Iván shared part of his grandfather’s story, José Alvarenga, on social media and under the hashtag #ProhibidoOlvidarSV. The young man believes that calling war and agreements a “prank” means minimizing the work of those who fought for his ideals.
Armed conflict is an important part of El Salvador’s historical memory, as it is considered by thousands of users who shared stories and memories of their families on social media during the war and the importance of signing the Peace Accords for them. .
Iván López Almira, 21, was one of those young people who decided to share his family’s experiences. In particular, he shared on social media the memories he gathered 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 this, David joined the #ProhibidoOlvidarSv movement which, for several days, has been a trend on the social network Twitter and where thousands of users, inside and outside Salvadoran borders, have expressed their thoughts and feelings in response. in recent statements about officials of the government of President Nayib Bukele, who downplayed the importance and legitimacy of the peace process after decades of armed conflict in El Salvador.
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With messages of dissatisfaction and dissatisfaction, the Salvadorans who lived through the conflict and those who are interested in preserving the historical memory, detailed messages, reflections and hundreds of stories about the war and the importance of signing the Peace Accords.
Iván considers that such massive actions are the first step in legitimizing these historical processes and in empowering the voices of those who have lived through the conflict or been directly or indirectly affected by the war.
“It simply came to our notice then. We cannot forget the bloodshed, “Iván said, expressing his indignation after the president himself, Nayib Bukele, said that the events behind the construction of Salvadoran democracy were a” prank “.
This indignation increases when one considers the fact that, with that message, the work for which his grandfather risked his life so many times and the legacy that remained from his work are also minimized.
Iván López Almira, 21, was one of those young people who decided to share his family’s experiences. EDH photography
A fight 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 why he decided to become a mathematics teacher in 1952. “My grandfather sought to claim the profession of teacher,” says Iván.
What the young man knows about his grandfather is the result of long conversations with his parents and those who knew him from an early age, as well as extensive research in books and newspaper archives, which led him to locate documents and even journalistic publications in his grandfather’s work to denounce the teaching activity in the decades of conflict and which reveals the life to which José Alvarenga was pushed to raise his voice disturbingly and in favor of teachers’ rights.
Iván remembers that his parents told him that being a teacher in times of conflict was not easy for his grandfather. “During the war they killed you just because you were a teacher,” says the young man, and says that because of those stories he was able to understand that thanks to the Peace Accords, many of the rights established in the country lacked the teachers’ union. the basis of other efforts and struggles to improve the profession in El Salvador.
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Iván proudly recounts that his grandfather, José Alvarenga, raised his voice amid protests to ask the government, in turn, for more opportunities for teachers and teaching activities: legal benefits, rank, salary increases and other benefits that, in turn, in those years, there were rights that educators did not have access to. “My grandfather wanted an education system for everyone,” says Iván.
Another struggle of David’s grandfather, in the years of the armed conflict in El Salvador, was to clarify that education should become a free right of 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 suffered during the armed conflict,” says Iván.
Run to live
His passion for teaching was something that José Alvarenga carried in his blood. His mother, Teresa Alvarenga, was a primary school teacher. He was born on March 3, 1938 in the canton of El Zapotal, in the jurisdiction of Las Vueltas in Chalatenango.
His university training was conducted at the Faculty of Economics of the University of El Salvador, and his graduation thesis addressed the topic of a Salvadoran educational reform.
He has worked as a teacher at almost all levels of education, from basic to higher education. He was a member of the tribunal for the teaching profession and was part of organizations in favor of research and improvement of educational activity in El Salvador and abroad. In addition to being one of the most recognized union leaders of Salvadoran teachers, who, faced with the situation in the country during the years of armed conflict, chose to defend his ideals, even as part of armed confrontations. “He refused to be armed, but it was a life or death situation,” says Iván.
PHOTO: Young Salvadorans during the commemoration of the peace agreements expressed, “the blood of the people is not a farce”
José Alvarenga was the founder, in Ciudad Delgado, of the Union of Salvadoran Teachers (UMS), which would later become part of the Andes 21 de Junio union. His trade union work led him to address movements such as the Popular Action Front (FAPU) or the Popular Liberation Movement (MLP) and later became an active member of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), where he was part of political activities and negotiation.
His residence in San Salvador was the scene of several acts of violence. Iván’s parents told him that the army would arrive unexpectedly and “machine-gun” the walls of the house and throw grenades at the ceiling, a situation that kept them in constant fear for their lives.
Faced with the political persecution that Alvarenga faced during the armed conflict, his nephew says that his grandparents had no choice but to seek refuge abroad. He even had to use false identities and documents to leave the country and emigrate in search of allies and protectors from abroad to help him stay safe and continue his complaints and fights for teachers. You’d say the name was dangerous. My grandfather had to spend a lot of time in exile before returning, ”says Iván.
The young man, a student of foreign affairs 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 for a change in society,” he says proudly.
Killed by peace agreements
“My grandfather knew he could die, but I don’t think he ever thought it would happen,” says Iván, almost three decades after his grandfather was killed and 29 years after the peace was signed in El Salvador: two events that they marked a large part of his identity and that of his family.
On December 9, 1993, after the end of the armed conflict and with the signing of the recent peace agreements, José Alvarenga was transporting in his vehicle through the San Miguelito neighborhood of San Salvador, when he witnessed a robbery. He stopped to help the victim and then, after a long explosion of gunfire, Alvarenga came to lie on the ground, killed by at least six bullet wounds, which were fired by subjects whose exact identity was never known.
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José Alvarenga’s family concludes that the strongest hypothesis is that his death was due to the interruption of the armed attack. However, the investigations of the case and other data they managed to collect also give strength to the possibility that the event was an “ambush” of armed groups that saw José as a threat to his fight to defend the rights of teachers. and workers. Iván points out that his grandfather has always been in constant danger because of his way of thinking and his audacity to raise his voice in critical moments and political and social tensions.
“My grandfather’s story is the story of hundreds of people who have suffered to leave a better country,” says Iván, and invites young people like him to keep the historical memory of their families alive. “I think my grandfather died happily. There is still much to be done in the field of education, but thanks to the Peace Accords, a better El Salvador has been achieved “, he concludes.