SALVADORAN INDIGENOUS LEADER INVITED TO SPEAK AT SOA VIGIL
Margarito Esquino, the International Representative of the National Association of Indigenous Nations of El Salvador (ANIS)has been invited by SOA Watch to speak at the annual SOA Vigil to be held Nov. 18 - 19 at Fort Benning, GA. Margarito, who was awarded political asylum in the United States this year, is the survivor of numerous attempts against his life, including the 1983 massacre of 73 indigenous brothers and sisters at Las Hojas.
Some of the soldiers responsible for the massacre were trained at a facility paid for by U.S. taxpayers—the School of the Americas(SOA) otherwise known as the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC). It is suspected that one of the leaders of the Las Hojas massacre—MajorOscar Alberto Leon Linares— is one of the current “trainers” at the School. The School has trained tens of thousands of Latin American armed forces how to suppress and destroy union organizing and movements for social justice.
It’s been Margarito’s dream to attend the SOA Vigil and combine his voice with the many thousands at the gates of Ft. Benning demanding the closure of the School. Your donation will help pay for his expenses. On the day of the vigil he will speak of the unbelievable crimes suffered at the hands of goons trained by the U.S. He will deeply appreciate your support.
Margarito and Maria barely got out of El Salvador alive. That was in 1997, way after the end of the Civil War that gripped their country in the early 80’s. Margarito was almost killed by a death squad; Maria was raped. They fled to the United States. This year, the US government granted them political asylum.
PEACE, International
About Margarito and Maria Esquino
LAS HOJAS—Margarito is a native of El Salvador—part of an endangered, indigenous people comparable to Native American Indians in the U.S. During the Civil War, the Salvadoran military committed brutal acts against members of his community at a place called Las Hojas. Las Hojas was the site of a successful farmers’ cooperative called the National Association of Indigenous Nations of El Salvador (ANIS). His grandfather was its founder and today Margarito is its International representative. During the massacre in 1983, 73 unarmed people were killed in cold blood. The killers were never brought to justice.
Read the report of the United Nations Truth Commission on the Massacre at Las Hojas and the role of SOA-trained MajorOscar Alberto Leon Linares.
