Ana Margarita Gasteazoro (15 October 1950 – 1993) was a Salvadoran political activist and prisoner of conscience. Born into an affluent family in San Salvador, she rejected her privileged background to join the clandestine resistance against the military‑run government during the early stages of El Salvador’s civil war. Gasteazoro became a member of the Farabundo Martí Popular Liberation Forces (FMLN), the main leftist guerrilla organization.
In 1981 she was “disappeared” by the Salvadoran National Guard and subsequently held in detention for roughly two years, during which she endured torture and solitary confinement. International human‑rights organizations, including Amnesty International, designated her a prisoner of conscience. After her release she continued to advocate for political change and later recounted her experiences in the memoir Tell Mother I’m in Paradise: Memoirs of a Political Prisoner in El Salvador.
Gasteazoro’s life exemplifies the involvement of upper‑class individuals in revolutionary movements during El Salvador’s 12‑year civil conflict. She died in 1993, leaving a legacy documented in scholarly works and biographical entries such as Wikipedia and Encyclopedia.com.
