This January 16th marked 32 years since El Salvador’s 1992 peace treaty, also known as the Chapultepec Peace Accords, which were signed between the Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN) and the U.S. backed right-wing government of El Salvador, ending a 12 year war in the Central American Nation which killed at least 75,000 Salvadorans, disappeared 8,000 others, and displaced at least a million more.
By the early 1980s the U.S. had its hands in conflicts across the globe, from the mountains of Afghanistan to the coasts of Nicaragua and the forests of El Salvador; former president Ronald Reagan made his commitment to this modus operandi clear as soon as he was elected in 1980, moving quickly to establish the “Contras,” or counter-revolutionary death squads against the socialist Sandinista government in Nicaragua. The U.S. dollar’s role on these “Cold War” fronts–as is the case now with its support for Israel against Palestine in the “war on terror”–was an open secret.
In 1985 at the White House, Reagan stood alongside then-Salvadoran president Duarte, whom had only been elected in June 1984, and called him “a close friend.” He then went on to claim that “elections, economic reforms and communist guerillas losing ground [in El Salvador] would [not] have been possible without the economic assistance and military training and equipment that [the U.S.] provided.” The U.S. government would send between $4.5 – 6 billion in economic and military aid to El Salvador over the 1980s, though not without loopholes and controversy, including the Iran-Contra affair.
This is all the more reason why it’s stunning that the war in El Salvador outlasted even Reagan’s tenure. In 1987, 37 year old Maria Serrano lost one of her three daughters, Ceci Serrano, to an ambush by the Salvadoran army on her pueblo. While Maria didn’t mention Reagan by name as she discussed “the enemy,” or those responsible for the attack, she did note that losing her daughter in a particularly ruthless and dehumanizing fashion to an army Reagan had so much praise for was a major factor in her decision to become a guerilla fighter and organizer with the FMLN.
In Maria’s Story, using solar-powered batteries, film-makers shadow Maria on-the-run” for two months through highlands and waterfalls as she and fellow farmer communities devise a major offensive against the Salvadoran army, an offensive so effective it ultimately spurs both the FMLN and the U.S. backed Salvadoran government to sign the Peace Accords; weaving together the different moments which led Maria into such a precarious position to begin with, the film captures the undeniable humility of a people simply struggling to live free from the grip of empire in the late 20th century.
I’m now honored to present a screening of Maria’s Story at none other than the Re/Arte (medianoche) bookstore in Boyle Heights. Proceeds from the event will go towards supporting my upcoming visit to El Salvador as an Election Observer, and attendees will also get to check out all of the amazing libros–many of which are no longer in print or just anywhere else–at Re/Arte.
Tell a friend, bring your own concha–available nearby on E. Cesar Chavez Ave–and enjoy! It’s going to be an unforgettable time.
J.T.