In November, 1981, during the height of the Salvadoran armed conflict, an estimated 1,200 soldiers invaded the rural northern province of Cabañas, El Salvador, to carry out a “cleansing operation.” Survivors of the invasion, however, tell a story of carnage, in which the armed forces directly targeted the unarmed civilian population, including the elderly and women carrying children, using ground forces and aerial bombardment and resulting in the death of untold numbers of campesinos. In particular, hundreds are estimated to have been killed in the massacre of Santa Cruz, which took place at the site of the schoolhouse in Santa Cruz, in the municipality of Ilobasco, department of Cabañas, on November 14, 1981.
Since 2013, Unfinished Sentences has worked with partners in El Salvador, Spain, and the United States in an effort to understand and document what happened at Santa Cruz. Today Unfinished Sentences presents the report God Alone was with Us, the first comprehensive study of this massacre, along with an 18-minute documentary detailing the events of the massacre and survivors’ renewed fight for truth and justice.
The release by Unfinished Sentences is accompanied by an in-depth report in El Salvador’s El Faro newspaper. Both the documentary and report by Unfinished Sentences are also available in Spanish-language versions.
Watch and share the video below and read the full report over at the Unfinished Sentences website!