ON THE CALLE DEL OLVIDO: MEMORY AND FORGETTING IN POST-PEACE PUBLIC DISCOURSE IN GUATEMALA AND EL SALVADOR A Thesis Submitted to the College of Graduate Studies and Research in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of History University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon BY RACHEL HATCHER © Rachel Hatcher, August 2015. All rights reserved. PERMISSION TO USE In presenting this thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a postgraduate degree from the University of Saskatchewan, I agree that the libraries of this University may make it freely available for inspection. I further agree that permission for copying of this thesis in any manner, in whole or in part, for scholarly purposes may be granted by the professor or professors who supervised my thesis work or, in their absence, by the department Head of the Department or the Dean of the College in which my thesis work was done. It is understood that any copy or publication use of this thesis or parts thereof for financial gain shall not be allowed without my written permission. It is also understood that due recognition shall be given to me and to the University of Saskatchewan in any use which may be made of any material in my thesis. i ABSTRACT For many years, El Salvador and Guatemala were submerged in brutal and bloody conflicts that cost the lives of tens of thousands. United Nations-brokered Peace Accords officially brought the years of violence to an end in 1992 and 1996, respectively. As the two countries slowly emerged from their respective Cold War-inspired internal conflicts, the question of what place the past would have in the present came to the fore. This dissertation explores the way past violence is talked about in the public sphere. It analyzes post-Peace Accords public discourse in both countries, with a particular focus on the issues of memory, forgetting, truth, reconciliation, and related terms. It examines the different tasks memory and truth were assigned in the Peace Accords, especially in relation to the truth/truth-like commissions created out of those accords, and in the years since, and looks at the language those who reject memory and truth use to oppose them. This dissertation argues that a common discursive framework exists in Guatemala that dictates that all sectors must insist on the importance of remembering the violence to prevent repetition. This is the human rights community's discourse, but it is one which even conservatives who wish for forgetting must repeat. Conservatives can only promote forgetting within the limits of this discursive framework, and they do so by talking about amnesty, perdón (pardon/forgiveness), and reconciliation. The situation in El Salvador is different. There is no common discursive framework that demands memory to prevent repetition and promote reconciliation. Rather than this, conservatives openly insist on amnesty and amnesia, while the human rights community insists on truth and memory. The discursive battle between forgetting and truth is El Salvador's discursive framework. Yet talking about memory, truth, reconciliation, and related topics leaves space to promote different truths, memories, or narratives of the past. This, indeed, is precisely what happens in both countries as different sectors actively promote their own truth, memory, or narrative, especially at moments of rupture or when their truth or discourse is challenged, as in 2012 when Salvadoran president Mauricio Funes asked for perdón for the El Mozote massacre and during Guatemala's 2013 genocide trial. Running throughout the discussion about discourse and discursive frameworks is a critique of the insistence on the existence of one truth, memory, or narrative of the past. This is the foundation on which truth and truth-like commissions are built. Yet rather than focusing on ii the truth of the past, this dissertation argues that the process of openly talking about the past and sharing truths and experiences will do more to contribute to reconciliation and non-repetition than insisting that there is and can only be one truth and that everyone must embrace it. iii AGRADECIMIENTOS Writing is a solitary endeavor; nevertheless, this could not have been written without many, many other people. So thank you to those other people. A todas y todos en El Salvador y Guatemala que me ofrecieron su tiempo, gracias por compartir su conocimiento, sus tristezas y sus opiniones. Dr Jim Handy, for your endless support and comments on rambling and overly long emails and drafts. Drs Simonne Horwitz, Mark Meyers, Matthew Neufeld, and Kalowatie Deonondan, for asking difficult questions. Dr Diane Nelson, for your thoughtful and thought-provoking comments, and for traveling all the way to Saskatoon to share them. Emily and Kelsey, for our early morning talks about genocide. Enrique, for our occasional coffee outings and conversations. Manolo, for your friendship, enthusiasm, and encouragement. Ferrán, gracies per deixar-me ser la fulla i a cops el riu. Patrick, Erin, Kelly, Carla, Michael, and Marie-Christine, for our short, medium, and long talks about nothing, something, and everything in between. Cedric, for everything, most of all for letting me become a doctor first. Francisco, pour les 25 000 kilomètres que tu as parcourus. My family, for never letting me be homeless. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS PERMISSION TO USE i ABSTRACT ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iv TRANSLATIONS AND ACRONYMS vi INTRODUCTION: ON THE CALLE DEL OLVIDO 1 CHAPTER ONE: THEORY 42 CHAPTER TWO: GUATEMALA: SCHIZOPHRENIC MEMORY 75 CHAPTER THREE: GUATEMALA: NUNCA MÁS 101 CHAPTER FOUR: EL SALVADOR: VERDAD OR OLVIDO 130 CHAPTER FIVE: EL SALVADOR: MEMORY/HISTORICAL MEMORY/TRUTH/HISTORY 157 CHAPTER SIX: EL SALVADOR AND GUATEMALA: CONTESTED DISCOURSE 186 CHAPTER SEVEN: EL SALVADOR AND GUATEMALA: THE TWO BURIALS OF EL SALVADOR'S DEAD, AND UNBURYING GUATEMALA'S 218 CONCLUSION: THE POWER OF DISCOURSE 241 NOTE ON SOURCES 246 BIBLIOGRAPHY 247 v TRANSLATIONS AND ACRONYMS Acción Católica Catholic Action ACI Alianza contra la Impunidad (Alliance against Impunity) AHPN Archivo Histórico de la Policía Nacional (Historic Archive of the National Police) ARENA Alianza Republicana Nacionalista (Nationalist Republican Alliance) ARPAS Asociación de Radios y Programas Participatios de El Salvador (Association of Radio and Participatory Programs of El Salvador ASC Asamblea de la Sociedad Civil (Civil Society Assembly) AVANCSO Asociación para el Avance de las Ciencias Sociales en Guatemala (Association for the Advance of the Social Sciences in Guatemala) Avemilgua Asociación de Veteranos Militares de Guatemala (Association of Military Veterans of Guatemala) BIRI Batallón de Infantería de Reacción Inmediata (Immediate Reaction Infantry Battalion) CACIF Comité Coordinador de Asociaciones Agrícolas, Comerciales, Industriales y Financieras (Coordinating Committee of Agricultural, Commercial, Industrial, and Financial Associations) CAFCA Centro de Análisis Forense y Ciencias Aplicadas (Center for Forensic Analysis and Applied Sciences) CALDH Centro para la Acción Legal en Derechos Humanos (Center for Legal Action in Human Rights) CC Corte de Constitucionalidad (Constitutional Court) CDHES Comisión de Derechos Humanos de El Salvador (Human Rights Commission of El Salvador) CDHG Comisión de Derechos Humanos de Guatemala (Human Rights Commission of Guatemala) CEBs Comunidades Eclesiales de Base (Christian Base Communities) CEDIM Centro de Documentación e Investigación Maya (Center for Maya Documentation and Investigation) CEG Conferencia Episcopal de Guatemala (Bishop's Conference of Guatemala) vi CEH Comisión para el Esclarecimiento Histórico (Historical Clarification Commission) CEPAZ Asociación Centro de Paz (Center of Peace Association) CESPAD Centro de Estudios para la Aplicación del Derecho (Center of Studies for the Application of Law) CGP Cámara Guatemalteca de Periodismo (Guatemalan Chamber of Journalism) CGTC Central General de Trabajadores de Guatemala (General Confederation of Workers of Guatemala) CICIACS Comisión de Investigación de Cuerpos Ilegales y Aparatos Clandestinos de Seguridad (Commission for the Investigation of Clandestine Groups and Illegal Armed Organizations) CICIG Comisión Internacional Contra la Impunidad en Guatemala (International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala) CIDH Corte Interamericana de Derechos Humanos (Inter-American Human Rights Court) CIIDH Centro Internacional para Investigaciones en Derechos Humanos (International Center for Human Rights Research) CIPED Asociación Intersectorial para el Desarrollo Económico y el Progreso Social (Intersectoral Association for Economic Development and Social Progress) CNEM Consejo Nacional de Educación Maya (National Council on Mayan Education) Coena Consejo Ejecutivo Nacional (National Executive Council) Co-Madres Comité de Madres y Familiares de Detenidos-Desaparecidos y Asesinados Políticos de El Salvador "Monseñor Óscar Arnulfo Romero" (Committee of Mothers and Relatives of the Detained-Disappeared and Political Victims "Monseñor Óscar Arnulfo Romero") CODEFAM Comité de Familiares de Victimas de Violaciones a los Derechos Humanos "Marianella García Villas" (Committee of Relatives of Victims of Human Rights Violations "Marianella García Villas") COMAFAC Comite de Madres y Familiares Cristianos de Presos, Desaparecidos, y Asesinados (Christian Committee of Mother and Relatives of Prisoners, the Disappeared, and Assassinated) vii Comisión de la Verdad para El Salvador (Truth Commission for El Salvador)