Every day during the years of conflict in Central America, tortured bodies were found along roadsides—as in Jesus’ day the crucified victims of the Roman Empire were displayed on the side of the road—to instill fear in the population. Every day during the 1980s and early 1990s in Central America, people were killed, disappeared—because of faith, because of their belief in a God who meant life, abundant life, life is all its fullness, for every human being.
–Margaret Swedish and Marie Dennis
People are not just killed by death squads in El Salvador; they are decapitated and then their heads are placed on pikes and used to dot the landscape. Men are not just disemboweled by the Salvadoran Treasury Police; their severed genitalia are stuffed into their mouths. Salvadoran women are not just raped by the National Guard; their wombs are cut from their bodies and used to cover their faces. It is not enough to kill children; they are dragged over barbed wire until the flesh falls from their bones while parents are forced to watch.
–Father Daniel Santiago
