Gregorio remembers the deployment of 14,000 Salvadoran and Honduran soldiers during the 1982 “May Guinda”, and contrasts this with later military operations.
- Chapter:
- Chapter 3: The Years of "Guindas"
- Interviewee:
- Gregorio
Transcription
When we were in Tequeque, around the first days of June, they sent in the infamous May invasion. In early June. They sent in about 14,000 Honduran and Salvadoran soldiers. Honduras collaborated with four thousand soldiers, at the border, and the rest... So we were on the move for fourteen days during the May invasion, but not everyone made it that long. During that time, the army killed a ton of animals. They emptied all the corn granaries. They only came here to destroy everything . During the May invasion, we lost one of our girls, the eldest. We were ambushed in Santa Anita. A lot of people from this area were there. [...] So we continued to suffer during that guinda, and then we got lost during another invasion, the “Blanconara”. It wasn’t the same kind of operation. They used another form of attack. They were sudden landings. The military would land, spend two days and leave, but four days later, they’d come back. That way they kept us on our toes.