side note: this is a very nasty moonshine). The commanders would use the groups to inform him who was making chicha so they could be arrested. When a man was arrested, the family would go to the commander and say "please set him free." It was a 2 year
sentence. The woman would beg and say "he is the one who works so we can survive." The commanders would extort money from the family. She, of course, had no money, so she would sell everything – her chickens, a pig, whatever she had – so she could pay the commander. This money of course was not an actual military fine, but for the personal
pockets of the commanders. Sometimes, if the family had no money but had a pretty young daughter, she would suffice for payment.
Regarding elected government officials: All the candidates were from the military. So you could vote for one military guy or the other – it made no difference. In 1975, there was a civilian candidate from the Christian Democrat Party. But the military candidates had a propaganda campaign saying that he was a communist. But of course, the campesinos were illiterate and ignorant (Don Pablo's words). So no one knew what that was. The military would tell them "Something very bad – don't vote for them". But that was all they said because they didn't know either!
The reason for the ignorance is that people only went to 1st or 2nd grade (if that) because by the age of 6, boys had to work with their fathers on the land. And the girls had to work with their mothers in the house.
People were also very isolated in Cinquera. There were no roads for cars and the closest towns of Illobasco and Suchitoto are 20 km away.
In the end of that election, there was only one vote in town for the CD candidate. And that one person who voted CD was beaten so badly, suffering many broken bones and internal injuries, became the example to the rest. From then on, no campesino would vote for a civilian candidate.
Every six months, the military would capture all the young men. So the young men hid in the mountains. On the first day, 50 people were captured and all put in one cell of about 4 x 6 meters. The latrine was a hole in the middle of the floor. Naturally, it smelled very bad. Everyone had to stand and could barely move. The floor was covered in urine. After 5 days, they were taken out and they were attached to each other arm to arm like cattle and they were made to walk two days to the military camp. They gave them guns and began to brainwash them.
They would say of the guns and their military equipment: "This is your mother and father now." They were brainwashed so they forgot their past. As their thoughts changed and became more militaristic, the military became more important than where they came from. The learned violent and sexist ideas. They were made to serve a one year term in the army. After their one year was up, many of them were so indoctrinated that they would join the National Guard. The ones that did go back home to their community made their women suffer a lot. The man would hit his wife in the face of no reason. She could not tell anyone because if she did, he would beat her two times worse. So she
made up lies to her friends or anyone who would ask.
The National Police – in their uniforms would stand and survey the communities. If someone walked by and said "Buenas Días" to one of them, the police would say "Why are you saying hello to me… you must be a guerrilla and you are trying to distract me from something." So they would be beaten for trying to distract the police. So everyone
learned not to say hello. Now the police accused people at random when they did not say hello – that they must have something to hide and therefore were avoiding the police. The people who did not say hello were hand-cuffed, beaten and jailed. Many men died because of this.
Most people were Christians but ignorant of the approach to faith. One time a month they got to celebrate a mass with a priest. The victims of the beatings would tell the priest about the abuse. But the priest would say "You are not respecting authority and there is only one authority and that is God and if you do not respect authority here in
town, you are not respecting God."
So people started questioning their faith. They were living in misery.
When children said: "Mom, I'm hungry" – mom would say "I have nothing to give you." The child would always say again: "I'm hungry." So the mom would say "Sleep – it will take away the hunger." Oftentimes, children would search the harvested fields in search of something to eat. Everyone suffered lots of anemia.
The Priest said: "If you are poor now, you will be rich in heaven – so the more you suffer now, the better your throne of gold will be. This is the will of God." The people would ask: "So why do the rich have money?" The priest would answer: "Because God knows THEY won't use the money to get drunk. And they are good administrators of what God has given them."
At this time there was a colonel named José Alberto ( something ). He said: "I have come to give you very good news. My government will bring development. We will build roads, clinics, schools and soccer fields." Everyone applauded.
”But first" he said: "you have to organize yourselves into ORDEN" – the National Democratic Organization. So they all signed up but the development did not come. The colonel did this because that is what the U.S. wanted. They wanted to prevent what happened in Cuba from happening here.
In 1969 there was another colonel. He called on 15 men to 'clean up' the community.
He told them: "I have come to visit you to warn you of a danger."
The people said: "What danger? Tell us!"
The Colonel said: "Communism!"
The people said: "What's that?"
The Colonel: "Like in Cuba."
The people: "What's Cuba?"
The Colonel: "A country in the ocean – lead by Fidel Castro. He is a
monkey! That's why he always wears long sleeves – to cover his fur. He
has a tail and horns and feeds off of human flesh – especially the
young boys. He eats them without cooking them."
The people: "But why do we need to worry about Cuba?"
The Colonel: "Because communism now has entered El Salvador in
Suchitoto and the priests! They are all Socialist… they share all –
even their wives. Do you have a wife? Be careful. Are you in agreement
with Communism"
The people: "No colonel!"
The Colonel: "If you have 7 year old sons… the Communists will take
them. It's happening in the Soviet Union! Your land will be taken away
from you."
People: "But we have no land."
Colonel: "Then they will come and take your harvest!"
And he would ask:
"Are you in agreement with Communism??"
"No" said the people.
Colonel: "Do you have parents at the age of 60?? Be careful… with
Communism, everyone has to work hard for the State. ALWAYS fight
against Communism" he said.
The mentality came to be because the military was brainwashing the ignorant people. It was like a 'ghost' (or boogeyman) to scare the people into behaving as the military wanted them to behave.
At this time a new and younger priest came to town. (** side note: the old one with the bad ideas went to another parish. It is common for a priest to be moved every few years).
During mass one Sunday, a woman fainted. He asked why she fainted and the people said it was because she had not eaten. Why not he asked? They told him she has no food. And they told them what the other priest had said about the will of God.
This new priest taught them the God loves the poor and doesn't want them to be poor. He told them they needed to get organized – to reclaim some of their rights. He told them about the Medellín Bishop's Conference where the rich were condemned. He read to them and showed them in the Bible: Acts, Chapter 2, verses 42 and onward. (Look it up!)
Towns began to form Christian Communities to raise consciousness. There were fewer drunks. There was better behavior in marriages. There was a new environment and solidarity. They began to build houses for the poorest and helped them cultivate the land. They started to solve community problems.
The youth in the community re-wrote all the scriptures pertaining to the poor onto large sheets of paper to hang on the walls. They put in countless hours doing this: displaying them so all could see.
At this time, schools were up to 9th grade!
When the government was alerted – they said Cinquera is Communist! And it was also happening in other places: in Aguilares with Fr. Rutilio Grande and lots more!
So it was told that Communism was coming in El Salvador through the Catholic Church. They dropped papers from airplanes to spread the propaganda. But the people knew this was all lies.
So the military talked to the Bishop in San Vicente. The Bishop held a mass in 1979 to speak to "correct a wrong." The Bishop condemned all that they were doing. The church was told to take down all the scripture posters.
One of the youth – a young girl – who dared during the mass to ask the Bishop why… was later kidnapped by the military, taken out of town to a military camp and was raped for 3 days. When they were done with her
(and she was a virgin prior to this) they brought her back to Cinquera, dumped her on the road, cut off her ears, used pliers to pull out her fingernails and toenails, used a pipe to cut out her eyes, they cut off her nose and her breasts. She was still alive. When she twitched and convulsed, they took a branch and shoved it up her vagina and used another to shove through her skull. And to end it all, they poured acid over her body.
(Whew – sorry about that)
The men in the fields were worried that they would be arrested so they fled to the mountains without food. But they were found. Many of their neighbors told the military where they were. These captured men were given knives and told to "kill a Commy." At first, they were shaking to do that, but then they got used to it. They would slit their fellow
camposino's throats.
People were afraid that they would be next … so they decided to fight to defend themselves.
The military was sent to the U.S. for training (Ft. Benington in Georgia). They came back forming the Atlacatl Battalion. Roberto D'aubuisson organized the Death Squads and Monterrosa, the organized battalions. This is how they brought the battle to the rural areas.
These two groups, the Death Squads and the Battalions were brutal. They would go to the communities… to the country and go from house to house of the suspected guerrillas and they would tie up the men and rape their women in front of them. Then they would kill her. And then they would kill the man – in front of the children. They would cut off the genitals of the parents and stuff them into their mouths – his in hers and hers in his.
They would cut off the heads of workers. They would put the heads on posts. If they met a pregnant woman: with one cut, they would open her womb, take out the baby and cut off its head.
When asked why: "We are just following orders to kill them before they become a guerrilla."
When little children were killed: "We are just following orders to kill them before they become a guerrilla."
We were under Marshall Law. We could only go out between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. If you were caught outside, you were killed. Lots of drunks died this way.
At night, Death Squads would break down the doors of the houses and take people. Their heads were cut off and their bodies shoved in buses piled on top of each other. Their heads would be lined up on the walkway in front of the walls of buildings. Written on the wall would be: "This is how we are terminating Communism in El Salvador"
Other wall messages: "Be a patriot – kill a priest." This is about the time of the killing of the 4 American women.
Now we began to fight back. We went to the mountains to strengthen ourselves. We were doctors, priests, students, housewives and teachers. This is how our fighting force was formed.
Lots of children whose parents were arrested were left alone. They knew they would never see their parents again so they went up to the mountains as well.
My 5 children also went to the mountains. Four died there during the war. my last son survived the war but suffered a lot of psychological problems (as did many survivors). His arm was wounded and he did not have full use of it. His spinal cord was also wounded. He was basically incapacitated. There was no medical attention for the combatants. During Holy Week, he killed himself. He was 20 years old. In his hand was a small note: "I've made this decision so I wouldn't be a burden on your lives. Good-bye."
Lots of survivors took their lives.
Monterrosa came and gathered all the people. He lined them up and ordered his men to gun them down. The military aimed adult level so most of the children survived this initial killing and ran away to hide. They had been without food for several days and were starving. Monterrosa called out to the children in a very sweet voice: “Children… come to me… I have food. I have candy. I have bread." And they came. They were starving. His voice was so kind. The children gathered around him – he told them all to line up to get their food and then he ordered his men to shoot them.
Over 400 people died this day. This was in Copapayo on November 4th, 1983
In July of 1984, just up the street in Tejutepeque, the community was told to form a line leading to a latrine. The children were holding on tight to the dresses of their mothers. They took these first. They cut off their head and threw the parts down the latrine. Then they took the breast fed babies. These they threw up in the air to catch on their bayonets and then they threw them down the latrine. Then the adults: they cut off arms and heads and threw the parts down the latrine.
The military brought guns, tanks and bullets to Bishop Eduardo Alvarez to be blessed. "This way, the bullets would be blessed when they entered our bodies."
Now in 2008, we meet every night and talk about how we can be a good Christian. And the government continues to accuse us of being terrorists.
La lucha sigue. (The struggle continues).
"Things have not changed much. With the adoption of the dollar in 2001, people are poorer than ever. This is a part of the reason people leave to go to the U.S. There is no possibility of a good life here. Even now… about 10 people every day are killed. They say they are killed by gangs, but not all are."
One of the students from St. Catherine's asked "What is your hope?"
Don Pablo said: "The hope at this moment is in the next elections." But not much hope. The ARENA has lots of money and will continue to work to change the attitudes and to buy votes.
One of the students asked "What can we do?"
Don Pablo said to talk. Because what is told in the media is not the truth. We can tell the truth."
KNOW BEFORE YOU GO
If requiring any assistance before your arrival to El Salvador, do not hesitate to contact us. Please review carefully all the information provided below in order to facilitate your journey….
http://www.elsalvador.com/hablemos/2005/200205/200205-5.htm (Spanish -Cinquera)
http://www.laprensagrafica.com/dominical/983840.asp article in Spanish regarding Cinquera
For a virtual tour of El Salvador: English or Spanish pages, view
http://www.4elsalvador.com/
For more information on rural and off the beaten path El Salvador journeys visit the site:
http:/ www.theotherelsalvador.com/ in English and Spanish
We assist visitors getting oriented and getting around after arrival, if you wish to be picked up at the Airport, please notify us well in advance of your arrival. E mail: elsalvadorinfo@Gmail.com
El Salvador and Central American travel Ideas view:
http://www.alfatravelguide.com/english/sv/el-salvador.htm
Accomodation
For many fine budget, moderate or upscale accomidations throughout Central America please check the travel website Alfa Travel Guide/Central America Pages are in English, Spanish/español and Swedish/Svenska
http://www.alfatravelguide.com/english/index.htm
For more local information on entertainment, travel and lodgings view the El Salvador Section in pdf format on The Guatemala Revue Magazine on line edition (English) http://www.revuemag.com/
http://www.elsalvador.com/hablemos/2005/200205/200205-5.htm ( Spanish -Cinquera)
http://www.laprensagrafica.com/dominical/983840.asp article in Spanish regarding Cinquera
For a virtual tour of El Salvador: English or Spanish pages, view
http://www.4elsalvador.com/
For more information on rural and off the beaten path El Salvador journeys visit the site: http://www.theotherelsalvador.com/ in English and Spanish
Recommended Links for Travelers.
Interesting Place
Neighboring Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua. International Bus Transportation check Tica Bus www.ticabus.com/ on line. We assist visitors getting oriented and getting around after arrival, if you
wish to be picked up at the Airport, please notify us well in advance of your arrival.
E mail: elsalvadorinfo@Gmail.com
El Salvador travel Ideas view:
http://www.alfatravelguide.com/english/sv/el-salvador.htm and
http://www.theotherelsalvador.com/
Accomodation
For many fine budget, moderate or upscale accomidations throughout Central America please check the travel website Alfa Travel Guide/Central America Pages are in English, Spanish and Svenska
http://www.alfatravelguide.com/english/index.htm
For more local information on entertainment, travel and lodgings view the El Salvador Section in pdf format on The Guatemala Revue Magazine on line edition (English) http://www.revuemag.com/
Accomidations available in El Salvador range from basic 2 star family owned and operated guest houses or bed and breakfast from approx. $10 USD, 6 Euro, per day per person upwards to more posh 3, 4 and 5 star accomidations, depending on your taste and your budget. For stays of 30 days or more, home stay with local family or rental of
furnished room or apartment by week or month recommended.
Staff at small to often even large hotels and hostals in Central America generally are unable (or often unwilling) answer e mail inquiries from abroad.....especially if in English, and often even fluent Spanish does not seem to work either..... ¡Fijése! (You'll learn what it means after you arrive!)
"You're not in Kansas Anymore, Dorothy!"
Addresses
Please contact us in advance of your departure as we are swamped with inquires for the June-July-August high travel season!
E mail elsalvadorinfo@Gmail.com In English and languages other than Spanish…
A volunteer is able to answer your inquiry in either English or Spanish within 2 working days if possible.
Skype IM and telephone contact info upon request, serious inquiries only.
Sorry, unable to help you plan detailed or extended journeys online, please obtain an up to date Guide Book specific to Central America before departure such as Footprint Handbooks, Moon's Handbooks, Rough Guides or The Lonely Planet.
Special consideration given to those persons wishing to volunteer long or short term term.
Free Spanish lessons online plus excellent list of accredited Spanish schools with home stay programs on www.123teachme.com/
CINQUERA PHOTO GALLERY
Check out these great photos of Cinquera on flickr.com,
http://www.flickr.com/photos/maxgirin/sets/72157601585516225/.
ARDM
Asociación de Reconstrucción y Desarrollo Municipal
Barrio El Centro, frente al Parque,
Cinquera, Departamento de Cabañas, El Salvador, C. A.
ardmcqr@yahoo.es
Information contact:
elsalvadorinfo@Gmail.com
English, Deutsch, Français, etc
marco@telemovil.net
Español
