Joseph and Jesus fought the same war, but on different sides. Before 1992, they were irreconcilable enemies and today they celebrate living in a country where for almost 3 decades they can be friends.
“Definitely not.” José Sants Melara, alias “Pepe” answers with this forcefulness, if he and Jesús Quijano could have worked hand in hand as they do today.
In 1978, “Pepe” joined the People’s Revolutionary Army (ERP), one of the five armed groups that in 1980 formed the Farabundo Martí Front for National Liberation (FMLN). On his right side, at the table, sits Jesus Quijano, who in 1986 joined the Air Force, a branch of the Armed Forces of El Salvador (FAES). Today, both are part of the board of the Institute for the Administration of Benefits for Veterans and Veterans (INABVE). And they are also friends. But both are blunt in saying that more than 29 years ago their differences were irreconcilable.
This is, in his opinion, the main value of the signing of peace, that Salvadoran brothers stop killing themselves for their political ideas. “War is madness, no one wants to go back. We want to walk the paths of democracy, peace and justice as we have come walking. There is no longer room in the country to fight ideas with violence,” Santos Melara says hopefully.
But getting to that was not easy, he explains, and he calls for this message to reach Salvadorans, and particularly young people who can sometimes take peace for granted.
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“Conditions had to be created for us to be able to sit down and there were key actors, such as the United Nations or the Catholic Church, who promoted that we stop the suffering of this people,” the former guerrilla recalls.
In addition, he celebrates another point: “We agreed and the most tangible proof of this is that the agreements were signed and there was no longer a shot to fight ideas.”
Jesús Quijano also emphasizes that El Salvador is a world example in the implementation of these agreements.
“The ceasefire was not broken by either of the two protagonist sides,” he stresses proudly.
That is why, and in the face of growing rhetoric that denies the importance of agreements, Quijano says that “today more than ever, we must defend them, especially us veterans who were enemies on the battlefield but thank God we get to the point of sitting down and ending the madness this January 16th “.
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He adds that “the guns fell silent and a rifle did not sound again between the Armed Forces and the FMLN. We must protect the legacy of the Peace Accords because we were enemies on the battlefield and today, together, we defend peace.” .
And while “Pepe” and Quijano proudly highlight history, it is impossible not to delve into the present and the risks that peace faces today …
Attempts to rewrite history
In December 2020, Nayib Bukele said in the Mozote hamlet, where the bloodiest massacre of the war took place, that this and the peace accords were a farce.
This produced the outrage and rejection of much of Salvadoran society, including the ex-combatants and veterans sector.
Saints Melara is blunt and claims that Bukele “wants to erase our history and create his own.”
And without going so far, he adds that “the president is sick of the obsession with power, of becoming a god in the country and erasing and denying the whole past.”
“The Peace Accords were not useless or a farce,” academics and political leaders say in Bukele.
That is why, in addition to the rhetorical pitfalls and denying the historical value of the Peace Accords, he adds that the president is trying to suffocate the ex-combatants sector (see separate note).
“He tries to erase the story,” he repeats. “Last year he did not celebrate the Peace Accords and that there was no pandemic yet. He would like this not to exist, but we will celebrate it,” he said.
Quijano adds and recalls the old maxim that “a people who do not know their history is doomed to repeat it.”
He adds that agreements are the cornerstone that sustains democracy in this country and must be taken care of, understanding that its flaws and limitations are to work as a society and not to be used as excuses to undo peace and freedom. .
“Pepe” goes further and says that Bukele could not have been president without these agreements and stresses that a clear benefit is that on the day he won the election and when he took office, no one delegitimized his victory. “Alternability is a benefit of agreements,” he says.
Abuses of power
In addition to their attempt to rewrite history, they both see a dangerous drift in the Bukele administration and attitudes similar to those in the country prior to the outbreak of war in 1980.
“In the conflict society was divided between those who are for and against something. Yhoy, if you don’t think like them (the Government), you are the bad guy,” laments Quijano.
In his view, the current government is leading divisive rhetoric and dangerous actions that border on a dictatorial temptation.
Sants Melara also sees attempts to gag the media and critical voices, situations that remind him of the repression that in 1978 led him to join the ERP.
“The only step he lacks is to violently fight ideas. We are facing someone who sees as an enemy someone who does not think like him,” he laments.
Talking to both of the agreements is not just about talking about history, but about discussing the present and its risks, especially at the hands of a president who flirts with authoritarianism and despises the historic conquest of peace.
And, as at the time, they look willing to fight for their country. “We are fighting for peace and we are ready to defend it,” said Pepe.