Iván shared part of the story of his grandfather, José Alvarenga, on social media and under the hashtag #ProhibidoOlvidarSV. The young man believes that calling war and agreements a “farce” is minimizing the work of those who fought for their ideals.
Armed conflict is an important part of the Savior’s historical memory, as seen by thousands of users who, on social media, dumped stories and memories of their families during the war years and the importance that, for them, had the signature of the Peace Accords.
Iván López Almira, 21 years old, was one of those young people who decided to share their family experiences. He, in particular, recounted on social media the memories he has compiled about the life and struggle of his grandfather, José Mario López Alvarenga, who was part of the efforts to improve education systems in El Salvador.
To do so, David joined the #ProhibidoOlvidarSv movement, which for several days was a trend on the social network Twitter and where thousands of users, inside and outside the Salvadoran borders, expressed their thoughts and feelings. in response to recent statements, by government officials of President Nayib Bukele, who downplayed importance and legitimacy to the peace process, after decades of armed conflict in El Salvador.
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With messages of dissatisfaction and discontent, the Salvadorans who lived through the conflict, and those who are interested in preserving historical memory, have detailed messages, reflections and hundreds of stories about the war and the importance of signing the Peace Accords. .
Ivan considers that massive actions like this are the first step to legitimize these historical processes and give strength to the voice of those who lived the conflict or were directly or indirectly affected by the war.
“They are making us believe that the war was useless. We cannot forget the blood that was shed,” Ivan said, expressing his indignation after the president himself, Nayib Bukele, said that the facts, behind the construction of Salvadoran democracy, they were a “farce.”
This outrage is compounded by the fact that with this message, he also downplays the work for which his grandfather risked his life so many times and the legacy of his work.
Iván López Almira, 21 years old, was one of those young people who decided to share their family experiences. photo EDH
A struggle for teachers
As a child, José Alvarenga, David’s grandfather, was known for his skill and taste for numbers. This was one of the reasons that led him to make the decision to become a mathematics teacher in 1952. “My grandfather sought to claim the teaching profession,” says Ivan.
What the young man knows about his grandfather is the result of long conversations with his parents and those who knew him from a young age, as well as extensive research in books and newspaper archives, which have led him to locate documents and even to journalistic publications which highlight his grandfather’s work to dignify teaching in the decades of conflict and which reveal the life in which José Alvarenga was pushed to raise his disruptive voice and in favor of the rights of teachers.
Ivan remembers that his parents told him that being a teacher in times of conflict was not easy for his grandfather. “During the war you were killed just for being a teacher,” says the young man and says that it is because of these stories that he has come to understand that, thanks to the Peace Accords, many of the rights of the guild were established in the country. teacher did not have and they are now the basis of other efforts and struggles to improve the profession in El Salvador.
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Iván proudly relates that his grandfather, José Alvarenga, raised his voice amid protests to demand that the government in turn give more opportunities for teachers and teaching work: benefits of law, roster, salary increases and other benefits that, in these years , were rights to which educators did not have access. “My grandfather wanted an education system for everyone,” says Ivan.
Another of David’s grandfather’s struggles, during the years of the armed conflict in El Salvador, was to make it clear that education should become a free right and an opportunity for all, regardless of origin, geographical location or other factors of difference or exclusion. “My grandfather’s intention was to find solutions for all those who were suffering during the armed conflict,” Ivan notes.
Run away to live
The passion for teaching was something that José Alvarenga carried in his blood. His mother, Teresa Alvarenga, was a primary school teacher. He was born the 3 from March of 1938 in the corner the Zapotal, jurisdiction of the Returns to Chalatenango.
Her university training was carried out at the Faculty of Economics of the University of El Salvador and her undergraduate thesis addressed the issue of Salvadoran educational reform.
He worked as a teacher at almost every educational level, from basic to higher education. He was a member of the teaching career tribunal and part of organizations in favor of research and enhancement of educational activity in El Salvador and abroad. In addition to being one of the most recognized union leaders of the Salvadoran magisterium, who, given the situation the country was experiencing during the years of armed conflict, chose to defend its ideals, even being part of the armed clashes . “He refused to be armed but it was a life or death situation,” Ivan recounts.
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José Alvarenga was the founder, in Ciudad Delgado, of the Union of Salvadoran Teachers (UMS), which would later become part of the Andes 21 trade union association. His union work led him to approach movements such as the Popular Action Front (FAPU) or the Popular Liberation Movement (MLP) and then to be an active member of the Farabundo Martí Front for National Liberation ( FMLN), where he was a party to political and negotiating activities.
His residence, in San Salvador, was the scene of multiple acts of violence. Ivan’s parents told him that the Army arrived surprisingly and “machine-gunned” the walls of the house and threw grenades on the roof, a situation that kept them in constant fear for their lives.
Faced with the political persecution that Alvarenga faced during the armed conflict, his grandson narrates that his grandfather had no choice but to seek refuge abroad. He even had to make use of false identities and documents to leave the country and emigrate in search of allies and protectors abroad to help him stay safe and continue with his denunciations and struggles in in favor of the magisterium. “Saying his name was dangerous. My grandfather had to spend a lot of time in exile before returning,” Ivan says.
The young man, a student of foreign relations at the University of El Salvador, longs to keep alive the memory and work of his grandfather. He acknowledges that José Alvarenga’s struggle, during the Salvadoran armed conflict, was one of the main reasons that inspired him to study the profession he chose. “All his life he fought for his family and to achieve change in society,” he notes proudly.
Assassination after the Peace Accords
“My grandfather knew he could die, but I think he never thought it would happen that way,” says Ivan, almost three decades after the murder of his grandfather 29 years after the signing of the peace in El Salvador: two facts that have marked much of his identity and that of his family.
On December 9, 1993, after concluding the armed conflict and with the signing of the still recent Peace Accords, José Alvarenga was transported in his vehicle through the San Miguelito neighborhood, in San Salvador, when he witnessed a robbery. He stopped to rescue the victim, and then, after a long burst of gunfire, Alvarenga ended up lying on the ground, killed for at least six bullet impacts that fired at subjects whose identities were never known. exact.
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José Alvarenga’s family concludes that the strongest hypothesis is that his death was due to interrupting the armed assault. However, the investigations of the case and other data that managed to collect, also provide strength to the possibility that the fact was an “ambush” by armed groups who saw Josep as a threat to his struggle in defense of the rights of teachers and workers. Ivan emphasizes that his grandfather always lived in constant danger because of his way of thinking and for daring to raise his voice in critical moments and of political and social tensions.
“My grandfather’s story is the story of hundreds of people who suffered to leave a better country,” says Ivan, and invites young people like him to keep the historical memory of their families alive. “I think my grandfather died happy. There is still a lot to be achieved on the subject of education, but thanks to the Peace Accords, a better El Salvador was achieved,” he concludes.