43 years after the Guinda de Mayo, Chalatenango remembers itsvictims and demands justice

On May 31, 2025, the Historical Memory Collective of Chalatenango, of which the Asociacion Pro-Busqueda is a member, joined hundreds of people in commemorating the 43rd anniversary of the massacre known as the “Guinda de Mayo”. The event took place on the banks of the Sumpul River, in the canton of Los Amates, district of San Isidro Labrador–one of the most emblematic sites of this tragedy.

The Painful episode took place between May 27 and mid-June of 1982, when the Salvadoran Armed Forces carried out a large-scale military operation officially named “Dominguez Operation for Pacifiction and Cleansing”. During this offensive, the army indiscriminately attacked civilians fleeing repression, murdering hundreds of peasants, including many women, elderly people, and children. Additionally, according to records from Asociacion Pro-Busqueda, at least 55 girls and boys were victims of enforced disappearance during this operation.

43 years after these crimes, which left more than 500 people dead, the families of the victims continue their fight. They persist in demanding justice, truth, full reparations, and guarantee of non-repetition in a society that still faces the challenge of fully acknowledging its past in order to build a more just and humane future.