Oral history is the collection of historical data, especially through interviewing people with knowledge of past events. This genre of study functions to preserve the history of what happened before many of us existed. It is a collection of oral narratives, evidence, and testimonials that show that the historical events we learn about really happened. One of these stories is about the reign of imperialism. An empire is a political unit of supreme authority controlling extensive territories or nations and having sovereign powers over the lands (Byrne, 1996; Jacob & Furgerson, 2012).
The Revolutionary Government Junta and Civil War
Empires usually exerted great influence on political, military, economic or religious matters in historic Central America. I gained interest in one regime, the Revolutionary Government Junta of El Salvador. It was a military dictatorship that reigned in the small country of El Salvador, Central America. It was a military group that forcefully came into power in 1979. How the regime came to power and what followed form part of the sad story of the Salvadoran Civil War. What it entailed was perhaps the country’s darkest and bloodiest period. The civil war was between the oppressive Salvadoran military and the opposition, which was composed of five major guerrilla revolutionary groups collectively known as “The Umbrella.” The union formed the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) to rebel and fight against the brutal government.
Interviewing a Survivor From San Vicente
The details of the regime were distressing. I conducted an interview with one of the victims of the imperial rule. I was determined, focused, and resolute in seeking the real experience directly and undiluted from the horse’s mouth. I interviewed a resident of San Vicente, El Salvador, named Pablo. He was lucky to be one of the survivors who survived the hell on earth that invaded El Salvador in 1980. This made him a great and resourceful interviewee for my interview, and I prepared a brief, open-ended questionnaire that perfectly guided him in telling the bitter story at his own pace. The time and venue for the interview were perfectly chosen, keeping the setting quiet and allowing me to administer the interview in the most professional way. The interviewee was more than willing to unfold to me what really happened.
Childhood Interrupted by Military Capture
Pablo’s story was a perfect match with the sad truth of my discoveries. Warm-up questions rejuvenated his mind, making him remember his childhood years. Pablo narrated how he used to wake up every morning and go with his parents to the fields and help them with any job that needed to be done. However, one day, things were never the same again. He vividly recalls what happened on that fateful day, a day that was different from the rest. On this particular day, Pablo was allowed by his parents to go and play soccer with his friends in the fields. The joyful childhood fun prevented them from noticing a troop of soldiers who marched in their direction. Before they could notice this, the battalion had already surrounded them, and with no escape, they were all captured. The empty field was left to tell the tale of what happened.
Forced Recruitment and Human Rights Abuses
Pablo was taken to the barracks, where he later learned that the abductors were Salvadoran agents who recruited civilians into the Salvadoran Government military. The government needed to recruit new soldiers to fight in the ongoing battle against the five guerrilla groups that had joined hands to rebel against the oppressive Salvadoran government. Larry Rohta reported to BCC the accounts of people reported missing during the era. Among them were women and children. Both boys and girls were kidnapped by the Salvadoran military during their attacks on peasant settlements. The Salvadoran regime was characterized by cases of human rights violations; women were raped. Throughout the 1980s, there were devastating cases of human rights violations. The government mercilessly subjected its citizens to torture, forced abduction and unexplained disappearance, mutilation, massive extrajudicial killings, indiscriminate landmines and bombings, and rape. At the end of the war, over 750,000 had lost their lives.
Brutal Training and the Making of a Soldier
Pablo continued narrating how they were taken into a caged cell with no restrooms, and they were provided only with bread and water. After two days, the actual training began. They were forced to run for miles and climb a 100-foot rope, among other harsh physical drills. They were served half-cooked dog meat as meals and given only one uniform. Serious punishment was administered to those who failed to do what was required. Pablo remembers that one day, he was made to roll nude in the dirt, leaving his skin with burns and bruises. The suffering turned him from an innocent boy into a ruthless Salvadoran soldier, furious and full of hate and anger.
Combat, Foreign Support, and Survival
Pablo, together with a platoon of thirty soldiers, was sent to fight in the bloody war. They were given only one can of food per day. This forced them to feed on wild roots and animals. The death squad was ending the lives of tens of people daily. FMLN had thousands of active guerrillas fighting the battle and thousands of supporters and sympathizers who greatly aided in the battles. Backed by the Cuban Government, military soldiers were periodically ambushed and thousands were murdered. Others were poisoned. Pablo was lucky to have survived this safe and sound. Most of the government help came from the USA, which heavily aided the ‘ally’ country with weapons, guns, ammunition, and fighting tactics and also provided its own soldiers to fight alongside the Salvadoran military.
The Regime’s Lasting Social and Economic Damage
The experience shaped Pablo’s life. He admitted loving military life despite the havoc it caused. The suffering he had experienced shaped his life greatly. He started viewing life from another perspective. Salvadoran rule was one of the worst and most brutal imperial regimes in Salvadoran history. It came with various devastating effects. The regime resulted in migration patterns. Millions of refugees fled to neighboring countries such as Mexico and the USA. Human rights were violated. El Salvador is the most densely populated country in Central America and is also ranked as one of the poorest. Over 90% of this population is in the poverty bracket. The gap between the rich and the poor is incredibly huge. All these trends of human inequality stretch their roots to the brutal regime. El Salvador depended highly on coffee, which contributed over 95% of the country’s income. However, this wealth was distributed only to 2% of the population, composed of tycoons and agencies in the brutal government. Peasant farmers were denied the benefits of their hard labor, and the regime was also characterized by violations of the democratic rights of citizens. The elections were full of fraud and irregularities.
The Chapultepec Peace Accord and Lessons of War
After 12 years of struggle, the terror ended with a conflict-resolution agreement called the Chapultepec Peace Accord, which was signed on 16th January 1992 in Mexico City. El Salvador’s president at the time met with the generals from the five guerrilla groups for peace talks. Regardless of the talks, greater damage had already been caused. The government had destroyed its economy and most of its resources while fighting its own people. To conclude the story, there is always a better way to end conflict than war. Countries should not fall into being puppets controlled by other governments but instead exercise their full sovereignty, respect the rule of law and, above all, respect their citizens.
Work Cited
Byrne, Hugh. El Salvador’s civil war: a study of revolution. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1996.
Jacob, Stacy A., and S. Paige Furgerson. “Writing interview protocols and conducting interviews: Tips for students new to the field of qualitative research.” The Qualitative Report 17.42 (2012): 1-10.
Luna‐Reyes, Luis Felipe, and Deborah Lines Andersen. “Collecting and analyzing qualitative data for system dynamics: methods and models.” System Dynamics Review19.4 (2003): 271-296.
Wood, Elisabeth Jean. Insurgent collective action and civil war in El Salvador. Cambridge University Press, 2003.
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