El Salvador

The Salvadoran Civil War, largely a peasant revolution, took place 1980-92. The USA supported the right-wing government. During the war 75,000 people were killed, 8,000 more went missing and another million exiled. On 17 March 1980 the village of Ingenio Colima was attacked by paramilitaries who murdered all its occupants. At the time, the country's media gave a biased account of what took place. Today there is the testimony of the local commander of the paramilitaries 'Bitter Coffee' who witnessed what happened. Investigating and clarifying what this event will lead to the production of a 30-minute documentary whose distribution will facilitate the beginning of a judicial process of exhumation of the victims, their identification and the return of the bodies to their families. It will also contribute to a national process of truth and reconciliation aimed at coming to terms with El Salvador's past.

Central American University Audiovisuals (AUCA) is committed to a deep understanding of El Salvador's recent history and its transformation into a just and democratic society. After the Peace Accords of 1992, many unresolved matters remained, among them the search for truth and restitution for victims and their families. Lack of investigative journalism reinforces the 'fresh start' mentality that keeps the people from reconciliation and knowing the reality of what took place. The need is to bring these kinds of stories to light, to break the silence and open the path to restoring people's dignity in an irreversible process of transparency and knowledge of the truth such as is beginning to happen in other countries in Latin America.

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