The account of the US is very different than the personal witness of Rufina Amaya and the stance of the Salvadoran Army; however, the reality remains that this massacre did in fact happen and the lives of over 900 people were lost in this single event. Mark Danner has written, “This massacre is perhaps the greatest of Modern Latin American history.”
For further reading consider
The Massacre at El Mozote by Mark Danner
The Promised Land by Scott Wright
With all of that being said, I would like to share with you my reflections on traveling to the site of the massacre at El Mozote.
This past November I had the opportunity to participate in a Protest and Demonstration to Close the School of the Americas (SOA) in Fort Benning, GA. SOA is now called WHINSEC. For more information on this this institution and how it is used as a means of US foreign policy as well as connected to human rights violations please see the link below:
My intention of going there was a long discerned decision from academic study and a spiritual calling in my heart. Part of my preparation in coming to El Salvador was in connection with attending this specific event. From the history of El Salvador and Guatemala that I had studied throughout my first two years at Regis, I knew that being present at the gates in Fort Benning was an important action to be in solidarity with the Salvadoran people I would be accompanying. Therefore, my intention was to hold in my heart and mind all the Salvadoran people I would encounter and grow in love with.
Committed to nonviolence and speaking out against social injustice, myself and a group from Regis University, dedicated our time to participating in this annual demonstration.
When I went to the site of the Massacre of El Mozote, I was reminded of a specific reflection from this experience. At the protest there was a road that led up to the main stage with booths on various social justice issues. In the middle of the street at one point were clothes laid out with different ages on top. This was intentionally created to remember the people who were massacred at El Mozote. There was an invitation to anyone who would like to reflect on these lives to put on a piece of clothing and lay in memory of that person. Two of my friends participated and later shared their experience. When I was standing in front of the memorial, reading the names of families massacred in El Mozote I thought of my friend Liam’s words. He said, “The most powerful thing for me was laying there and watching people walk past you. I kept thinking if I were really dead the world would just keep going, everything would just keep happening. That is why I think this is so important, because we are taking the time to stop and remember the lives that have been lost.”
My friend Liam’s words are very true and very much led me into my major reflection of the day. Often enough we do not take time to remember. We do not take time to grieve. The structure of our society allows for tragic events to be so impersonal that hearing about a Massacre like El Mozote can easily be overlooked because it happened years ago in a small Central American country. The reality is we are connected to this great tragedy and we cannot close our eyes to the fact the US was involved and we have responsibility. However, the structure of US culture constantly allows us to be distracted and removed from the reality of the poor and the actual accounts of their sufferings.
For instance, consider what you learned in your primary and high school education about US history. What do you remember? Perhaps some dates, significant events, brief overviews of wars or how the battles took place. But what do you remember of US Southwest history? What do you remember about the Trail of Tears? Or battles between Europeans and Native Americans? How do Native Americans live now? What do you know about the Chicano Latino Movement in the US?
Perhaps you are able to answer these questions, because of the gift of your education. But my major reflection was on this, the fact that I had to take a class on Chicana activists in Denver, CO in my third year of college to learn about a Mexican American woman from San Antonio, TX named Emma Tenayuca. If I did not take that class, I would still not know her story and she is from the very city I grew up in for eleven years of my life.
This in itself is a great injustice. The fact that our country is not telling the truth of our Latino history and with each generation more and more becomes lost and silenced. This is not only a problem within the US. Even here in El Salvador, the becarios who I live with only know Salvadoran history from participating in the Romero Program. For many of the Salvadoran students I went to Mozote with, it was their first time learning about this part of their history. And to see the deep impact of what this experience meant for each of them and listening to their reflection, reminded me of the countless times after my Chicana class my friends and I would be deeply moved by what we had just learned about.
This very dynamic demonstrated the power that the influence of assimilation and globalization is having on the world. The practices of the US are standards, which in many places are continuously trying to be emulated. Our indifference and mentality to sweep things under the rug, needs to be changed. Injustice, suffering, struggle are all real realities not only of our history but daily lives.
Therefore, from this we need to learn from the Salvadoran people, who at least have created memorials to remember. My Latino herman@s we need to listen to the stories of our abuelos and ask questions about where we come from. We need to seek the history that is slowly being lost by the forces of assimilation and sigue adelante con la lucha. Morning our sufferings and never forgetting, crying out presente because we carry this with us in the very blood of our veins. Nuestros raices son profundas! We must cry out for JUSTICA Y VERDAD!!!
Memorial at Mozote
Becaria- Ana Maria leading reflection
Becaria- Lucy sharing Salvadoran History
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