Toribio remembers how he and his family survived the 1982 “May Guinda”.
- Chapter:
- Chapter 3: The Years of "Guindas"
- Interviewee:
- Toribio
Transcription
They launched a terrible invasion, you saw soldiers everywhere you looked. They came here from the direction of San Isidrio, and from everywhere. The hills were black with soldiers. They parachuted soldiers in, and they chased our groups out of Los Amates with mortar fire. So we went towards the Sumpul River as best we could, through the woods… Some people drowned and others were able to cross to the other side with clothing and everything. And with children on our backs... The water of the Sumpul came up to here... with a kid here... I had a bag on my back, and my kid on my shoulders. We were all wet and we went as quickly as possible. The bullets were close. It was a very dangerous situation they put us in. After that, the crowd of people split up, some groups went one way, others in a different direction. At one point I was alone with my family, just my wife, two children, and me… Four…three children…no, it was two children and the two of us made four, because one had already died. We were carrying them, I carried one on my back and she carried the other in her arms. So, we were alone, surrounded, in a ravine near Manaquil, below Manaquil. It was about four in the morning, and it was chaos, some people went one way, some the other way, they had no idea where to go. It was worse for the people who didn’t know the area, who were from the fourth, from Cabañas. So many people died in that invasion. [Was that what they call the “Guinda de Mayo”?] Yes, that was the “Guinda de Mayo.” We lived it. It was terrible. Like I was telling you, I was alone with my wife and two children…