The beatification of Monsignor Oscar Arnulfo Romero is the last step toward canonization that will make him a saint, the first in solidly Catholic Central America. In the eyes of many observers, his beatification is a recognition of the many courageous fighters who struggled against the military dictatorships in power at the time that were supported by the U.S. government and which brutally repressed their own people in order to maintain the rule of the local oligarchies. Many other priests who also stood by the poor were also killed, accused of being communists although they were merely following their religious convictions. Archbishop Romero is a symbol of the just causes for which he gave his life. teleSUR