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epilogue, 1992 217 January 9 The last seven years of the eleven-year struggle are missing from this account. Others will be responsible for gathering and recording the memories of the events that took place in Chalatenango, Guazapa, San Vicente, Usulután, Cabañas, Santa Ana, and every other liberated corner of the country. When we tried to publish the book in El Salvador, the only person who would agree to do it was Father Ignacio Ellacuría, rector of the University of Central America (Universidad Centroamericana, UCA). This manuscript never reached him. He was assassinated along with five other Jesuits on the morning of November 16, 1989. The massacre took place within the context of the largest military offensive of that time, which proved our invincibility once and for all and paved the way for negotiating a political solution to the conflict. In the last two months, the Belloso and Arce battalions have made three attempts to advance on the area where we’ve set up Radio Venceremos and the hospital. By decoding their communications, we knew that they were looking for us. After a year of serenity in this zone covered in peaceful pine forests, the army has gone back on the offensive, taking advantage of the FMLN’s treaty to make arrangements for negotiations that will take place in New York. Things were tense in camp for weeks, with meetings to decide what to broadcast , worries about how to get food, gasoline, and other materials past enemy lines, and attempts to figure out a way to ensure our security and prevent the equipment from getting damaged. We relocated every time the Belloso Battalion moved toward the nearby hamlets of El Carrizal, Nahuaterique, and Huatalón. Recently, around mid-morning, five militiamen open fire on enemy units that are trying to take the high ground of La Golondrina. The rattling machine guns interrupt the day’s broadcast. Even with the enemy just half an hour away from our camps, we can’t stop broadcasting even for one day. We can’t give away our position since we have set up base right under their noses. Maybe it was the tension, but one morning the guards alerted us about an approaching armed unit. Everyone took cover behind trees, ready to shoot at Epilogue,1992 218 broadcasting the civil war in el salvador whatever moved. To our surprise and relief, the soldiers turned out to be Jonás and the rest of the command unit returning to camp after a long night’s march. The army got tired of looking for us and retreated to Perquín. January 10 Abandoning the hamlet, we begin the descent out of the cold mountains to celebrate our eleventh anniversary with the locals and some journalists . We’re transporting the radio equipment on mules so we can broadcast the celebration. We order eight cakes and eleven little candles. In Joateca I run into Jonás, who gives me some news that stops me in my tracks. “Get ready, we’re going to Mexico,” he tells me. “The Peace Accords will be signed on the sixteenth. A helicopter will take us to a landing strip where a U.N. plane will be waiting for us.” Rogelio arrives during the night. He will travel with us. “Life is full of twists and turns. Together we entered this war on foot and together we are going to leave it in a helicopter,” he says, without hiding his intense emotions. We’re happy that Rogelio will be in Mexico with us. After eleven years of putting his life on the line to preach Christ’s teachings in towns that even God himself seemed to have forgotten, Rogelio will finally be recognized. We soon receive some bad news. The U.N. helicopter is so small there won’t be space for the two of us. We make our way to the square in Joateca. I suggest that we eat breakfast, but Rogelio insists that we wait. “I know what’s going on here,” I say half-jokingly. “You’re waiting for a miracle to turn the small helicopter into a big one so that we can all go together.” There was no miracle. Standing in the wind that the chopper kicked up, we hugged Jonás and Juan before they climbed on board. Then Paolo arrives and tells me, “Get ready. They want you to go to San Salvador.” January 16 At five in the morning we start to...

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