980.<ref name=bh/>
==Salvadoran Civil War (1980 - 1992)==
Adrian Esquino Lisco first appeared in international news coverage of the civil war when he began calling attention to the February 23, 1983 Salvadoran army-led attack on an indigenous farm [[cooperative]] in [[Las Hojas, El Salvador]].<ref name=bh/> Salvadoran soldiers captured 74 male villagers, tied their thumbs behind their backs, and shot them.<ref name=bh/> A Salavadoran federal judge later reported just 18 dead.<ref name=bh/>
An El Salvadoran federal human rights commission, charged with investigating the [[Las Hojas massacre]] and other violations, did not accomplish much, reportedly because of pressure from the country's army.<ref name=bh/> The [[commanders]] of the Salavadoran troops at Las Hojas were given amnesty in the 1990s as part of a broader [[Central American]] [[peacebuilding|peace plan]].<ref name=bh/>
Esquino Lisco and others blamed wealthy Salvadoran [[landowners]] for the [[Wiktionary:atrocity|atrocity]] at Las Hojas.<ref name=bh/> Lisco accused influential landowners of using the army to destroy the Las Hojas cooperative.<ref name=bh/>  Landowners often considered the [[farm cooperatives]] to be subversive, even [[Communist]].  Attempts at farm reforms were begun in the late 1970s, but were soon halted, leading to resentment from both peasants and wealthy landowners.<ref name=bh/>
Esquino Lisco once had an encounter with Colonel [[Elmer Gonzales Araujo]], one of the leading commanders at Las Hojas.  Gonzales Araujo reportedly told Lisco that his soldiers were defending themselves against "armed subversives."<ref name=bh/>  Lisco later told ''The New York Times'' that, "I asked the army high command how [[guerrillas]] could die with their hands tied behind their backs."<ref name=bh/>
Esquino Lisco went to [[Washington D.C.]] at the height of the Salvadoran Civil War to draw attention to the war's atrocities.  He soon found receptive supporters in the [[U.S. Congress]], most notably Senator [[Ted Kennedy]] and U.S. Representative [[Joe Moakley]].<ref name=bh/>  His work in Washington put pressure on the Salvadoran government.  According to [[Francisco Acosta]], a Salvadoran activist based in [[Maryland]], Lisco's lobbying of Congress led to the release of more than 100 [[political prisoner]]s from government custody.<ref name=bh/>
==Death==
Adrian Esquino Lisco died of complications from [[diabetes]], including [[kidney failure]], at a hospital in El Salvador's capital, [[San Salvador]] on September 8, 2007.<ref name=bh/> He was 68 years old.
==See also==
*[[Marina Manzanares Monjarás]]
*[[María Julia Hernández]]
*[[José Castellanos Contreras]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Esquino Lisco, Adrian}}
[[Category:2007 deaths]]
[[Category:Indigenous activists of North America]]
[[Category:Nahuatl]]
[[Category:Salvadoran human rights activists]]
[[Category:Salvadoran people of Indigenous peoples descent]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing]]
[[Category:Diabetes-related deaths]]
[[Category:Deaths from kidney failure]]