Broadcasting the Civil War in El Salvador: A Memoir of Guerrilla Radio

1982

1982 89 1982 90 broadcasting the civil war in el salvador the Cave of Passions January 1 After an exhaustive investigation of each affected town, the Radio produces a list of victims. The international community is reticent to believe our reports on the magnitude of the genocide. Some attribute it to propaganda aimed at deterring the North American Congress from approving military aid. January 7 Drawn to El Salvador by our outcries to the press, Raymond Bonner, a journalist for the New York Times, and Alma Guillermoprieto, a correspondent for the Washington Post, come to the area to gather testimonies and photographs concerning the El Mozote Massacre. The North American embassy retaliates against the publication of their respective reports, applying enough pressure so that Bonner is immediately removed as a correspondent in El Salvador. At dusk we pay homage to Luis Hernández Ramos, a young compañero who was killed when the army ambushed us at Poza Honda. His schoolmates carry his body on their shoulders, and from this day forward the school is named in his honor. I was surprised to see Susan Maicelas, a North American photographer who put together an excellent graphic display on the anti-Somoza movement in Nicaragua, among the journalists at the ceremony. Maravilla begins to tell Marcela wild stories and bring her sweets to cheer her up. When he appears to have won her over, Marcela shies away. I’d never seen him so distraught. I was happy in a cruel sort of way, first, because I wasn’t the only heartbroken one, and, second, because I was stubbornly clinging to the hope that she would love me. January 13 After seven hours of combat our forces take Jocoatique. We capture twenty-eight rifles from the enemy. The Washington Post and New York Times correspondents were astonished that the FMLN was able to take such a heavily fortified position, which seemed impregnable. January 22 Our sister station, Radio Farabundo Martí, goes on the air in Chalatenango.1 We awaited the arrival of this new addition to the FMLN with much expectation. We have dealt the enemy’s misinformation campaign a telling blow. We propose setting up contacts, working with our sister Radio to facilitate the exchange of information and political news. January 27 We return to La Guacamaya after having driven out the enemy. Each time we change camps means starting the process over and setting up again. We enthusiastically arrange the house where the kitchen and 1982 91 the security team dorms will be. In an adjacent house we set up the press and propaganda workshop, and it’s not long before we hear the familiar hum of the typewriters and the relentless noise of the mimeograph. Thirty meters behind the house is a cave ideal for withstanding air raids. We position the radio transmitter and sound booth inside it. The lush vegetation reaching up to the rocky peak near the cave gives the whole scene a magical quality. We have baptized this place the “Cave of Passions” based on the strange, intense sensations that a number of us have experienced there. To get there, you have to pass along a path carved into the rock and bordering a small cliff. There’s a swift stream below. To cross the stream, you have to walk on a big board. It’s like you’re crossing over the moat of a medieval castle. Then you go up a limestone stairway that leads to the entrance, and, bending over a bit, you step down again. The cave is three meters wide and five long. Anyone who showed up at around six this evening would have observed the typical setup. At the head of a long table, like a queen at the helm of a spaceship, Marcela sits in front of the mixer, controlling the volume of the microphones and popping in a cassette of background music. Her soft fragrance, the scent of olive oil soap, always stirs me up a bit. Mariposa corrects the Plomo Informativo news report, Maravilla writes an article, Pichinte goes over the editorial, and Rafael puts the finishing touches on the Workers in Arms section. Morena pieces together the war information while Apolonio, to the side of her and in front of the transmitters, is checking their output and making sure everything is in order. I’m ready and waiting in front of the microphone to begin...