Under the Veil

Today we visited UCA where 6 Jesuit priests and two women were massacred by the Salvadoran army in November of 1989. The 8 victims were killed in their rooms and five of the priests were dragged to the garden and put on display with their bullet ridden bodies face down in the grass and left arms outstretched in a fist.

The garden where the priests' bodies were left

Many people and leaders of the leftist party, or that taught principles that were somewhat in line with the leftist ideals, were assassinated by the right. In my last post I talked about the US support of the military of El Salvador, this support essentially means that we supported such actions.

Today I sensed the despair, fear, and anguish that was felt on November 16, 1989. I saw graphic pictures of the 8 martyrs in their death and their blood stained clothes. I walked out of that place dazed and upset. My director, Chepe, then told me of a neighbor woman who was a witness to this massacre. She spoke of what she saw and heard that night. As a result, she was taken from this country to the United States by a human rights group in order to preserve her life. As soon as she made it through customs she was taken by the FBI. It is believed that she was brainwashed so that she would never speak of what she observed that night. There is no concrete evidence of this, or of the fact that there was a member of the FBI on conference call the night that this massacre was planned. However, the possibility that the US government and governmental organizations knew about this plan and took that woman to save their own behinds is terrifying.

Upon hearing this I went into mental and emotional overload. What I learned about US involvement in the Guatemalan and Salvadoran civil war was hard enough, but this was too much.We live under the myth and perception of the US being proponents of peace and justice, but the reality is much different. We carry on under a veil of lies and deceit. We believe what they want us to believe. The US is a world leader, and if we can't believe what our leaders tell us then what can we believe? In what can I place my faith and trust? How have we forgotten humanity? Why have we lost our voices? Why do we allow ourselves fall into unawareness and complacency?

There is no way to find the absolute truth. We live in a dishonest and corrupt world. The only truth we can find is in our close relationships. This is why it is important to create true community. This is why it is imperative to form groups of people to create honesty, clarity, and change. Even before that, we must start with ourselves. What we believe and tell can spread, but it will be hard…we have to do something.

Maybe I'll feel differently tomorrow. Maybe the next three days in a rural village, immersed in a faith community will change this mental anguish I experienced today. Nonetheless, it is a terrifying thing to think about.