El Mozote, 40 years of impunity

Dec 15, 2021

Dear Readers,

Forty years ago, a U.S.-trained battalion of the Salvadoran army massacred nearly 1,000 people in the village of El Mozote, the largest mass killing during the country’s 12-years-long civil war - and in Latin America. Most victims were children.

Survivors of the massacre and diplomats commemorated this dark chapter of history on December 11. President Nayib Bukele promised millions-worth of investment in community works in the village as means of reparations, but victims and lawyers plead for justice, as no one has been sentenced for the massacre in four decades. The case had been reopened in 2016, but the judge in charge left when hundreds of others were removed during Bukele's judicial reform last September.

Read poems about El Mozote below, as well as news from the region, and a new podcast series shining a light on Central American women.

Salú,

Melissa

Relatives of the victims of the El Mozote massacre demand justice in Meanguera, El Salvador, December 11, 2021 Jose Cabezas / Reuters

Headlines

Migration

📰 Harris on Migration: U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will announce a collaboration with private sector investors to deter migration from Central America.

📰 Remain in Mexico: US circuit court rules against the Biden administration’s bid to terminate the “Remain in Mexico” policy. Migrant advocates decry the continuation of the policy, citing that it endangers migrants.

📰 “Modern-Day Slavery”: Mexican and Central American migrants were trapped in a “modern-day slavery” operation in South Georgia where they were exploited, beaten, and raped under threat of violence, according to federal officials.

📰 Trailer Accident: On December 9, a tragic accident was reported in Chiapas, Mexico, where at least 55 migrants who were traveling hidden in a trailer died. Most of the victims were people from Guatemala looking for an opportunity in the United States.

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Belize

📰 We're looking for a volunteer (2h/week) Belize news curator. Hit us up!

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Costa Rica

📰 Corruption and Inequality: The Attorney General’s office for probity, anti-corruption and transparency released a report stipulating that corruption complaints have increased substantially since 2015, which had 13 complaints, to 2020 with 105 complaints.

📰 Migrant Exploitation: An investigation by Universidad Estatal a Distancia found that landowners of pineapple farms in the country’s northern region have benefitted from hiring contract migrant workers by paying them less money than traditional workers. The study also found increased racist and xenophobic violations of labor rights on the farms.

📰 Help for Haiti: President Carlos Alvarado met with the presidents of Panama and the Dominican Republic to extend a mandate by the UN Security Council and create a peacekeeping mission in Haiti.

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El Salvador

📰 Gang negotiations, sanctions: The U.S. Treasury accused El Salvador's government of secretly negotiating a truce with gangs and announced sanctions against two Bukele administration officials. Bukele denied the accusations on Twitter. A day later, the U.S. imposed sanctions on Bukele's chief of cabinet for corruption about the purchase of medical supplies.

📰 El Mozote: President Bukele announced on Friday Dec. 10 an 32.4 million dollar investment in community works in El Mozote where the army massacred almost 1,000 people, mostly children, in 1981 as reparations. However, no soldier has been sentenced for the massacre yet.

📰 Protests: Thousands of demonstrators took to the streets last Sunday Dec. 12 in San Salvador against what they consider an authoritarian drift of the Salvadoran president and the increase of corruption in the country. This is the fourth march against the government since September.

📰 Disappearances: Representatives of more than a dozen NGOs asked Salvadoran authorities to join international conventions on forced disappearances to improve the protection of victims.

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Guatemala

📰 Injustice: A judge in charge of a case of the murder of Melissa Palacios, a young university student, argued that her death was due to a "state of violent emotion", which may let the two defendants go. As a protest, Melissa's family tied themselves in front of the court to protest.

📰 Drug trafficking: Three elements of the Guatemalan Army were arrested on Tuesday Dec. 14 for allegedly collaborating with a criminal organization dedicated to drug trafficking.

📰 Labor: A study by the Pan American Development Foundation found that Guatemala’s tortilla industry relies on young girls’ underpaid labor.

📰 Guatemalan migrants: Relatives of Guatemalan migrants killed or injured in the accident in Chiapas told Reuters that they are desperate for information about their family members and get few answers from the government.

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Honduras

📰 Outgoing government immunity : President Juan Orlando granted permanent positions to thousands of employees. Furthermore, the government seeks to approve an immunity law that would protect officials and former officials in “imminent danger.”

📰 Guapinol Environmental Defenders: Honduran prosecutors added the criminal charge of ‘aggravated damages’ against the eight Guapinol defenders who are undergoing trial. Their lawyers then issued a recusal against the Court, arguing the court is biased and partial to the prosecutor and the mining company Inversiones Los Pinares. The trial has been suspended until the Appeals Court rules the recusal.

📰 Incoming Presidency: In conversations with the president-elect Xiomara Castro, U.S. officials highlight the importance of battling corruption.

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Nicaragua

📰 Diplomacy: Nicaragua broke diplomatic ties with Taiwan, and recognized the People’s Republic of China. Media speculates about the reactivation of Nicaragua's interoceanic canal with Chinese investment.// Russia and Nicaragua signed an agreement for “the pacific use of atomic energy”.

📰 Vaccines: China will donate 1 million doses of the Sinopharm vaccine, starting with 200,000 last week. France donated 827 thousand vaccines of AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna and Jannsen. The government reports a 66% vaccination rate, but PAHO/WHO data shows that only 37% of the population has been vaccinated.

📰 Caribbean: The Caribbean coast of Nicaragua is as an autonomous region, but the government has been creating parallel regional governing bodies with the aim of replacing local indigenous groups. One role of the regional governing bodies is to approve or deny mining permits. "Land settlers" invade the Caribbean region and take over lands, which they sell for mining or lodging projects.

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Panama

📰 Smithsonian Sex Abuse: 16 women scientists exposed sexual abuse and harassment by high-ranking men within the facilities of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) in Panama. Egbert Leigh, a scientist who worked at STRI until his retirement, admitted the allegations and apologized. Others have denied the allegations.

📰 Schools: In 2019, 176,478 students were out of school, but the Ministry of Education suspects the number has increased due to the pandemic. Students are expected to return to on-site classes on March 7.

📰 Clandestine Vaccination: Three individuals are charged with the "crime against collective security" in the case of clandestine vaccination in Coco del Mar and Punta Pacífica. In June 2021, 32 people were allegedly vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech dose in a clandestine center. At that time, few people were vaccinated in Panama and patients with chronic illnesses were still waiting for their doses.

Changing Tides

Nicaragua and China signed diplomatic relations. On the left side of the picture is Laureano Ortega, son of Daniel Ortega and Presidential Advisor and Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs of Managua.

Good Reads

📌Migrant Labor: Criminal networks use U.S. labor visa arrangement to exploit Mexican and Central American migrant workers. (Insight Crime)

📌 War on Drugs: This collaborative journalism project Una guerra adictiva documents the impact of the US War on Drugs in Latin America. There is a feature story on Honduras.

📌 Journalism: Salvadoran journalist Oscar Martinez discusses his new book Los muertos y el periodista about reporting on violence in El Salvador throughout his career. (El País).

📌 Investigation into Corruption: A corruption case, which led to deaths in Guatemala, reveals how a company without experience or health licenses received a million-dollar contract to treat more than 500 kidney patients. Dozens of people died and hundreds more were affected. (InSight Crime)

📌 El Mozote: Salvadoran poet Renán Alcides Orellana talks about his experience living in El Mozote. (Contrapunto)

El Mozote, 40 years later

On December 11, 1981, a U.S.-trained battalion of the Salvadoran army massacred nearly 1,000 people in the village of El Mozote, the largest mass killing during the country’s 12-years-long civil war. Forty years later, survivors are still seeking justice.

See these poems on El Mozote. (Contrapunto).

Las Recias Podcast

🎧 Las Recias is the name of the second season of the Radio Ocote podcast, which seeks to make visible Central American women. The first episode of this season profiles Claudia Escobar, a judge who denounced how a deputy wanted her to benefit Roxana Baldetti, then vice president of the country, in a fraudulent process.