13th Annual Commemoration of El Salvador’s 1932 “Matanza” January 23, 2010

Join us to commemorate those who lost their lives in 1932 and to demonstrate solidarity with the Native people of El Salvador and their struggle for justice, rights and recognition. In January 1932, a popular uprising began in Western El Salvador over the need for equality, economic justice, and land reform. The government retaliated swiftly. In a matter of weeks approximately 30,000 people (mostly Indian) were rounded up and slain by the Salvadoran military. The government considered it to be a communist uprising rather than an Indigenous struggle and began equating Indians with communism. Native people were targeted for their native dress, language and customs creating an intense climate of fear. Since 1932 much Native culture in the country has gone underground. Today Native people in El Salvador are breaking their silence about the “Matanza,” and its aftermath, while others continue working to support contemporary Native people in El Salvador and their struggle for justice.

Sponsored by: Three Nations Indian Circle (TNIC), a community based organization that works with Indigenous communities and organizations in El Salvador and throughout the hemisphere on political, social, economic, and environmental issues. TNIC is dedicated to the preservation of the culture, language, traditional wisdom, and ancestral land of the Maya, Lenca and Nahuat nations of El Salvador and Meso-America. This is the 13th consecutive annual Bay Area commemoration of “La Matanza.”