Broadcasting the Civil War in El Salvador

by Consalvi, Carlos Henriquez; Nagle, Charles Leo, V; Prince, A. l.; Ching, Erik

• ISBN13: 9780292722859
• ISBN10: 0292722850
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-08-01
• Publisher: Univ of Texas Pr

Summary

During the 1980s war in El Salvador, Radio Venceremos was the main news outlet for the Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN), the guerrilla organization that challenged the government. The broadcast provided a vital link between combatants in the mountains and the outside world, as well as an alternative to mainstream media reporting. In this first-person account, "Santiago," the legend behind Radio Venceremos, tells the story of the early years of that conflict, a rebellion of poor peasants against the Salvadoran government and its benefactor, the United States. Originally published as La Terquedad del Izote, this memoir also addresses the broader story of a nationwide rebellion and its international context, particularly the intensifying Cold War and heavy U.S. involvement in it under President Reagan. By the war's end in 1992, more than 75,000 were dead and 350,000 wounded--in a country the size of Massachusetts. Although outnumbered and outfinanced, the rebels fought the Salvadoran Army to a draw and brought enough bargaining power to the negotiating table to achieve some of their key objectives, including democratic reforms and an overhaul of the security forces. Broadcasting the Civil War in El Salvador is a riveting account from the rebels' point of view that lends immediacy to the Salvadoran conflict. It should appeal to all who are interested in historic memory and human rights, U.S. policy toward Central America, and the role the media can play in wartime.

Author Biography

Carlos Henriouez Consalvi is founder and director of the Museo de la Palabray la Imagen in San Salvador, El Salvador. Charles Leo Nagle V is a graduate student at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. Bill Prince is Professor of Spanish and Erik Ching is Associate Professor of History at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina.

Table of Contents

	p. vii
	p. xii
Preface	p. xiii
List of Acronyms	p. xv
Introduction	p. xvii
Photo section follows Introduction
1980
Tearing Your Heart Out	p. 2
Off to War with a Priest	p. 5
On the Way to El Escondido	p. 8
Rafael: Morazán, a Strategic Project	p. 9
1981
January 1	p. 18
January 2	p. 18
Licho	p. 18
The Sky is taken by Assault	p. 21
The Resurrection of Altagracia	p. 25
The Pain of Calixtro	p. 27
The Massacre at Junquillo	p. 30
Damn! La Guacamaya Never Gives Up!	p. 32
Monsignor Romero in La Guacamaya	p. 33
Jonás	p. 34
Calle Negra, Almost Certain Death	p. 36
Villa del Rosario	p. 41
El Zapotal	p. 45
A North American in the War	p. 46
Juan Ramón, from Bus to History	p. 47
Eighty Devils Set Loose	p. 49
The Torogoces Are Born	p. 51
Benito	p. 53
Alejandro Peluna's Flying Mule	p. 54
Chiyo and Pajarillo	p. 56
Loving Marcela in the Midst of War is another War	p. 58
Tancho	p. 60
Perquín, Road of Embers	p. 63
The Fifth Front	p. 66
Victorino, the Light Within	p. 67
Operation Hammer and Anvil	p. 70
Toni, Montalbo, and Javier	p. 71
Monterrosa Captures Radio Venceremos	p. 74
Radio Venceremos Goes to the Sea	p. 76
Return to Morazán	p. 79
The El Mozote Massacre	p. 81
1982
The Cave of Passions	p. 90
The Fortress of Happiness	p. 93
Hell in Poza Honda	p. 96
The Battle of El Moscarrón	p. 100
The Incredible Return of Colonel Castillo	p. 107
Ana Guadalupe	p. 109
Manlio, your Guitar's Beating	p. 11
The First Prisoner Exchange	p. 112
Freedom for Perquín	p. 113
Lesbia and the Idols of Pensacola	p. 115
Every Last One of Us Danced, Colonel	p. 117
Rogelio's Sense of Humor	p. 119
1983
Shutting Down Transportation	p. 112
Oswaldo Escobar Velado	p. 124
El Quinto Piso de la Alegría	p. 128
Paty's Memories	p. 132
The Swearing In of the BRAZ	p. 134
The Defeat of the Belloso Battalion	p. 136
The Amatillo Bridge	p. 138
La Antena Is Taken	p. 140
Monterrosa and His War Trophies	p. 142
Atilio and the Smell of Ink	p. 143
Diana the Huntress, and Assassin Sent by the CIA	p. 147
The Bells Toll for Carlos	p. 148
Attack on the Third Brigade	p. 149
El Pedrero	p. 152
We Capture the Butcher	p. 154
El Cheje, the Godfather	p. 156
The Military School in San Fernando	p. 157
General Command in Morazán	p. 161
Sesori	p. 162
Morazán Has a Name: Commander Quincho	p. 165
1984
The Legend of El Chongue	p. 170
The Colonels' Logic	p. 173
The Exchange of Colonel Castillo	p. 176
The Trickster Is Tricked	p. 177
Nolbo versus the Gringos	p. 180
A Piece of Deerskin, and El Calihuate Is Reborn	p. 181
A Stradivarius Violin	p. 183
It Wasn't the Siguanaba	p. 185
Lety	p. 186
Ana Lidia	p. 187
The Carpenter Who Destroyed and Empire	p. 189
A Meeting in La Palma	p. 192
Operation Torola IV	p. 194
To Die Like a Dog	p. 196
The Gringos' Man	p. 197
The Trojan Horse	p. 199
The Sword of Mars or the Mirror of Venus?	p. 204
The Tenacity of the Izote	p. 211
Epilogue, 1992	p. 217
Epilogue, 2003	p. 223
Epilogue, 2009	p. 225
Index	p. 227
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