WEBVTT - El Mozote

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<v Speaker 1>Warning. This episode contains references to extreme violence and sexual assault.

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<v Speaker 1>Please use discretion when listening.

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<v Speaker 2>Jamine Josuel Cornel Jonio Castillo.

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<v Speaker 1>So that's Coronell Jose Antonio Castillo. He's retired now, but

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<v Speaker 1>he spent his entire career in the salvador In Army.

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<v Speaker 1>I met him for coffee outside my hotel in San Salvador.

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<v Speaker 1>He has short, neatly combed hair, blue eyes, and smiles

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<v Speaker 1>like he's running for office. In fact, at various points

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<v Speaker 1>throughout our interview, I thought he might be flirting with me.

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<v Speaker 3>In Cantal de Miel lucien Siendo, he.

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<v Speaker 1>Was stationed in my family's hometown, San Miguel, and he

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<v Speaker 1>tells me that the most beautiful women are from there.

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<v Speaker 1>I wanted to talk to Coronel Castillo to get the

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<v Speaker 1>military perspective on the war, and he is not shy

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<v Speaker 1>about sharing it. For him, the whole thing was very

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<v Speaker 1>cut and dry.

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<v Speaker 2>Ohiamos a lapublica.

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<v Speaker 3>Deracia.

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<v Speaker 1>You had to choose. You were either with democracy or

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<v Speaker 1>with the communists. Coronel Castillo has always been extremely patriotic.

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<v Speaker 1>When he was in his teens, he idolized a well

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<v Speaker 1>known military leader, a man named Domino monte Rosa, the

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<v Speaker 1>head of the most infamous group of Salvadoran soldiers, the

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<v Speaker 1>Atla Cado.

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<v Speaker 2>Battalion, Giofiul Mirador Deli, the Rasco Militar came Cal Coronel

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<v Speaker 2>Domingo mont Rosa.

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<v Speaker 3>Vlade Cornel.

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<v Speaker 1>I'll be honest. Throughout her entire interview, I felt really uneasy.

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<v Speaker 1>Coronel Castillo is charming, smiles easily, but knowing that he

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<v Speaker 1>was stationed in my family's hometown, I can't help but

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<v Speaker 1>wonder what he did during the war. His hero the

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<v Speaker 1>Mengo monter Rosa and the Atla Coado Battalion are well

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<v Speaker 1>known for the human rights abuses they committed. But it

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<v Speaker 1>seems like the Coronel might be uneasy with me too.

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<v Speaker 1>Before starting the interview, he asked me a bunch of

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<v Speaker 1>questions about where I work and what the angle of

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<v Speaker 1>my interview would be.

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<v Speaker 2>Ist Sea.

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<v Speaker 3>Quinteistoria.

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<v Speaker 1>Whenever you hear a story, you're going to hear it

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<v Speaker 1>differently depending on who's telling it, he tells me. Coronel

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<v Speaker 1>Castillo is worried because he feels like a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>the storytelling about the war is one sided, that there

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<v Speaker 1>hasn't been enough attention paid to the violence committed by

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<v Speaker 1>the f m l N, and this feeling that the

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<v Speaker 1>stories told about the conflict are somehow incomplete extends to

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<v Speaker 1>one of the most controversial moments from the war, the

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<v Speaker 1>story of a town called El mosotekel.

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<v Speaker 3>See.

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<v Speaker 1>Elmosote is a small town high in the Salvadorn Mountains.

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<v Speaker 1>It's in a district called Mora San where some of

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<v Speaker 1>the worst fighting during the war happened. For many years,

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<v Speaker 1>the town of Elmosote laid abandoned, but after the war

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<v Speaker 1>a crew of forensic specialists came from around the world

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<v Speaker 1>to investigate what had happened to this small town, and

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<v Speaker 1>they discovered bodies, hundreds of bodies from what would later

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<v Speaker 1>be called the El Mosote MASSACREO.

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<v Speaker 3>Dontulm savra com.

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<v Speaker 1>Coronel Castile's theory is that El Mosote was an fml

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<v Speaker 1>and burial ground, a police where the guerrillas went to

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<v Speaker 1>bury their dead. When I ask him what happened to

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<v Speaker 1>the townspeople, he tells me that in December nineteen eighty one,

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<v Speaker 1>there was a big battle that happened in Elmosote.

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<v Speaker 2>El informe the classifics d the combati in al in

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<v Speaker 2>Frina albitia, momento, contract and combatido.

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<v Speaker 1>These theories that Coronel Castillo has, they're nothing new. They

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<v Speaker 1>go way back to when the story of Elmsoto was

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<v Speaker 1>first reported, and none of these theories are true. They've

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<v Speaker 1>all been disproved by the UN Truth Commission and forensic evidence.

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<v Speaker 1>Looking back, I wish that I had pushed back on

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<v Speaker 1>some of what he was saying contradicted his prepared talking points,

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<v Speaker 1>but I didn't. I just let him say his peace,

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<v Speaker 1>thanked him for his time, and left. It takes a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of courage to tell someone in a position of

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<v Speaker 1>power you're wrong, you're lying, and in that moment, I

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<v Speaker 1>didn't have it. The truth of what happened at Enmosote

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<v Speaker 1>is now part of the official history of El Salvador.

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<v Speaker 1>It's been verified by experts and witnesses. But for many

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<v Speaker 1>years the massacre went widely ignored and disputed, and even

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<v Speaker 1>now there are people like Goronel Gastillo who refused to

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<v Speaker 1>believe it happened. And it's important because how we remember

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<v Speaker 1>this moment. The stories we tell and the stories we

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<v Speaker 1>ignore embody the country's struggle with its past and its present.

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Jasmine Romero and this is Sacred Scandal, Nation of

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<v Speaker 1>Saints episode seven and Mosote, We'll be right back. The

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<v Speaker 1>town of Inmosote is about two hours away from my

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<v Speaker 1>parents house in San Miuel. The drive is almost entirely uphill,

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<v Speaker 1>and it gets really rough in spots. My dad's truck

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<v Speaker 1>was rattling so hard it felt like it was going

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<v Speaker 1>to just shatter into a million pieces. Okay, so we're

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<v Speaker 1>in in the area of now, but we're on a

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<v Speaker 1>really really narrow dirt road.

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<v Speaker 3>Oh god, oh god.

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<v Speaker 1>We end up in a paved plaza in the center

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<v Speaker 1>of a small town. We're welcomed by the man that

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<v Speaker 1>I'm here to see.

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<v Speaker 4>It's the Claros Tolmente, did they say, pa.

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<v Speaker 1>Lionelle Claros, the president of the Victims Association of Lionel,

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<v Speaker 1>is here to lead us on a tour of the town.

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<v Speaker 1>It's lovely here, with a spectacular view of the lush,

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<v Speaker 1>green countryside. My mom keeps freaking out at all the

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<v Speaker 1>beautiful orchids that grow wild here. Like most salvador In towns,

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<v Speaker 1>it's centered around a church, like Lesia de Santa Catarina.

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<v Speaker 1>Leonelle leads me and my parents through the plaza to

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<v Speaker 1>where that church used to be. There's a memorial where

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<v Speaker 1>it once stood. Is the is the monument.

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<v Speaker 5>The forty three years ago, in this very spot, the

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<v Speaker 5>entire town of Elmosote was massacred.

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<v Speaker 1>This is based on the findings of the UN Truth Commission.

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<v Speaker 1>On December eleventh of nineteen eighty one, in the early

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<v Speaker 1>morning light, townspeople were ordered from their homes and gathered

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<v Speaker 1>into the town square. Soldiers from the Atla Katal battalion,

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<v Speaker 1>led by the famed Goronelle Domingo mont Rosa, told the

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<v Speaker 1>people that they'd be given food. The soldiers then separated

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<v Speaker 1>people into groups men, women, and children. The men were

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<v Speaker 1>marched into the sacristy of the church. It's a small

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<v Speaker 1>room where the priests prepare before leading mass. There the

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<v Speaker 1>soldiers tortured them for information before spraying them with bullets.

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<v Speaker 1>Beside the church, there's a small building called Ilgnvento, the convent.

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<v Speaker 1>It wasn't really a convent. It was mostly used to

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<v Speaker 1>house visiting priests. When they were passing through the area,

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<v Speaker 1>that's where the soldiers brought the children. They two were

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<v Speaker 1>killed with gunfire. Finally, across the street, the women were

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<v Speaker 1>lined up in the yard of a house they were

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<v Speaker 1>systematically raped, and then the soldiers pushed them into the

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<v Speaker 1>house and killed them two. The soldiers then lit the

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<v Speaker 1>town on fire and watched it burn. After the war,

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<v Speaker 1>the bodies of the townspeople were brought here to where

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<v Speaker 1>I'm standing now and buried together. In nineteen ninety one,

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<v Speaker 1>a simple memorial was built in their honor. It's a

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<v Speaker 1>big brick wall with black marble squares laid across it

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<v Speaker 1>in a grid. Each squareless ten names.

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<v Speaker 4>Lapare when a pamo.

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<v Speaker 1>Some of the squares are all just one last name,

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<v Speaker 1>entire family lines extinguished. Maya Rufina Amaya is one of

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<v Speaker 1>the very few survivors of that day, and she's buried

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<v Speaker 1>here too. Her testimony is one of the reasons that

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<v Speaker 1>the world knows the story of what happened here. Rufina

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<v Speaker 1>lived in almost with her husband and four children. On

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<v Speaker 1>the day of the massacre, she was lined up along

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<v Speaker 1>with all the other women in town. She was the

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<v Speaker 1>last woman in line, ye yea.

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<v Speaker 4>Ye.

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<v Speaker 1>When a soldier wasn't looking, she managed to escape and

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<v Speaker 1>hide under a bush. She laid there for hours, frozen,

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<v Speaker 1>listening as the soldiers massacred everyone in town, including her

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<v Speaker 1>four children. As she lay there, she made a deal

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<v Speaker 1>with God. She vowed that if she was spared, she

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<v Speaker 1>would dedicate her life to telling the story of what

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<v Speaker 1>had happened here. And she did.

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<v Speaker 6>Pourkup and she told it to tour groups and two

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<v Speaker 6>journalists Quadri Brazos, and.

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<v Speaker 1>Across the decades, again and again she told her story.

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<v Speaker 1>She was found eight days after the massacre by f

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<v Speaker 1>M L and soldiers. The interviewed her and began to

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<v Speaker 1>broadcast the news of the massacre on their clandestine radio

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<v Speaker 1>station radios.

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<v Speaker 3>Radiomos.

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<v Speaker 1>They also invited journalists from the New York Times and

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<v Speaker 1>the Washington Post into the area so they could see

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<v Speaker 1>for themselves and report on the massacre. Here's former New

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<v Speaker 1>York Times reporter Raymond Bonner reading his notes after interviewing Rufina.

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<v Speaker 7>The earth was littered with spent sixteen automatic rifle cartridges.

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<v Speaker 7>The house was shambles. Mama, they're killing me. They've killed

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<v Speaker 7>my sister. They're going to kill me, screamed the nine

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<v Speaker 7>year old son of Ruffina, Amaya. She was one who

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<v Speaker 7>had managed to escape. This is Amaya, recalled. The soldiers

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<v Speaker 7>had no fury, It just observed the lieutenant's orders, they

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<v Speaker 7>were cold. It wasn't a battle.

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<v Speaker 1>Bonner and The New York Times reported that seven hundred

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<v Speaker 1>and thirty three people had been massacred in Elmosote. The

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<v Speaker 1>Salvadoran government vehemently denied that the story was true. Then

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<v Speaker 1>Salvadoran President Josina claimed that the whole story was fabricated,

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<v Speaker 1>just fml N propaganda, that the numbers of the dead

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<v Speaker 1>were exaggerated. The US, upon hearing reports of a massacre,

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<v Speaker 1>sent two embassy officials up to the area to see

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<v Speaker 1>if the story was true, but the Salvadoran military refused

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<v Speaker 1>to escort those officials into Almosote. They basically dumped these

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<v Speaker 1>two guys out on the side of the road in

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<v Speaker 1>the middle of a war zone and said, if you

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<v Speaker 1>want to investigate, be my guest. So the officials came

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<v Speaker 1>back to the embassy and told their boss something happened,

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<v Speaker 1>but we don't know exactly what. And that's what the

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<v Speaker 1>ambassador told the White House. Shortly after the massacre, the

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<v Speaker 1>US Ambassador Dean Hinton was asked if the reports were true.

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<v Speaker 1>His response quote, I certainly cannot confirm such reports, nor

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<v Speaker 1>do I have any reason to believe that they are true.

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<v Speaker 1>The day after Elmo soThe was reported in The New

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<v Speaker 1>York Times, the Reagan administration certified to Congress that the

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<v Speaker 1>Salvadoran government had quote made progress on human rights. They too,

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<v Speaker 1>called the story propaganda.

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<v Speaker 8>A determined propaganda campaign is sought to mislead many in

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<v Speaker 8>the United States as to the true nature of the

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<v Speaker 8>conflict in El Salvador. Very simply, guerrillas are attempting to

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<v Speaker 8>impose a Marxist Leninist dictatorship on the people of El

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<v Speaker 8>Salvador as part of a larger imperialistic plan.

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<v Speaker 1>Raymond Bonner, the New York Times reporter who interviewed Rufina Amaya,

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<v Speaker 1>was removed from his beat reporting on Central America and

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<v Speaker 1>eventually left the paper. The Wall Street Journal ran an

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<v Speaker 1>article lambasting The Times, meaning that they'd fallen for communist propaganda.

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<v Speaker 1>With both governments denying or downplaying the massacre, the story

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<v Speaker 1>of Enmosote would go basically unheard for another ten years.

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<v Speaker 1>When the war finally ended in nineteen ninety two, the

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<v Speaker 1>UN sent a commission team to investigate. Finally, the bodies

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<v Speaker 1>were found surrounded by hundreds of shells of US made ammunition,

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<v Speaker 1>some of the best forensic specialists around the world came

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<v Speaker 1>to this tiny mountain town to help uncover what had

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<v Speaker 1>been hidden for so long, but it was ten years

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<v Speaker 1>too late. By then, the theories about FMLN burial grounds

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<v Speaker 1>and shootouts with the town had long spread, and even

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<v Speaker 1>with all the forensic evidence saying otherwise, obviously, those stories

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<v Speaker 1>stuck to this day. The number of dead is uncertain

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<v Speaker 1>because bodies were continually exhumed for years, but including the

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<v Speaker 1>surrounding areas, the best estimates we have are two hundred

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<v Speaker 1>and twenty men, two hundred women, and five hundred and

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<v Speaker 1>forty one children. It's a devastating number, especially when you

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<v Speaker 1>consider that two hundred and forty eight of those children

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<v Speaker 1>were under six years old. But Gronlicastillo, the military officer

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<v Speaker 1>we heard from earlier, had an answer for why there

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<v Speaker 1>were so many children's bodies at Enmosolte. His theory is

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<v Speaker 1>that the children in those graves were child soldiers.

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<v Speaker 3>I shown an alle.

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<v Speaker 1>Samuelitos. It's the name that right wing Salvadorans give to

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<v Speaker 1>child soldiers. I don't buy this on its face, it

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<v Speaker 1>makes no sense. According to the forensic evidence, hundreds of

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<v Speaker 1>the dead and Elmosote were babies and toddlers, including newborns.

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<v Speaker 1>But here's the thing. There's a kernel of truth in

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<v Speaker 1>the Coronel's theory. There were child soldiers working with the FMLN.

0:20:37.800 --> 0:20:41.160
<v Speaker 1>But their stories are much more complicated than the one

0:20:41.160 --> 0:20:44.359
<v Speaker 1>that the coronelle is trying to tell me. And after

0:20:44.359 --> 0:20:46.359
<v Speaker 1>the break we'll hear one.

0:21:03.640 --> 0:21:05.679
<v Speaker 4>Chest senor.

0:21:07.400 --> 0:21:10.800
<v Speaker 1>Not far from almost on the hot asphalt of a

0:21:10.800 --> 0:21:13.800
<v Speaker 1>public playground, I met a man named Jose.

0:21:16.320 --> 0:21:16.639
<v Speaker 9>Hasen.

0:21:17.440 --> 0:21:19.840
<v Speaker 1>Jose is not his real name. He would only meet

0:21:19.840 --> 0:21:22.480
<v Speaker 1>me in a public park and he wanted to stay anonymous.

0:21:23.520 --> 0:21:25.840
<v Speaker 1>He joined the f mL N when he was twelve.

0:21:27.400 --> 0:21:36.360
<v Speaker 9>Generally Mintererella also there he doos in Pleno Condricto.

0:21:37.359 --> 0:21:39.680
<v Speaker 1>Jose grew up the son of a Campecino in a

0:21:39.760 --> 0:21:43.720
<v Speaker 1>rural area in this province, Morassan, the area where the

0:21:43.800 --> 0:21:45.240
<v Speaker 1>leftists were gaining a lot of ground.

0:21:47.520 --> 0:21:58.520
<v Speaker 9>Rimero Nucleos, Diamo Clandestino Jorgania here Mile but heso Jo.

0:21:59.359 --> 0:22:01.240
<v Speaker 1>He says that it's father joined one of the groups

0:22:01.240 --> 0:22:06.360
<v Speaker 1>that would eventually become part of the f mLAN Porque Cio.

0:22:08.160 --> 0:22:14.919
<v Speaker 9>The a group of Lavaltata for la Falta, Portundia economic

0:22:15.440 --> 0:22:16.159
<v Speaker 9>for la Falta.

0:22:17.680 --> 0:22:20.040
<v Speaker 1>He felt like there was no future for his family

0:22:20.119 --> 0:22:23.720
<v Speaker 1>or children, no chance at an education or to better

0:22:23.760 --> 0:22:29.200
<v Speaker 1>their situation if society didn't change. Jose's mother wanted no

0:22:29.320 --> 0:22:32.280
<v Speaker 1>part in any of it. She worried for her children,

0:22:32.680 --> 0:22:35.200
<v Speaker 1>and she tried to flee the town with Jose as

0:22:35.200 --> 0:22:38.920
<v Speaker 1>a child. She was killed by the armed forces.

0:22:39.760 --> 0:22:47.080
<v Speaker 9>Whende if we ever car carrios albara and maestra endo

0:22:47.359 --> 0:23:08.720
<v Speaker 9>pelo implementary posta the Perla de Masiel.

0:23:10.560 --> 0:23:13.440
<v Speaker 1>Josett thinks that because of his father's connection with the leftists,

0:23:14.119 --> 0:23:17.080
<v Speaker 1>the army killed his mother, along with his two aunts

0:23:17.359 --> 0:23:20.840
<v Speaker 1>and his grandparents, but it's hard to say for sure

0:23:22.080 --> 0:23:25.119
<v Speaker 1>because around that time the army seemed to just be

0:23:25.359 --> 0:23:29.440
<v Speaker 1>lumping everyone in the area together, counting everyone in Morasan

0:23:29.560 --> 0:23:35.680
<v Speaker 1>Province as a part of the leftists. It was part

0:23:35.680 --> 0:23:39.520
<v Speaker 1>of a military tactic that's now called draining the Sea

0:23:40.480 --> 0:23:42.720
<v Speaker 1>to hurt the Gerrias by cutting off their means of

0:23:42.760 --> 0:23:48.160
<v Speaker 1>support and intimidate anyone who might consider helping them. Draining

0:23:48.160 --> 0:23:52.760
<v Speaker 1>the Sea is associated with the mass murder of civilian populations.

0:23:54.160 --> 0:24:00.920
<v Speaker 9>Last depart in La Sona nor.

0:24:02.880 --> 0:24:05.119
<v Speaker 3>Aod heron Kera guerriero.

0:24:06.359 --> 0:24:06.399
<v Speaker 8>Er.

0:24:07.280 --> 0:24:10.400
<v Speaker 1>It was an invasion, he tells me, with the rest

0:24:10.400 --> 0:24:13.200
<v Speaker 1>of his family, Dad, Jose felt like his only option

0:24:13.359 --> 0:24:35.800
<v Speaker 1>was to join his father and join the fighterouke.

0:24:26.720 --> 0:24:33.760
<v Speaker 9>Canno, can you have a fast organizaui loco? Since aver

0:24:33.880 --> 0:24:36.720
<v Speaker 9>loka significava nagerra mucho meno.

0:24:40.600 --> 0:24:43.760
<v Speaker 1>He was twelve years old, he didn't really understand what

0:24:43.880 --> 0:24:47.280
<v Speaker 1>joining a war even meant. He went through some basic

0:24:47.320 --> 0:24:50.360
<v Speaker 1>military training along with classes on how to read and write,

0:24:51.000 --> 0:24:55.560
<v Speaker 1>and then went into the conflict, but he insists that

0:24:55.680 --> 0:24:56.919
<v Speaker 1>he wasn't recruited.

0:24:58.040 --> 0:25:00.440
<v Speaker 3>Yes, documento documenta.

0:25:03.480 --> 0:25:13.919
<v Speaker 9>Couto no no homilia ytonsa.

0:25:17.160 --> 0:25:21.639
<v Speaker 1>They killed their families, he says, we didn't have another option.

0:25:30.600 --> 0:25:34.320
<v Speaker 1>It's estimated that of the eighty five hundred total FMLN soldiers,

0:25:35.119 --> 0:25:38.800
<v Speaker 1>two thousand of them were under eighteen. That's what the

0:25:38.880 --> 0:25:43.520
<v Speaker 1>UN classifies as a child soldier. Jose's story is just

0:25:43.720 --> 0:25:47.440
<v Speaker 1>one of them, but it's a much more complicated story

0:25:47.760 --> 0:25:51.600
<v Speaker 1>than the one Coronel Castillo is telling me about Samuelitos.

0:25:55.720 --> 0:25:58.560
<v Speaker 1>When I first talked to Coronel Castillo, he told me

0:25:58.600 --> 0:26:01.280
<v Speaker 1>that the war was a matter of choice. You were

0:26:01.320 --> 0:26:05.720
<v Speaker 1>either with democracy or with the communists. Maybe that was

0:26:05.720 --> 0:26:09.879
<v Speaker 1>true for him, but Jose didn't have a choice. His

0:26:10.040 --> 0:26:11.280
<v Speaker 1>entire family was killed.

0:26:15.680 --> 0:26:16.080
<v Speaker 3>Goron L.

0:26:16.160 --> 0:26:19.600
<v Speaker 1>Castile claims that the storytelling about the war is one sided.

0:26:20.640 --> 0:26:24.199
<v Speaker 1>There's some truth to that. Even in this podcast, the

0:26:24.200 --> 0:26:26.879
<v Speaker 1>focus has mainly been on the atrocities committed by the state,

0:26:27.760 --> 0:26:31.440
<v Speaker 1>but the leftists definitely had their hands dirty too. They

0:26:31.440 --> 0:26:35.639
<v Speaker 1>did use child soldiers. Even before the war. The FMLN

0:26:35.680 --> 0:26:40.320
<v Speaker 1>did their fair share of kidnapping, torturing and murdering, but

0:26:40.400 --> 0:26:42.680
<v Speaker 1>in the UN Truth Commission's report from after the war,

0:26:43.480 --> 0:26:47.639
<v Speaker 1>they estimated that the FMLN was responsible for five percent

0:26:48.080 --> 0:26:52.240
<v Speaker 1>of the atrocities committed during the war. The military accounted

0:26:52.520 --> 0:26:59.439
<v Speaker 1>for eighty five The last ten percent is unknown. The

0:26:59.480 --> 0:27:04.760
<v Speaker 1>difference in all this is power, the power to choose

0:27:05.240 --> 0:27:08.680
<v Speaker 1>whether or not to fight, the power to tell your

0:27:08.680 --> 0:27:13.280
<v Speaker 1>own story and have it believed. The Salvador and oligarchy

0:27:13.400 --> 0:27:15.920
<v Speaker 1>and government got to tell their version of the story.

0:27:16.880 --> 0:27:20.680
<v Speaker 1>In return, they got billions of dollars in US military aid.

0:27:22.200 --> 0:27:27.120
<v Speaker 1>Rufina Amaya told her story. In return, she was called

0:27:27.119 --> 0:27:27.520
<v Speaker 1>a liar.

0:27:33.680 --> 0:27:42.720
<v Speaker 8>But I mean honoi, yeah, you gonna do OK.

0:27:48.200 --> 0:27:48.520
<v Speaker 10>Gave him.

0:28:07.840 --> 0:28:11.240
<v Speaker 1>It's not easy for me, she says, But there's no

0:28:11.280 --> 0:28:14.840
<v Speaker 1>one else to tell it. People say that it's a lie,

0:28:15.400 --> 0:28:18.840
<v Speaker 1>that it didn't happen. Those of us who lived it,

0:28:19.680 --> 0:28:26.719
<v Speaker 1>we know the truth. Trufina Maya spent her life testifying

0:28:26.760 --> 0:28:31.280
<v Speaker 1>about what happened in her small mountain town. Her testimony

0:28:31.720 --> 0:28:34.200
<v Speaker 1>was the backbone for one of the earliest investigations into

0:28:34.200 --> 0:28:39.760
<v Speaker 1>the case, led by the human rights organization tutell. It's

0:28:39.800 --> 0:28:44.040
<v Speaker 1>an organization that was co founded by Archbishop Oscar Romero.

0:28:47.120 --> 0:28:51.520
<v Speaker 1>Tutella Lal's report on Elmosote continues to be one of

0:28:51.520 --> 0:28:56.720
<v Speaker 1>the most extensive and thorough accounts. They led the charge

0:28:56.960 --> 0:29:00.280
<v Speaker 1>on trying to get justice for the victims and their families.

0:29:02.240 --> 0:29:04.560
<v Speaker 1>Grafina Amaya died in two thousand and seven of a

0:29:04.560 --> 0:29:11.160
<v Speaker 1>stroke when she was only sixty four. She died waiting

0:29:11.160 --> 0:29:19.640
<v Speaker 1>for justice to be done. The truth of what happened

0:29:19.680 --> 0:29:23.280
<v Speaker 1>here lives on in the stories of the survivors and

0:29:23.320 --> 0:29:29.040
<v Speaker 1>their families still here, telling the same story they've told

0:29:29.520 --> 0:29:40.640
<v Speaker 1>since the beginning. On the next episode, peace finally comes

0:29:40.640 --> 0:29:43.360
<v Speaker 1>to El Salvador, but it comes at a price.

0:29:44.800 --> 0:29:48.320
<v Speaker 10>Sex Jesuit priests were brutally executed and San Salvador last week.

0:29:48.360 --> 0:29:51.640
<v Speaker 10>Their deaths have triggered a heated congressional debate on continuation

0:29:51.720 --> 0:29:56.480
<v Speaker 10>of military aid to that country.

0:29:58.720 --> 0:30:01.320
<v Speaker 1>If you want to know more, I highly recommend Mark

0:30:01.400 --> 0:30:10.480
<v Speaker 1>Danner's book The Massacre at Enmosote. Sacred Scandal. Nation of

0:30:10.520 --> 0:30:13.920
<v Speaker 1>Saints is a production of AJA Podcasts in partnership with

0:30:13.960 --> 0:30:17.640
<v Speaker 1>Iheart's Michaultura podcast network and is hosted and written by

0:30:17.680 --> 0:30:22.600
<v Speaker 1>me Jasmine Romero, produced by Jazmine Romero Sofia palitza Car

0:30:22.880 --> 0:30:26.840
<v Speaker 1>with help from Jorge Just and Alo Rosibeles. Research and

0:30:26.920 --> 0:30:31.160
<v Speaker 1>reporting by Jasmine Romero, Edited by Cyda Kevelo, Jorge Just

0:30:31.440 --> 0:30:34.120
<v Speaker 1>and Rose Red. Nation of Saints was recorded in New

0:30:34.200 --> 0:30:36.840
<v Speaker 1>York City at the Relic Room with engineering by Sam Bear.

0:30:37.560 --> 0:30:42.120
<v Speaker 1>Mixing and sound designed by Paciquinones. Original music by Golden Mines,

0:30:42.360 --> 0:30:47.000
<v Speaker 1>Darko and Aeme based on Patrick Hart's original composition. Fact

0:30:47.080 --> 0:30:51.960
<v Speaker 1>checking by Edendira Aquino Ayala. Executive producers are Carman geratol

0:30:52.160 --> 0:30:56.120
<v Speaker 1>isaac Lee, Rose Red and Nando Villa. Our executive producers

0:30:56.120 --> 0:30:59.960
<v Speaker 1>at iHeart are Giselle Bansis and Arlene Santana. Sacred Scandal

0:31:00.280 --> 0:31:04.000
<v Speaker 1>was created by Melanie Bartley and Baulovadro's Special thanks to

0:31:04.040 --> 0:31:08.240
<v Speaker 1>Cynthia Glavic, Joanne Gross and the Ursuline Sisters of Cleveland.

0:31:08.800 --> 0:31:12.000
<v Speaker 1>The recordings of Dorothy Casel in this episode were provided

0:31:12.120 --> 0:31:16.480
<v Speaker 1>courtesy of the Ursuline Sisters of Cleveland Archives. For more podcasts,

0:31:16.640 --> 0:31:19.400
<v Speaker 1>go to the iHeartRadio app or wherever you listen to

0:31:19.440 --> 0:31:20.480
<v Speaker 1>your favorite podcasts.