Nelson tells about various massacres that took place around Arcatao.
- Interviewee:
- Nelson
Transcription
That was during the "Guinda de Mayo" a huge massacre that was never publicized, in which many children and people of all ages died. I want to tell you it was mostly civilians who died there. But it was a very big massacre. I can verify the numbers and the places where the massacres took place. For example, I know very well that they massacred many who were fleeing at the spot where the Guayanpoque River meets the Patamera ravine. There was an ambush there at night and many people fell. In that massacre, I counted about 150 people, including women, children, and men. In that same operation, they also killed many people, about forty; in a place they call El Barillo, a little north of Patamera. Then, after that, the other massacre they committed was in the village of El Rincón. On the banks of the river, I counted about forty people including men and women. The other massacre they committed was in a place called Santa Anita, which belongs to the jurisdiction of San Antonio La Cruz. In the Santa Anita massacre I counted about 180 people killed in the operation. Then there was a massacre on the bridge that crosses the Sumpul River on the highway to Chalatenango. That was a big massacre during the same operation of people fleeing at night, and all the riverbanks were occupied. They killed a large number of people there. During that operation, there was a leader, named Miguel, who was my colleague. At that time he was a leader.
He took charge and he said, “Give me two hundred people, I know where to take them to keep them safe.”
He took them to a bend in the Lempa River called San Antonio de la Cruz, and there they killed them all. Finally, I also want to tell you we were keeping some people safe. During that operation, we took them to a village called Los Francos. We had another command there, a newly formed command. We took a bunch of people to a place called Los Tablones. Then, we gathered those people on the mountains and then… the army would call the people to come out to them. With red scarves, they pretended they were guerrilla. That’s when they carried out another big massacre, in which about 200 people were killed. That was the operation of May 8, 1980.