Izalco, El Salvador, 25 enero 2015
In January of 1932 one of the biggest rebellions in 20th century Latin American history was initiated by the indigenous in El Salvador. Thousands of poor campesinos attacked military cuartels and took control of several towns in western El Salvador. The government of General Hernandez Martinez responded by slaughtering thousands of indigenous, in a country that only had one and one-half million people.
The collective trama lasted for decades. It took many years before the survivors began to speak about these massacres, and then only in the privacy of their own homes amongst their most trusted family and friends.
Recently, the elderly who survived have begun to give testimony, breaking with the culture of terror that had silenced them.
An American military advisor, in El Salvador one month before the insurrection, described the conditions in El Salvador at the time.
"One of the first things one observes upon arriving in San Salvador is the abundance of luxury cars...Packards and Pierce Arrows...and the contrast with the taxi carts being pulled by shoeless men.
There is no middle class...nothing between the immensly rich and the poor.
Ninety percent of the wealth of the nation is held by one-half of one percent of the population. Between 30 and 40 families own and control almost the entire country. They live like kings, surrounded by slaves. They send their children to be educated in Europe and the United States. They flaunt their money. And the rest of the population has practically nothing...
I imagine the situation in El Salvador is similar to that of France, Russia and Mexico before their revolutions." A.R. Harris
What were the circumstances and world conditions that motivated the people to revolt?
-- the precarious socio economic conditions of the campesino workers.
-- the loss of campesino held land that had been passed down from generation to generation, as a result of the privatization that began in 1880 with the increasing number and size of the coffee plantations.
--the crash of 1929 that led to lower coffee prices worldwide, provoking a dramatic loss of wages and jobs.
--ethnic conflicts between indigineous and Ladino populations in western El Salvador in Izalco and Nahuizalco.
--the election of President Aranjo who raised expectations among the people of a possible agrarian reform. The failure of any reform led to much discontent, facilitating efforts by the Communist Party and others to organize and demand better conditions.
Estimates of the number of those killed during the first few months of 1932 range from 10,000 to 30,000. Farabundo Marti was one of several leaders captured and killed four days before the insurrection. His memory and name would live on, first among the five guerilla bands who joined forces in 1980 to become the FMLN, and then after the Peace Accords in the form of the FMLN political party.
The murdered indigenous were Nahuatl Pipil. The town of Izalco experienced the greatest loss of life. Next to the church, across from the city square, is the site where the indigenous were forced to dig their own mass grave before they were killed.
Today, this place is maintained as the sacred ground that it is. Upon entering, visitors are asked to maintain silence. On Sunday, January 25, 2015, a sacred ceremony was held to commorate, to celebrate, and to remember the fallen. I was privileged to be able to attend.
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