Iván shared part of the story of his grandfather, José Alvarenga, on social networks and under the hashtag #ProhibidoOlvidarSV. The young man believes calling war and agreements a “farce” is to minimize the work of those who fought for his ideals.
The armed conflict is an important part of El Salvador’s historical memory as it is contemplated by thousands of users who shared on social networks stories and memories of their families during the war years and the importance that for them the signature of the peace agreements.
Iván López Almira, 21 years old, was one of those young people who decided to share his family’s experiences. In particular, he shared on social networks the memories he has collected about the life and struggles of his grandfather, José Mario López Alvarenga, who was part of the effort to improve the education systems in El Salvador.
To do this, David joined the #ProhibidoOlvidarSv movement, which has been a trend on the social network Twitter for several days, where thousands of users, within and beyond Salvadoran borders, expressed their thoughts and feelings in response to recent statements. about officials of President Nayib Bukele’s government 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 discontent and discontent, the Salvadorans who lived through the conflict and those 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 believes that mass actions like this are the first step to legitimize these historical processes and empower the voices of those who have experienced the conflict or were directly or indirectly affected by the war.
“They make us believe that the war was pointless. We must not forget the blood that has been spilled, ”Ivan says, expressing his indignation after the president himself, Nayib Bukele, affirmed that the events behind the construction of Salvadoran democracy were a“ farce ”.
That outrage is heightened when you consider that that message also downplayed the work for which his grandfather so often risked his life and the legacy of his work.
Iván López Almira, 21 years old, was one of those young people who decided to share his family’s experiences. Photo EDH
A fight for teachers
Since childhood, José Alvarenga, David’s grandfather, was known for his skill and taste for numbers. That was one of the reasons he decided to become a math teacher in 1952. “My grandfather tried to justify the teaching profession,” says Iván.
What the young man knows about his grandfather is the result of long conversations with his parents and with those who knew him from an early age, as well as extensive research in books and newspaper archives, which led him to find documents and even journalistic publications where the work from his grandfather to dignify the teaching work in the decades of conflict and reveal the life that José Alvarenga was forced to raise his disruptive voice and in favor of the rights of teachers.
Iván remembers his parents telling him that it was not easy for his grandfather to be a teacher in times of conflict. “During the war they killed you because you were a teacher,” the young man says, assuring that it is because of those stories that he managed to understand that, thanks to the peace agreements, many of the rights are established in the country. the education union was missing and that is now the basis of other efforts and struggles to improve the profession in El Salvador.
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Iván proudly tells that his grandfather, José Alvarenga, raised his voice amid protests to demand from the government in turn more opportunities for teachers and education: legal benefits, rank, salary increases and other benefits acquired in those years were rights to which teachers had no access. “My grandfather wanted an education system for everyone,” says Iván.
Another struggle of David’s grandfather, during the years of the armed conflict in El Salvador, was to make it clear that education should become a free right to opportunity for all, regardless of origin, geographic location, or other factors of difference or exclusion. “My grandfather’s intention was to find solutions for everyone who suffered during the armed conflict,” says Iván.
Run to live
The passion for teaching was something that carried José Alvarenga in his blood. His mother, Teresa Alvarenga, was a schoolteacher. He was born on March 3, 1938 in the canton of El Zapotal, jurisdiction of Las Vueltas in Chalatenango.
His university education was taken at the Faculty of Economics of the University of El Salvador and his graduate thesis dealt with the theme of a Salvadoran educational reform.
He has worked as a teacher at almost all levels of education, from primary to higher education. He was a member of the Teaching Career Tribunal and was part of organizations dedicated to research and improvement of educational activities in El Salvador and abroad. Besides being one of the most recognized union leaders of the Salvadoran teachers, who, faced with the situation the country faced during the years of the armed conflict, chose to defend his ideals even as part of the armed confrontations. “He refused to be armed, but it was a life or death situation,” says Iván.
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José Alvarenga was founder, in Ciudad Delgado, of the Union of Salvadoran Teachers (UMS), which would later become part of the Andes 21 de Junio Union. His union work led him to approach movements such as the Popular Action Front (FAPU) or the Popular Liberation Movement (MLP) and later become an active member of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), where he was part of political and political activities. negotiate.
His stay in San Salvador was the scene of multiple acts of violence. Ivan’s parents told him that the army would arrive unexpectedly and throw the walls of the house “machine guns” and grenades at the ceiling, a situation that kept them in constant fear for their lives.
Faced with the political persecution Alvarenga faced during the armed conflict, his grandson says his grandparents had no choice but to seek refuge outside the country. He even had to use false identities and documents to leave and emigrate the country in search of allies and protectors abroad who would help him stay safe and continue his grievances and struggles in favor of the teachers. Saying his name was dangerous. My grandfather had to spend a lot of time in exile before returning, ”says Iván.
The young man, a foreign affairs student at the University of El Salvador, longs to keep the memory and work of his grandfather alive. 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 has fought for his family and to bring about change in society,” he says proudly.
Killed after the peace deals
“My grandfather knew he could die, but I don’t think he ever thought it would happen like this,” Ivan presumes, nearly three decades after his grandfather’s murder and 29 years after the signing of the peace in El Salvador: two events that shaped much 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 peace accords recently, José Alvarenga was driving 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 series of shots, Alvarenga landed on the ground, killed by at least six gunshot wounds fired by individuals whose exact identities were 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 were able to gather also reinforce the possibility that the event was an “ambush” by armed groups who saw José as a threat to his fight for rights. of teachers and workers. Iván emphasizes that his grandfather has always lived in constant danger because of his way of thinking and because he dared to raise his voice at critical moments and through political and social tensions.
“My grandfather’s story is the story of hundreds of people who suffered to leave a better country,” says Iván, inviting young people, like him, to keep the historical memory of their families alive. ‘I think my grandfather died happy. There is still a lot to be achieved in the field of education, but thanks to the peace agreements, a better El Salvador has been achieved, ”he concludes.