July 28, 2008
Today was my first day of school here in El Salvador, at the Center for Exchange and Solidarity (el CIS). I took a placement test and was placed in the low intermediate level, which is what I am at home, too. The class was very good, interesting and challenging!
In the afternoon we participated in the optional Political-Cultural program that the school offers, and I am so glad that I attended today! We had a substitute teacher who was fantastic! Before he arrived we watched a video about one of the main leaders of the armed struggle during the civil war. It was called “The Story of Maria.” (The leader’s name was Maria). It was very good. After that, our teacher arrived and we discussed the video together, talking about the revolution and the themes thereof. Our teacher then began to speak about the position of women in Salvadorean society, and how during the war, because so many women were leaders and armed combatants, the roles for men and women became equal, because both participated equally in all of the aspects of the war. We went on to discuss the role of the Jesuit priests in the development of the socio-political awareness of the poor people of El Salvador, the relationship of the current government to the Catholic church, the attitude of the government towards poor people during the war, the difference between revolutions in South and Central America (socialist/communist ideology on the one hand, and religion and consciousness of a different way of thinking about God’s plan for our lives, on the other hand), the effects of free trade on the region, the plan the United States has to build a highway to connect the US and all the Central American countries as far as Panama, the reality of poverty in El Salvador, which our teacher said is far underrepresented by what the current (ARENA) government is telling the people, and the fact that the government/political party that is currently in power in El Salvador (ARENA) is one of the most brutally violent governments in existence.
After this lively and interesting discussion, our teacher asked us if we had any questions. I did. I wanted to know how exactly the civil war began ... what were the “first acts,” if you will. One of my classmates chided me for asking this, because, he implied, I seemed to be asking for the information to be presented as it usually is in our grade-school textbooks. Our teacher was also amused. But he is an unusually thoughtful man with a very well-developed critical mind, and so he immediately began to give a very thorough and thoughtful answer to my question. He said that the reality is that to understand the roots of the civil war in EL Salvador, one has to look far back in history. He said that when the conquistadores first came to El Salvador from Spain, the indigenous people here were not passive, but they resisted. So, he said, there is a very long history of armed resistance in this country. He said that in 1832 there was an armed uprising of indigenous people that fought the government forces for one year, using only their machetes. And in 1932, there was an armed movement of indigenous people (with machetes, again). Some of the leaders were Farabundo Marti (who the FMLN is named in memory of), Luna, and Emiliano Zapata. In 1932 there was a massacre carried out by the government, and 30,000 indigenous people were killed. (Our teacher said that this is why there aren’t very many indigenous people left in El Salvador.) He said that in 1932, after the massacre, the government started a program of heavy persecution of indigenous people. If they spoke their native language (Nahuatl - a Mayan language, I believe) or if they wore their traditional style of clothing, they would be killed by soldiers. Thereby, the indigenous culture in El Salvador was heavily persecuted and repressed. He mentioned a man named Miguel Marmol, also, but I forget in which context. Regarding the war that took place in the 1970s and 1980s here, he said that there was always a conflict between the people and the government, but that in 1980, two distinct, opposing groups appeared - on the left, the FMLN, and on the right, ARENA. And one of the major stimuli for the opening of the armed conflict was the assassination of Archbishop Romero, who was a great supporter of the poor people and a proponent of Liberation Theology. So,our teacher told us, after the death of Archbishop Romero, there was an escalation of the conflict, and so this seemed like “the beginning of the war.” But in reality, the struggle began when the Spanish came to this land 500 years ago, and has continued ever since. I am so thankful to this teacher for taking the time to carefully and humbly explain to us the roots of this very long conflict.
Since our teacher was so forthcoming with information and so knowledgeable, later I asked him another of my “burning questions,” which was, “Do disappearances continue to happen in El Salvador.” His answer was yes. He explained that the ARENA government uses the excuse of gang violence to explain away any disappearances. But, he said, sometimes a person will turn up in the news with wounds that were obviously caused by torture (he made a gesture that indicated the ends of fingers wrapped in gauze bandages after the removal of fingernails), but the official position on the case is that the violence was perpetrated by gangs (bandillas). He elaborated the example of a recent case of a high school student who was involved in a student movement. This student disappeared one day last year, and has not been heard from since. In the news, it was reported that the police followed him onto a bus and demanded that he come with them. But when they were questioned later, they said that he was in the police station for only a few minutes and then he left, and they have no idea what happened to him. He hasn’t been heard from for a year. And, our teacher said, the government blamed his disappearance on gangs. He said that “gang violence” is the government’s scapegoat for everything violent that happens in El Salvador. He then pointed out that during the war it was much easier to tell who was disappeared by the government forces, because there was far less gang activity, but now it is harder to distinguish or prove the difference between the two (especially as far as the government is concerned). He said that “death squads” are still operating in El Salvador, for the purpose of suppressing political dissent, but it is much harder to prove this these days.
Our teacher elaborated on the political situation here by saying that the current government promotes an image of El Salvador that is not real. It promotes, through the news media and, as my host father says, “propaganda,” the idea that El Salvador has developed much economically, that there is much less poverty now (although Ulises said that in reality about 50% of the Salvadoran people live in poverty), and that it is possible to have a better life here. Wheareas, in reality, this is a lie. Half of the people live in poverty, free expression of political views and grassroots organizing are dangerous, and the Salvadoran economy is almost completely dependent on the United States. Ah! My first day at El CIS was perfect for me! I loved learning all of these things. Que chevere!
