Perquín

After San Miguel, Kamilla and I headed up to Perquín for a few days. This small town is a historical city in the Morazan region, located in northeast El Salvador. Twenty years ago, it was the stronghold for the FMLN (Frente Martí Liberación Nacional) forces fighting to overthrow the authoritarian regime and create a more just society. It´s a pretty town in the hills, and there is an excellent museum there that details the heroic efforts of the FMLN. Just being in El Salvador was interesting because we could compare the experience of the FMLN with that of the Sandinistas.

One of the cool things we did was walk with our guide to the town of El Mazote. In 1981, the El Salvadorian army, trained and funded by the United States, massacred approximately 1,000 residents of this small town. They herded all the people into the church, and burned down their homes. The soldiers then marched the women into the hillsides before they were killed. Hundreds of small children were murdered, buried in a mass grave. No one survived. For several years the town was uninhabited. But since the war has ended, El Salvador has repopulated the town a fitting memorial to the victims has been erected.

Aside from viewing this important site, our guide spoke to us generally about how the region had changed as a result of the war. Commerce in this largely agricultural region was disrupted and many people fled their homes. Today there are encouraging efforts to create a historical route for local and international tourists so that they can learn about the revolution. Agricultural and small-scale industry projects have also commenced. When I looked at the hillsides, all I saw was new growth, young forests that had been replanted since the war´s end. Our guide spoke to us about how the army cut down all the trees and polluted the rivers of this place. And so it was clear to see how war also destroys communities and livelihoods by ravaging the local environment.