22 Days of Hunger
Rosa describes a span of 22 days during the war during which she and her mom had no food to eat.
Addressing human rights in the wake of human tragedy
During the 1980s, thousands of people were displaced from their homes by violence in rural El Salvador. Through harsh experience, rural populations learned that the Salvadoran military employed “scorched earth” tactics, destroying all signs of life in operations intended to eliminate potential supporters of the guerrillas. With the first signs of an impending military operation, entire communities fled into the countryside with only the supplies they could carry, a process referred to in El Salvador as “guindas.” Though sometimes escorted by guerrillas, the majority of participants in the “guindas” were non-combatants, including pregnant women, infants and children, and elderly people. During the “guindas,” civilians were targeted by the military in close-quarters massacres and by indiscriminate aerial bombing. Others drowned while attempting to cross rivers; in the infamous “Las Aradas Massacre” in 1980, some 600 people died attempting to cross the Sumpul River while under fire from Salvadoran and Honduran troops. These ordeals often lasted many days; during the “May Guinda” in 1982, thousands of people from the area of Arcatao, Chalatenango, spent more than three weeks on the run, suffering from sickness and starvation. Anyone found by the Salvadoran military was killed or captured, including lost children, who survivors believe were taken by the military and passed into illegal adoption networks. This chapter includes accounts of these experiences by those who endured them, oftentimes repeatedly, during the early years of the war.
Rosa describes a span of 22 days during the war during which she and her mom had no food to eat.
Gregorio remembers the deployment of 14,000 Salvadoran and Honduran soldiers during the 1982 “May Guinda”, and contrasts this with later military operations.
Virginia remembers the “May Guinda” and how she and her children managed to survive.
Marta recounts how she and her family fled during the “May Guinda” and the hardships they faced.
Otilia recounts the killing of her father in a military ambush during the “May Guinda” while she and the rest of her family fled for their lives.
Arminda describes what it was like to be on the run during the “May Guinda.”
Edith remembers experiencing the “May Guinda” as a young girl, including the difficulty of finding food and seeing wounded people all around her.
Berta describes her experience during the “May Guinda” and a massacre of civilians during the crossing of the Sumpul River.
Damián describes the massacre of La Quesera, in San Vicente province.
Juana relates her difficult experience during the May Guinda, attempting to cross the Sumpul River with her four children.
Hermelinda explains the meaning of the term “guinda”.
Virginia narrates how she fled from military operations with her children and recounts the day her nine-year-old son died, and she was unable to bury him.