The story of a small village in El Salvador, destroyed during the country's…
Scars of Memory
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- Reviews
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- Cataloging
- Transcript
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January 22, 1932. An unprecedented peasant uprising erupts in western El Salvador, as a group of Ladino and indigenous peasants cut army supply lines, attack a military garrison, and take control over several towns.
Retribution is swift. After three days, the army and militias move in and, in some villages, slaughter all males over age 12. Elsewhere, they summarily execute anyone suspected of having a link to the Communists. Over the next few weeks, 10,000 people are massacred.
In SCARS OF MEMORY survivors share their memories, many for the first time.
Jeffrey L. Gould (director of the Center for Latin American and Caribbean Studies at Indiana University) and Carlos Henríquez Consalvi (founder of the Museo de la Palabra y la Imágen in El Salvador) recovered and analyzed hundreds of survivor testimonies, which form the basis of the film. They also located rare photographs and film footage housed in archives in El Salvador, the United States, and England; including images of Communist leader Farabundo Martí, local indigenous leader Feliciano Ama of Izalco, and military dictator General Hernández Martínez.
The brutal way in which the uprising was crushed left many too scared to ever participate in politics again. The trauma resonated through six decades of military rule, until the 1992 peace accords ended a brutal, 12-year civil war.
'An excellent historic record.'-Film Threat
'1932 marks the point in Salvadoran history when indigenous people, who survived by abandoning their languages and customs for ladino (non-Indian) ways, largely ceased to exist as an easily identifiable ethnic group. The terror wrought by La Matanza was so pervasive that it effectively silenced political dissent in the country for nearly half a century, until the issues that underlay the event exploded into the civil war that ravaged El Salvador from the late 1970s until 1992. Rich, provocative, and exquisitely researched... [SCARS OF MEMORY] is a remarkable work, in large part because the descriptions and images of those dark days are entirely new to us; the interviews unfold with an urgency and freshness of tales well remembered but never recounted. There is an immediacy that both horrifies and compels the viewer; even the very old survivors recall their memories with clarity and precision, and with none of the rehearsed or rote qualities that one often associates with survivors of other traumatic events who have told their stories many times over.'-American Historical Review
'An important contribution to the new historical and anthropological research. An excellent resource for students of race and nationalism in Central America. The testimonials of people who lived through the massacre are what truly set this film apart. They make the more grisly images meaningful rather than sensational... One of the strengths of this film is its ability to convey the power and horror... without slipping into a purely explanatory mode that risks explaining away this kind of horror and contributing to its normalization.'-The Journal of Latin American Anthropology
'Scrupulously well-documented... Highly Recommended... for anyone who seeks to understand the social ramifications and extreme sufferings brought about by constant oppression.'-Catholic Library World
Citation
Main credits
Gould, Jeffrey L. (film producer)
Gould, Jeffrey L. (film director)
Henríquez Consalvi, Carlos (film producer)
Henríquez Consalvi, Carlos (film director)
Salmon, Russell (narrator)
Other credits
Camera, David Barraza, Santiago Rodriguez, Carlos Henriquez Consalvi; digital editing, Carlos Henriquez Consalvi; English digital editing, Alan Mauro.
Distributor subjects
Central America; El Salvador; History (World); Human Rights; Latin America; Political Science; PsychologyKeywords
WEBVTT
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[sil.]
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[music]
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[sil.]
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[music]
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The west of El Salvador
is not very different
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from the rest of the country. Green mountains,
placid lakes, and dormant volcanoes
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characterize the calm landscapes.
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[music]
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Like their ancestors, many of the
villagers make and sell mats and baskets
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using locally grown reeds. Some
of their religious celebrations
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show strong traces of their
indigenous and colonial origins.
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[music]
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Some of the elderly women still
wear the colorful refajos.
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[music]
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It is contemporary history however, that distinguishes the
western region of El Salvador from the rest of the country,
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and from the rest of the
hemisphere as well.
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On January 22nd, 1932,
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one of the largest peasant
rebellions in Latin American history
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took place there. Thousands of
peasants attacked military garrisons
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and captured several towns. The
army responded with the massacre
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of at least 10,000 people in a country with
a population of about a million and a half.
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The majority of those killed were Indians.
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[music]
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The mass killings generated
a collective trauma
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that lasted during six
decades of military rule.
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For the survivors, 1932,
was a subject talked about
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only in the privacy of their own home.
The 1992 peace accord signed in Mexico,
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which ended the civil war of the
1980s, also brought to an end
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the culture of terror and denial
that engulfed Salvadoran society.
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Democracy and a newfound trust has
allowed the survivors of 1932,
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to talk freely for the first time.
It is time for memory to speak.
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[music]
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The worldwide economic crisis of the
‘30s caused the fall of coffee prices,
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which led to the rapid reduction of plantation
wages while increasing hunger and poverty.
00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:14.999
Major A. R. Harris, military
attaché in El Salvador,
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commented just a month before the
insurrection, \"30 or 40 families
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own nearly everything in the country. They live
in almost regal splendor with many attendants,
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send their children to Europe or the United States to
be educated and spend money lavishly on themselves.
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The rest of the population
has practically nothing.
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I imagine the situation in El Salvador today is
very much like France was before its revolution,
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Russia before its revolution and
Mexico before its revolution.\"
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[music]
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During the governments of Romero Bosque
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and Arturo Araujo, certain
freedoms were allowed.
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Union leaders seized the opportunity and
extended their organizing activities.
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With incomes pushed below
subsistence levels
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due to the economic crisis, unions
pressed for wage increases.
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[non-English narration]
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Another cause of the peasant mobilization
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was the lack of access to land. Starting in the
1880s, the steady growth of the coffee industry
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backed by privatization laws led to the
breakup of communal land holdings.
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The unfulfilled electoral
promises made by President Araujo
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only exacerbated the land conflicts.
00:07:20.000 --> 00:07:24.999
[music]
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Peasant leaders pushed for land reform
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and both secret and open meetings
multiplied throughout the region.
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[music]
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Colonos, resident laborers on the haciendas,
in particular, had strong interest
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in obtaining land and then becoming
independent of the control of the landowners.
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Margarita Turcios – daughter of colonos,
affiliated to the union movement - explains.
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Urban workers played a key role
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in organizing the peasant movement, and Indians
and non-Indians alike participated in it.
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However, in certain places -
like Izalco and Nahuizalco -
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there were strong ethnic tensions between
Indians and Ladinos or non-Indians.
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Tensions increased during the early years
of the 20th century due to the Ladinos’
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increasing control of the land
and local political power.
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Already in 1930, many Indians who had
fought in defense of their communal lands
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began to join the protest
movement led by the land(ph).
00:09:45.000 --> 00:09:50.000
[non-English narration]
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We also find a religious dimension
accompanying the social movement.
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In 1931, there arose a cult around the
Virgin of Adelanto and Ahuachapán.
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Local peasants associate the religious cult
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with the movement to seek social justice.
00:10:55.000 --> 00:11:03.000
[music]
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[music]
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During the 1920s and ‘30s, despite the rigid
forms of patriarchy in Salvadoran society,
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women took part in the social
and political movements.
00:11:40.000 --> 00:11:48.000
[music]
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A report at the Salvadoran Regional Workers’
Federation stated of 1700 affiliates in Nahuizalco,
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544 were women.
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Many women workers from the coffee plantations
in the cities participated in the labor unions.
00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:14.999
Two women, Amparo
Casamalhuapa and Julia Mojica
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stood out as major leaders of
the revolutionary movement.
00:12:20.000 --> 00:12:24.999
[music]
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Faced with the rapid
growth of organized labor,
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the Araujo government chose to
repress the union movement,
00:12:35.000 --> 00:12:40.000
as the brother of the left-wing
leader Manuel Mojica asserts.
00:13:00.000 --> 00:13:04.999
[non-English narration]
00:13:05.000 --> 00:13:09.999
The Socorro Rojo - Red Aid -
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was originally conceived by the Communist Party as a
defense organization against political repression.
00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:19.999
It soon gained strength
00:13:20.000 --> 00:13:24.999
and became the main organization of peasants and
rural workers fighting for land and higher wages.
00:13:25.000 --> 00:13:29.999
Their leader was Farabundo Marti,
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a militant who had fought
alongside Sandino and Nicaraguan.
00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:40.000
Those who knew him remember him traveling
throughout the country organizing workers.
00:14:10.000 --> 00:14:18.000
[music]
00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:24.999
In September 1931, on a coffee
plantation near the town of Saragossa,
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the National Guard broke up a workers’
meeting attended by 200 people.
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The violent attack left
14 dead and 24 wounded.
00:14:35.000 --> 00:14:39.999
Faced with growing repression,
00:14:40.000 --> 00:14:44.999
peasants affiliated to Socorro Rojo began to
discuss the possibility of an insurrection.
00:14:45.000 --> 00:14:49.999
They believed that an insurrection
would not only stop the repression,
00:14:50.000 --> 00:14:55.000
it would also help them regain
the land they had lost.
00:15:20.000 --> 00:15:24.999
Responding to the growing insurrectionary
spirit of the members of Socorro Rojo,
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the communist leaders in San
Salvador requested funding and arms
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from the international office of
the Socorro Rojo in New York.
00:15:35.000 --> 00:15:39.999
Ismael Hernandez wrote in November 1931,
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\"The situation is serious and
is likely to become critical.
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You shouldn’t consider these matters with indifference nor
should you limit your response to theoretical analysis.
00:15:50.000 --> 00:15:54.999
We need plenty of funding, and if at
all possible, we need war materials.\"
00:15:55.000 --> 00:15:59.999
But they received nothing.
00:16:00.000 --> 00:16:08.000
[music]
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On December 2nd, 1931, General
Hernández Martínez led a coup d’etat
00:16:20.000 --> 00:16:24.999
against President Araujo. The rural workers
took advantage of the political uncertainty,
00:16:25.000 --> 00:16:29.999
and, for the first time in the history of the country,
started a wave of strikes in the coffee plantations.
00:16:30.000 --> 00:16:34.999
The political unrest
forced the new government
00:16:35.000 --> 00:16:39.999
to delay local elections for 15 days.
00:16:40.000 --> 00:16:44.999
The Communist Party,
00:16:45.000 --> 00:16:49.999
together with its allied grassroots
organizations, had gained considerable strength.
00:16:50.000 --> 00:16:54.999
According to internal records, the
Socorro Rojo had 6,000 members,
00:16:55.000 --> 00:16:59.999
mostly in the western region.
00:17:00.000 --> 00:17:05.000
Communist candidates had very good chances of
winning the municipal and congressional elections.
00:17:20.000 --> 00:17:24.999
Widespread fraud prevented the triumph of the Communist
Party. In Ahuachapan, the annulment of the elections
00:17:25.000 --> 00:17:30.000
provoked rural strikes that combined
political protest and wage demands.
00:17:50.000 --> 00:17:54.999
During the farm workers strike
in Santa Rita, Ahuachapan,
00:17:55.000 --> 00:17:59.999
the strikes turned violent. The National
Guard intervened and killed 30 strikers.
00:18:00.000 --> 00:18:08.000
[music]
00:18:20.000 --> 00:18:24.999
On January 13th, 1932,
00:18:25.000 --> 00:18:29.999
the English Consul wrote, “The communist
revolt is spreading dangerously.
00:18:30.000 --> 00:18:34.999
The agitation is focused
near Santa Ana, Ahuachapan,
00:18:35.000 --> 00:18:39.999
Sonsonate, and La Libertad. Serious clashes
have taken place between the government forces
00:18:40.000 --> 00:18:44.999
and the communists.” The party recognizing
the danger of a bloodbath in the West
00:18:45.000 --> 00:18:49.999
attempted to negotiate a truce
with the Martinez government.
00:18:50.000 --> 00:18:58.000
As the communist leader
Miguel Mármol recalls.
00:19:20.000 --> 00:19:24.999
The Communist Party then decided
to organize an armed revolt.
00:19:25.000 --> 00:19:29.999
However, four days before the planned
insurrection, the army captured three leaders -
00:19:30.000 --> 00:19:34.999
Zapata, Luna, and Farabundo Marti.
00:19:35.000 --> 00:19:39.999
Although news of their arrest
00:19:40.000 --> 00:19:44.999
caused uncertainty in the communist ranks, the
central committee of the party voted six to three
00:19:45.000 --> 00:19:49.999
in favor of going ahead
with the insurrection.
00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:58.000
[music]
00:20:05.000 --> 00:20:09.999
On the night of January 22nd,
thousands of workers and peasants -
00:20:10.000 --> 00:20:14.999
armed with machetes and some pistols and shotguns
- rose up and seized the towns of Tacuba,
00:20:15.000 --> 00:20:19.999
Juayua, Nahuizalco, Izalco and Tultepec.
00:20:20.000 --> 00:20:24.999
They blocked the roads, cut off lines of
communication and unsuccessfully attacked
00:20:25.000 --> 00:20:29.999
the military garrisons of Ahuachapan,
Santa Tecla, and Sonsonate.
00:20:30.000 --> 00:20:34.999
In the process, they killed at least
20 civilians and 30 soldiers.
00:20:35.000 --> 00:20:40.000
[music]
00:21:00.000 --> 00:21:05.000
[non-English narration]
00:21:40.000 --> 00:21:45.000
[non-English narration]
00:21:55.000 --> 00:22:00.000
[non-English narration]
00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:10.000
[non-English narration]
00:22:25.000 --> 00:22:33.000
[non-English narration]
00:22:35.000 --> 00:22:39.999
In the towns where they seized control,
00:22:40.000 --> 00:22:44.999
the rebels placed local power in the hands of the
communist candidates, whom they believed had been robbed
00:22:45.000 --> 00:22:50.000
of their electoral victories.
00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:35.000
[non-English narration]
00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:19.999
Juayúa - the indigenous
leader Francisco Sanchez -
00:24:20.000 --> 00:24:24.999
ordered that all land deeds
returned over to him
00:24:25.000 --> 00:24:29.999
so that he could develop a plan to
distribute land to the Indians.
00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:34.999
Sanchez issued orders from the town park.
00:24:35.000 --> 00:24:39.999
He ordered the municipal band to play
and ordered town women dressed in red
00:24:40.000 --> 00:24:44.999
to make courteous for his troops.
00:24:45.000 --> 00:24:49.999
[music]
00:24:50.000 --> 00:24:54.999
The presence of armed rebels
generated a sense of terror
00:24:55.000 --> 00:25:00.000
among the urban population.
00:25:10.000 --> 00:25:14.999
Peasants who didn’t support
the communist movement
00:25:15.000 --> 00:25:19.999
also lived through difficult
times during the insurrection.
00:25:20.000 --> 00:25:25.000
Sotero Linares, captured by rebels
in a village near Izalco remembers.
00:26:30.000 --> 00:26:34.999
After only three days, the National
Army - supported by civil militias -
00:26:35.000 --> 00:26:39.999
put down the rebellion. In some towns
- such as Nahuizalco and Tacuba -
00:26:40.000 --> 00:26:44.999
the troops killed every male over 12
years old that they could capture.
00:26:45.000 --> 00:26:49.999
The killing lasted more than a month.
The army and its accomplices
00:26:50.000 --> 00:26:54.999
killed at least 10,000
men - mostly Indians.
00:26:55.000 --> 00:27:03.000
[music]
00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:25.000
[music]
00:30:00.000 --> 00:30:05.000
[sil.]
00:30:25.000 --> 00:30:30.000
[non-English narration]
00:31:10.000 --> 00:31:14.999
In other places, the slaughter was more
selective. Troops often used official documents
00:31:15.000 --> 00:31:19.999
that listed voters who had supported the
nomination of Communist Party candidates.
00:31:20.000 --> 00:31:25.000
[music]
00:31:30.000 --> 00:31:35.000
[non-English narration]
00:31:55.000 --> 00:32:00.000
[non-English narration]
00:32:20.000 --> 00:32:25.000
[non-English narration]
00:33:10.000 --> 00:33:14.999
Weeks after the first executions,
00:33:15.000 --> 00:33:19.999
the massacres continued.
00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:24.999
[music]
00:33:25.000 --> 00:33:29.999
According to the English consul’s
report, about a thousand Indians
00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:34.999
from Nahuizalco showed up on February 13th,
attempting to obtain identity documents
00:33:35.000 --> 00:33:39.999
from the mayor certifying that
the bearer was not a communist.
00:33:40.000 --> 00:33:44.999
The mayor became frightened when he saw the large
numbers of people and sent an urgent telegram
00:33:45.000 --> 00:33:49.999
to military headquarters in Sonsonate. Upon
arrival, soldiers executed 388 Indians.
00:33:50.000 --> 00:33:58.000
[music]
00:34:25.000 --> 00:34:29.999
The violent reaction of the mayor
of Nahuizalco and some landowners
00:34:30.000 --> 00:34:34.999
derived partly from terror,
partly from collective hysteria
00:34:35.000 --> 00:34:40.000
and from a desire for vengeance.
00:36:30.000 --> 00:36:38.000
[music]
00:36:40.000 --> 00:36:44.999
A landowner from the area expressed
the fear and hatred of his class
00:36:45.000 --> 00:36:49.999
when he stated, \"The United
States did the right thing -
00:36:50.000 --> 00:36:54.999
exterminating Indians before they could
impede the progress of the nation.\"
00:36:55.000 --> 00:36:59.999
[music]
00:37:00.000 --> 00:37:04.999
Generally speaking, peasant survivors
00:37:05.000 --> 00:37:09.999
blame the communist leaders for the tragedy,
but even more, they blame the wealthy elite.
00:37:10.000 --> 00:37:15.000
[music]
00:38:10.000 --> 00:38:14.999
The massacres of thousands of Indians
00:38:15.000 --> 00:38:19.999
had a profound impact on their communities.
The Indian and peasant population
00:38:20.000 --> 00:38:24.999
developed a deep fear of the authorities
and strong resentment against the rich.
00:38:25.000 --> 00:38:29.999
[music]
00:38:30.000 --> 00:38:34.999
In 1933,
00:38:35.000 --> 00:38:39.999
Salarrué wrote, \"Indian women
still turn their backs
00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:44.999
when cars drive by, carrying - according
to them the enemies - the whites,
00:38:45.000 --> 00:38:50.000
the Ladinos, the damned,
the bad, the ugly.\"
00:39:05.000 --> 00:39:10.000
[non-English narration]
00:39:30.000 --> 00:39:35.000
[non-English narration]
00:39:40.000 --> 00:39:45.000
[non-English narration]
00:40:30.000 --> 00:40:34.999
[music]
00:40:35.000 --> 00:40:39.999
The dramatic change in power relations
between Indians and Ladinos
00:40:40.000 --> 00:40:44.999
had a subtle effect on the culture.
For instance, the Nahuatl language
00:40:45.000 --> 00:40:49.999
was spoken less and less doing part to the scorn
of the ladinos - often expressed in mockery
00:40:50.000 --> 00:40:55.000
against those who spoke
the Indian language.
00:41:35.000 --> 00:41:39.999
[music]
00:41:40.000 --> 00:41:44.999
Likewise, new generations of Indian women
00:41:45.000 --> 00:41:50.000
rejected the use of the
refajo, a traditional skirt.
00:42:15.000 --> 00:42:19.999
The 1932 massacre
00:42:20.000 --> 00:42:24.999
created a culture of terror. For the next
50 years, Western Indians and peasants
00:42:25.000 --> 00:42:29.999
shied away from any kind of
political participation.
00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:35.000
[music]
00:43:10.000 --> 00:43:14.999
During the 1960s and ‘70s, however,
00:43:15.000 --> 00:43:19.999
the unresolved problems from the 1930s,
motivated the new generation to participate
00:43:20.000 --> 00:43:24.999
in struggles for land, democracy
and the right to organize unions.
00:43:25.000 --> 00:43:29.999
[music]
00:43:30.000 --> 00:43:34.999
Political involvement sparked conflicts
00:43:35.000 --> 00:43:40.000
within their families.
00:43:50.000 --> 00:43:54.999
[music]
00:43:55.000 --> 00:43:59.999
During the early 1980s, as in
other parts of the country,
00:44:00.000 --> 00:44:04.999
government forces committed several
massacres in western El Salvador,
00:44:05.000 --> 00:44:09.999
and death squads assassinated large numbers of
individuals considered to be potential subversives.
00:44:10.000 --> 00:44:15.000
[music]
00:44:45.000 --> 00:44:49.999
El Canelo - another village near
Nahuizalco - relive the trauma of 1932.
00:44:50.000 --> 00:44:54.999
As Eduvigues Perez, once a widow
00:44:55.000 --> 00:45:00.000
and grandchild of massacre
victims, tells us.
00:45:35.000 --> 00:45:39.999
The repression and political polarization
00:45:40.000 --> 00:45:44.999
led to a civil war that blocked
El Salvador for 12 years.
00:45:45.000 --> 00:45:53.000
[music]
00:45:55.000 --> 00:45:59.999
Some young people joined the guerrillas
00:46:00.000 --> 00:46:04.999
and began to see the struggles of the
early 1930s as part of their own history.
00:46:05.000 --> 00:46:09.999
[music]
00:46:10.000 --> 00:46:14.999
Few militants, who had survived the 1932
insurrection and were still politically active,
00:46:15.000 --> 00:46:20.000
served as an inspiration to them.
00:46:55.000 --> 00:46:59.999
Doing part to the political legacy
00:47:00.000 --> 00:47:04.999
of the massacre of 1932, the
civil war did not develop
00:47:05.000 --> 00:47:09.999
with the same level of intensity in the West as in the other
parts of the country. But the coffee zone, nevertheless,
00:47:10.000 --> 00:47:14.999
witnessed social strife and warfare.
00:47:15.000 --> 00:47:23.000
[music]
00:47:30.000 --> 00:47:35.000
During the war, some young people began to
search for new forms of indigenous identities.
00:48:20.000 --> 00:48:24.999
With the end of the war, the indigenous
communities and leftist community activists,
00:48:25.000 --> 00:48:29.999
began to exercise their newfound right to
freedom of expression and organization.
00:48:30.000 --> 00:48:35.000
[music]
00:48:45.000 --> 00:48:50.000
[non-English narration]
00:49:15.000 --> 00:49:19.999
Despite some significant improvements,
00:49:20.000 --> 00:49:24.999
the peace accords of 1992, did not modify the
extremely unequal distribution of income
00:49:25.000 --> 00:49:30.000
or other forms of social inequality.
00:49:40.000 --> 00:49:48.000
[non-English narration]
00:49:50.000 --> 00:49:54.999
[music]
00:49:55.000 --> 00:49:59.999
The 1932 insurrection and
the civil war of the 1980s,
00:50:00.000 --> 00:50:04.999
demonstrated forcefully that peace
cannot last if its foundations
00:50:05.000 --> 00:50:09.999
are based on policies of cultural,
economic, and political exclusion.
00:50:10.000 --> 00:50:14.999
Will the future repeat the social and
historical convulsions that resulted in
00:50:15.000 --> 00:50:19.999
so much death, suffering, and destruction?
00:50:20.000 --> 00:50:24.999
[music]
00:50:25.000 --> 00:50:29.999
At the beginning of a new century,
00:50:30.000 --> 00:50:34.999
the Salvadoran strive to
build a democratic society.
00:50:35.000 --> 00:50:39.999
It is time to respect the right of Indians
and peasants and to respect their memories.
00:50:40.000 --> 00:50:48.000
[music]
00:50:50.000 --> 00:50:54.999
Above all, there must be an end
to their social marginality,
00:50:55.000 --> 00:50:59.999
their below subsistence wages and
their lack of access to land,
00:51:00.000 --> 00:51:04.999
housing or health care.
00:51:05.000 --> 00:51:09.999
The denial of such basic needs,
with the seed of the revolt,
00:51:10.000 --> 00:51:15.000
and the tragedy of 1932.
00:52:35.000 --> 00:52:43.000
[sil.]
Distributor: Icarus Films
Length: 53 minutes
Date: 2002
Genre: Expository
Language: English; Spanish / English subtitles
Grade: 10-12, College, Adult
Color/BW: /
Closed Captioning: Available
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