Esperanza describes the repression that led many in Arcatao to leave their homes.
- Interviewee:
- Esperanza
Transcription
We left our home in 1980, after Monsignor Romero’s death. They drove us out. Before that there was heavy repression, but then more repression was unleashed. The army no longer had any respect, it had no respect for women or the elderly, so we felt forced to evacuate our homes and go towards high ground.
[Excuse me, Ms. Esperancita, where were you born, and where was your house and your canton?]
I’m from the village of El Sitio, in the municipality of Arcatao.
[Then you also mentioned that repression began approximately in 1980 and you left your home. Where did you go?]
There was repression going on before, but... In 1980, we realized they weren’t respecting women and elderly women, so we decided to evacuate the area because a military post near Patamera, in the municipality of Nombre de Jesús, was going to carry out an operation. Supposedly they were going to come the next day and kill anybody they found, no matter who they were. So we left that area that afternoon and went towards the mountains, to Chupamiel, Portillo, La Cañada. The people from those areas gave us shelter. People were already organized. That same afternoon they were told to evacuate the area because things were looking tough. The next day, in the afternoon, people were taken out of the Nueva Trinidad and Arcatao municipalities. There was a lot of organization there, almost all cantons and hamlets were organized. It was a crime to be organized, it was a crime to say, “I am hungry,” “I want shelter,” “I want water”. That was our crime and that’s why they unleashed the repression on us.