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THREAD: Today marks the 45th Anniversary of the Student Massacre on June 30th, 1975 in San Salvador, El Salvador. On that date, about 3,000 students from La Universidad de El Salvador (University of El Salvador, UES) and other institutions assembled and marched the streets
in protest of the abuse of power by the Salvadoran government. Specifically, they were motivated by the increased surveillance of student activists, pointing to the unjust seizure and search of students from el Centro Universitario de Occidente (Western University Center, CUO)
in the department of Santa Ana just a few days prior. The CUO students themselves where protesting the banning of student protests against the Miss Universe contest held in El Salvador that year. Arturo Molina, who was the president of El Salvador at the time, denied invading
the CUO campus, insisting that the security forces of Santa Ana were within their right to intervene, as they knew the students were planning a march, and that their desfile bufo would “offend the modesty and good customs” of Santanecos.
Like most Salvadoran history, knowledge about this massacre lives only in the memory of the people who experienced it, as it is taboo to speak or write about it. I wrote about this event for my thesis, but unfortunately Marcial Tenia Razon, the Marxist collective that archived
many documents from this time period, has been shut down, so know that the information I'm giving you today is limited. That being said, my mom was a bystander at this massacre and she's the only reason I know about it in the first place.
I interviewed her on the topic for my thesis in 2019 (GDrive link for audio at the end). My mom recalls: "I believe it was in 1978[sic] when the first massacre occurred. Some students from La Universidad Nacional (the National University) went out and protested peacefully against
abuse of power, and the government sent tanks and the Army to repel them. Many of them were crushed by the tanks. Many of them, when they reached bridge—the bridge located in front of the west side, maybe, of the Seguro Social [the Salvadoran Institute of Social Security, ISSS]—
had no other option other than to jump the bridge and die." It is unknown how many students were killed on this day. While the official figure is one, witnesses estimate dozens. Many "disappeared". Molina’s administration deliberately tried to obscure its abuses of human rights.
According to several locals, water tankers arrived shortly after the massacre “to wash away the blood and all traces of dead bodies so that by the next day you could not see anything [happened there].” Security forces also told reporters from El Diaro De Hoy that it was the
protestors that opened fire first before the security forces fought back, resulting in ten of their men being injured. However, this conflicts with the stories of witnesses, including that of my mother as she insists that the protest was peaceful until the arrival of the tanks.
Likewise, in a newspaper published in August 1975 by the Communist Party of El Salvador and the Nationalist Democratic Union, the claim from the security forces is also contested. In the newspaper Voz Popular (The People’s Voice), they write: "The liberal attack from the security
forces against UNARMED peaceful protesters has left a terrible death toll of 50 people, including medical staff from the Social Security Hospital and workers from nearby businesses… The cruelty with which agents from the National Guard, the National Police, and the Treasury
Police acted—some in uniform and some disguised as civilians—has won condemnation and repulsion from the people. Their cowardice is manifest: in attacking defenseless people with firearms, the insanity of their leaders has no limits and
they can only be compared to the demented fascists that bleed and massacre the Chilean people."
The newspaper’s comparison of the Molina presidency to the U.S.-backed dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, who rose to power after overthrowing a democratically elected Marxist president
The newspaper’s comparison of the Molina presidency to the U.S.-backed dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, who rose to power after overthrowing a democratically elected Marxist president
eerily foreshadowed the development of the Salvadoran Civil War insofar as the U.S. sought to prevent a Marxist movement. More importantly, the comparison brings forth the lived experience of civilians during this time as one of utmost repression and fascist violence.
Underlying the fascist repression was the growing discontent of the people as a result of extreme social and economic inequalities. By 1980, in El Salvador:
• 2% of the population controlled 60 percent of the land
• 96.3% of the rural population had twelve acres of land or less
• 2% of the population controlled 60 percent of the land
• 96.3% of the rural population had twelve acres of land or less
• In 1975, 58 percent of the population earned $10/month or less
• 70 percent of the children under five years of age are malnourished
• Illiteracy affected 42.9 percent of the population
• The infant mortality rate was 60/1000 births (compared to 25/1000 in Cuba)
• 70 percent of the children under five years of age are malnourished
• Illiteracy affected 42.9 percent of the population
• The infant mortality rate was 60/1000 births (compared to 25/1000 in Cuba)
• 64 percent of the urban population lacked sewage services
• 45 percent of the population had no drinking water on a regular basis
• The per capita income in El Salvador was the lowest in Central America
• 45 percent of the population had no drinking water on a regular basis
• The per capita income in El Salvador was the lowest in Central America
• 8 percent of the population [received] 50 percent of the national income
• Most of the rural population [had] work for only one-third of a year
• Unemployment and underemployment in the rural areas was a permanent 45 percent.
(Figures: El Salvador: The Face of Revolution)
• Most of the rural population [had] work for only one-third of a year
• Unemployment and underemployment in the rural areas was a permanent 45 percent.
(Figures: El Salvador: The Face of Revolution)
Unsurprisingly, fascist decadence planted the seed for revolution. Indeed, the period between the 1960s and 1980s was a pivotal moment for the new Salvadoran Left, as several revolutionary organizations (both combatant and noncombatant) emerged and expanded.
These organizations included: Movimiento de Estudiantes Revolucionarios de Secundaria (MERS - Revolutionary Movement of Highschool Students), Asociación Nacional de Educadores Salvadoreños (ANDES - National Association of Salvadoran Educators), Unión de Trabajadores del Campo
(UTC - Farmworkers’ Union), Unión de Pobladores de Tugurios (UPT - Shantytown Dwellers’ Union), as well as la Federación Cristiana de Campesinos Salvadoreña (Salvadoran Christian Federation of Farmers, FECCAS).
In fact, one of the first major combatant and organizing blocs, el Bloque Popular Revolucionario (Popular Revolutionary Bloc, BPR), emerged from the collective mourning of the July 30th, 1975 massacre. The story goes like this: After the massacre, news traveled around the country
that the government had killed university and high school students in response to their protests. Hundreds of people mobilized onto the streets and occupied the Metropolitan cathedral. Among these people were members of FECCAS, UTC, ANDES,
Universitarios Revolucionarios 19 de Julio (Revolutionary Universiry Students July 19, UR-19), and MERS. Inside the cathedral, these organizers discussed their mutual struggles and the stakes that were at play in rising against the fascist regime.
At this spontaneous congregation, BPR, el Bloque, was born. The sheer expansion of revolutionary ideology and its factions were enough to initiate American interest in El Salvador prior to the "start" of the civil war in 1980.
Here is the link the for interview with my mom. The audio is about 10 minutes long (might have to download). In it, she discusses the 1975 massacre as well as other encounters she had with the military police during the civil war: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1E_T1cJMbmarBthJNjPQsW2pFwPtFZNmr/view?usp=sharing
Also, I forgot to add: Arturo Molina was a Salvadoran colonel who infamously took office after a media blackout, during which the voting polls magically changed to give him the lead.
