The Desembarco Massacre

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Amanda describes the 1986 invasion of Arcatao, known as the “Desembarco massacre,” in which her husband was killed by the military while she was elsewhere caring for a sick child.

Interviewee:

Transcription

[Have you heard about the Desembarco in Arcatao?]
Yes.
[But you weren’t in Arcatao at the time?]
No. Well, at the time of the invasion I was living in Arcatao... I was in Arcatao but... we were always trying to save our own lives. So we were over at Chupamiel. But my daughter had gotten sick. We had gone to a house while we waited for her to get better. I ended up staying there after a military operation. Then after the military operation ended, other people with children arrived, to rest after fleeing. They came looking for a place to rest.
The invasion happened the day after they came. They had left and then they came back and that’s when the invasion happened. About four people died at that time, I remember. They were captured and assassinated. Most of all, my husband... they also took his life.