Louisa Reynolds /

Pz

P

14

The young man ran to the market, arrived breathless at the 
shoemaker’s stall, and explained what had happened. As 
he had no money, he had to plead with the shoemaker and 
promised to pay for the boots as soon as possible, fearing that 
some terrible fate could befall his wife and children if he did 
not comply immediately. After asking around, he managed to 
find the barefoot soldier and handed him the boots. Seemingly 
unimpressed, the soldier never thanked him or reimbursed 
him for the expense. 

Ricardo had lived in Dos Erres for ten years when he was 
forced to hastily pack his most indispensible belongings and 
leave his land. Early one morning, in November 1982, he 
was pulling a bucket of water out of the well when he saw a 
group of soldiers emerge from the bushes.

They were approximately twenty. One of them, who had 
covered his face with a black handkerchief momentarily left 
the group. He grabbed Ricardo by the shoulders and warned 
said: “The Martínez family must leave at once because all of 
these people are going to be killed”. Ricardo had to leave at 
once with his wife and children and was not to say a word to 
anyone, unless he wanted to share the fate of his unfortunate 
neighbors. Ricardo recognized the voice as that of Faustino 
Castillo, a soldier that had asked his parents for a loan. He 
was clearly grateful and this was his way of repaying the 
favor. 

Ricardo could not leave without warning his best friend Félix 
about the impending catastrophe. But his efforts were to no 
avail and Félix refused to leave. Like his neighbors, he had 
heard that in April that year the army had sown terror in the 
village of Josefinos, a few kilometers away from Las Cruces, 
setting shacks on fire and bludgeoning 57 innocent people to 
death. Nevertheless, Félix and his neighbors were convinced