27

 / The long road to justice

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traditional Latin American dish made of corn based dough 
which is steamed in a leaf wrapper. Among the people who 
had gathered there, she spotted her brother Felipe, whose 
seven children were in Dos Erres.

Felipe stopped her and said that he would go in and find 
out what had happened. “Let me go. If God wants me to 
return, I’ll return. You go back home”, he told her.

“I’ll go with you”, said René Salazar, a young man, no more 
than twenty years old. Felipe shook his head. “No René. 
This is a man’s business”. But the youngster was determined 
to follow him. “No Don Lipe. I’m coming with you”, he said 
resolutely. 

Felipe, his friend Juan Falla and René Salazar set off. María 
Esperanza would have preferred to stay there and wait for 
them to return but as Joaquín had started to cry, she had no 
choice but to return to Las Cruces. 

As she walked home, a couple suddenly walked out from 
the shrubs. Their clothes were caked with mud and torn by 
nettles. “Don’t say anything to the sub-lieutenant because 
if the detachment hears that you’ve got family members in 
Dos Erres, you’ll get killed”, they warned her.

But sub-lieutenant Carías had always insisted that they 
should ask for his help should any problems arise. And who 
else could she turn to, anyway? María Esperanza returned 
to Las Cruces and headed to the detachment.

 

-“Do you know what’s going on in Dos Erres? People 

say that the village was attacked by guerrillas”, she asked 
Carías.