Nelson describes the 1986 invasion of Arcatao by the military, during which the population was separated, with women held inside the church while men were lined up outside to be interrogated and tortured.
- Interviewee:
- Nelson
Transcription
There was an invasion here, and in minutes they filled this town with troops. Then they rounded up the civilian population and locked them in the Catholic church in Arcatao. Then they separated the women, leaving them inside the church and taking the men outside in a line. The Armed Forces had put a device in every street corner. When anyone walked in front of it and it beeped, they would take you out of the line and shoot you. You would just pass by a street corner and the machine would beep. If it didn’t beep then you’d just continue walking. They killed a lot of people that way. The places where they left people who were shot are all still there. Some men were strung up, nude. They took over a house which they used to interrogate everyone. That’s what the operation was like, the invasion.