By 1930, less than 2% of the population owned more than 60% of the arable land. The 14 families didn’t just own haciendas—they owned banks, export firms, utilities, and the legislative deputies who wrote the laws.
As one San Salvador street vendor put it: “Pueden cambiar los nombres, pero los dueños siguen siendo los mismos.” (“The names may change, but the owners remain the same.”) 14 families of el salvador
Historians caution that “the 14 families” is more of a political shorthand than a precise census. The number 14 likely comes from the 14 departments of El Salvador, symbolizing nationwide control. Different historians name different lineages. Some argue it was actually 20 or 30 families who married into a core of 5 or 6. By 1930, less than 2% of the population
The power of these families began during the era (1871–1927). Following liberal reforms in the 1880s, the Salvadoran government abolished communal land ownership, allowing elite families to privatize vast tracts of land for coffee production. This shift displaced indigenous and peasant farmers, forcing them into a role of rural labor for the new "landed elite". Prominent surnames associated with this era included: de Sola Hill Dueñas Regalado Quiñónez Sol Llach Dalton Consolidation of Power and Conflict The number 14 likely comes from the 14
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the Salvadoran government (essentially an arm of the coffee growers) passed laws that privatized communal indigenous lands. This created the latifundio system—massive plantations owned by a few.