A common life

General Summary

Dear Friends:
I am writing this blog to speak about the story I lived in my little country El Salvador. This is a suggestion of many friends with whom I met in El Salvador to explain about the history of our country through my personal testimoy. Generally we do this in the Oasis Hotel, a small hotel we have to receive solidarity groups which are coming to see how our country is developing after Peace Agreements signed in 1992, after a long 12 years war we lived between 1980 and 1992.

I grow up working with my Mother, and later working by myself, since I was 10 years old. I studied paying my expenses from very early, and when I was a teen ager, trying to understand my life and to help my people, I was participating in different social or religious organizations. But my feeling was that it was not enough and we need to someting more to have a peaceful life with justice for everybody.

In those very tense years under a strong repression, I could see the massacre results after a fraudulent elections of 1977, after a Presidential Elections. More than 30,000 people were captured, desapeared, exiled and killed to impose the candidate of the official political party, Gral. Carlos Humberto Romero, known as the responsable of many massacres in former years.

After a very strong discussion with my friends, where many of us criticized the fraud and the repression, somebody invited me to a meeting "not only to speak but to do something to change the brutal situation we were living as country"

In that way I began my involvement in the revolutionary process. One year later I was accepted as member of the Communist Party of El Salvador and in 1979 I was proposed to be part of the militar branch of the Party.

I lived the 12 years of war doing different tasks and learning about political and militar issues. During those years I was captured three times and I went to different parts of my country to accomplish different kind of tasks.

In 1992 Peace Agreements between Government of El Salvador and FMLN open the posiblity to guerrillas to continue fighting as a political party, and through this, to get back to normal life. After that, me and my wife try to begin a new life. But it was not easy, overall because we didn´t have a job and money to pay our expenses. And we had a lovely baby to give food.

Trying to survive and after looking for different jobs, we had the idea to begin a small hotel, which we began with our few furnitures and the support of some friends.

So, we began Hotel Oasis in 1994, and since then, we were learning to do it better and without planning it the house turns a place special for people who promotes solidarity with our country and people.

I hope this story helps to know the history of our country, which I invite you to know, and also to make peace and justice prevail in the world.

When I was a kid

I was born in 1957 in San Salvador. I grow up only with my mother and I was her partner in different jobs she had. I remember, still being a kid, she took me to see some strikes where labors were demanding better wages, to have a bit more of food for their families.

I didn´t understand completelly their demands but I can imagine their lives would be better having more incomes to give their kids and family better food and housing, and school supllies, etc.

Later I knew some leaders of these strikes were killed. To know that make me feel sad, and strange.

I was trying to help my mother in different jobs she had, as making and selling tortillas, selling fruits, or serving in rich people houses, where sometimes dogs ate better than us.

We went to cut coffe too, to some coffe plantations which belong to some of these rich families. I remember how some skinny people had to make big efforts to carry their bags of coffee.

Later when I went to school, I remember trying to help some labors in strike near to school.

National Guards threaten us for doing this. But we took for them foods we get in the market.

Teen ager

I grow up fearing military and policemen because they can do anything against people and almost nobody makes nothing.

I heard about stories of repression but it was difficult to know more details because it was a kind of non permitted story.

Trying to know the world, I get involved in some organizations like Movimiento Nacional de Servicio Juvenil, MNSJ (National Movement of Youth Service) where I felt used by the government to make political campaing.

later I went to some religious organizations and learn about different kind of religions. Their zones of influence and their similarities.

I join the fight

When I was studing my tecnical school, I was croosing downtown almost everyday.

In february 1977, I was surprised to see a big crowd in Plaza Libertad protesting, after elections happens. I was curious and ask them why they were doing this. They explain to me that there was an election and the government make a fraud and is trying to impose the official candidates.

I understood very soon having in mind the abuse which traditionally operates in the military.

Following days I was passing sometime trying to know more about this and trying to support the protest.

In the evening of february 28, I stay there for a while and later I went home. I was living about ten blocks away frome there. At night I could hear the loudspeaker and the sound of the meeeting crowd.

I slept early thinking about tomorrows work and task at school.

At midnight I was awaken by the noise of shots and grenades, explosions, guns. It was impossible not think the problem was there. I felt nervous trying to imagine what was happening in there.

In the morning I was running to see was really happened there in the plaza.

The square was empty. Nobody was there. just a lot of soldiers around. Firetrucks and firemen washing the blood in the streets. I want to cry there against this criminals.

But the soldiers watch your face trying to recognize if your are part of this. So, you pass as if you dont care about this, but in my heart I was hating the military. And the government. And asking myself, what can I do, as a simple person, feeling impotent to stop this.

Later I remember talking with my friends and classmates, condemning this atrocity of the army and the government. I talked very angry asking to my friends, why the soldiers do this? Why the government do this?

It was in one of those days when a friend of mine told me: would you like to go to a meeting where we discuss about this but also we try to do someting against this?

I was waitng for something like that because I remember saying very soon -yes I want to go- and so I went to the first meeting with the clandestine organization.