Please read and share our current Gofundme campaign. LINK HERE
Every donation contributes to the emergency relocation and short-term economic assistance for a Bajo Lempa family in need.
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The Historical Memory Project of community Amando Lopez
VOICES is proud to collaborate with the ADESCO of community Amando Lopez in their endeavor to facilitate a historical memory process. This past weekend, we began enthusiastic with our first (of three) collective memory workshop that was attended by young and old.
The end goal is to publish a written book and digital library for future generations to revisit and learn from.
Community Action Protocol: Step by Step Guides
The Women’s Network of Morazán continue to develop their community Action Protocol to address the very real problem of gender violence in the department. This month they began working on an important section, the actual step by step guides that different actors should follow in order to ensure the safety, justice and healing for victims of domestic and sexual violence.
Creating an Intentional Partnership
Educators from both Washington D.C. and community Amando Lopez began an intentional partnership aimed at improving the educational environment of the community and the pedagogical capacities of each group.
This intentional connection is based on a common purpose, working cooperatively to create community that reflects shared core values.
Happy 101st Birthday Oscar Romero!
“We are workers, not master builders, ministers, not messiahs. We are prophets of a future not our own.”
Oscar Romero
Today we join our Salvadoran family in the commemoration of Oscar Arnulfo Romero’s 101st birthday. May the messages of peace and love that he imparted continue to live on in the hearts and minds of all who love justice.
Justice for El Mozote!
A press conference was held this morning, August 13th, in San Salvador by representatives of Tutela Legal Maria Julia Hernandez to give an update on the case of El Mozote, the massacre that occurred on December 11, 1981 in northern Morazán.
Over 40 witnesses have come forward since the overturn of El Salvador’s Amnesty Law in 2016 to contribute harrowing testimonies of the barbarity executed by Lieutenant Colonel Domingo Monterrosa Barrios (deceased) and the Atlacatl Battalion (disbanded).
According to the findings, Monterrosa had the full cooperation and authorization from the Salvadoran state at the time of the massacre and attempted to cover up and deny the act, which was thwarted due to the forensic anthropological team from Argentina that conducted exhumations. Based on their invaluable work, it has come to light that over 1,000 innocent civilians were indeed tormented and being killed.
“It is no longer possible to deny that a massacre occurred.” stated one of the attorneys from Tutela Legal.
The legal team also expressed the painful truth that til this day, survivors of the massacre have been left blind, sterile, full of shrapnel and continue to suffer from post traumatic stress.
The 18 military commanders that carried out this inhumane act are being tried in a court of law, some posthumously, in a judicial process that has reached “an advanced stage,” and attorneys are confident that justice will “finally be served.”
The mission of Tutela Legal is the “observation, protection, study, promotion, dissemination, information and intervention in the defense of threatened or violated human rights, with special attention to groups in vulnerable situations.”
Fernando Llort, El Salvador’s “National Artist” Has Died
- Foto: LaPaginaSV
The iconic artist Fernando Llort (7 April 1949 – 10 August 2018)
Before becoming the catalyst of the artisan movement in La Palma, Chalatenango, a small mountain town in northern El Salvador, Fernando Llort studied architecture, art and theology in France, Belgium and the United States.
The area of La Palma played a significant role in the ideological development of the revolutionary movement during the civil war. The area is agriculturally developed, and benefits from tourism, yet art is the town’s primary industry, in fact, three-quarters of area residents live from it. Fernando Llort and other young artists are recognized as the founders of art and culture in La Palma.
“Fernando’s art is heavily influenced by the Mayan culture, and has been able to mix modern ideas with a naive style of drawing. He utilises mixed techniques and materials, from paintings to wood, ceramic, and seven glass.” –Fernando-llort.com
