Suchitoto

I arrived in Suchitoto during their 10-day celebration of their patron saint, Lucia. The town was bustling as they prepared for the evenings events: a parade, concert, and fireworks...what luck to stumble upon such an event!

I spent the day journaling about my frustrations with my lack of knowledge regarding US involvement in the war here. We contributed over $6 billion to the government´s military...money which was spent on weapons that killed guerilla groups as well as defenseless civilians. For example, in December of 1991, El Mozote, a southern town of 900 people was completely massacred by the Atlactl Battalion. The entire battalion was trained and organized by the United States in an effort to stop the communist movement. Only one woman survived - she watched them slaughter her children and could do nothing in response to their cries. She still lives in the Mozote region. It wasn´t until 4 US women were killed that the Carter administration pulled military funding; however, Reagan resumed the US´contribution to the war, which further prolonged it.

That night I stood in the middle of the town plaza surrounded by Salvadoranians from all over the country clad in t-shirts of Oscar Romero and Che ; a Hugo Chavez banner hung from the stage, and a small boy on his dad´s shoulders held up the nation´s flag that swayed in front of the band. The entire crowd sang along with the songs, laughed at the jokes, and danced. Although a lot of the Spanish blurred together in my mind, the energy was contagious.

The lyrics were political and when they sang that the US doesn´t know that there are graves in every home I suddenly stopped swaing and felt chills in my spine. It´s true, we don´t know...or at least I didn´t know. Being blind to these issues has in turn made me mute....and to think about everything that is going on now...

(This year the United States will be spending more money on the war in Iraq than they have spent any year since WWII...and to think that the war exists on false pretenses and the money being spent could be put towards social issues in our own country...).