75

 / The long road to justice

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Saúl Arévalo clutches the bars of the fence and says 
that last year he travelled to the northern department of 
Huehuetenango to represent the Dos Erres community in a 
meeting attended by survivors of other massacres committed 
during Guatemala’s thirty-six-year-long civil war as well as 
the victims of other human rights violations that occurred in 
other Latin American countries such as El Salvador and Peru. 
“I felt that all those who were there were brothers because we 
had all lived through similar experiences”, he says.

On December 7 last year, COPREDEH provided 
transportation for survivors who live in departments in the 
southern coast, such as Santa Rosa, Retalhuleu, Jalapa, 
as well as Guatemala City, so that they could travel to Las 
Cruces and attend a ceremony that marked the twenty 
ninth anniversary of the Dos Erres massacre. The event 
was also attended by FAMDEGUA and other human rights 
organizations. 

However, the ceremony was overshadowed by the murder 
of brothers Cornelio and Edgar Humberto Citán, who 
manufactured and sold furniture, the day before.  For many, 
the incident was a powerful reminder of the fact that violence 
is still a part of everyday life in Las Cruces. “Many people 
who are just trying to earn an honest living get killed around 
here”, says Saúl.

Behind him, walks sixty three year old Pedro Antonio García 
Montepeque, Ramiro Cristales’ great uncle. “If this hadn’t 
happened we would have been so happy. The road to progress 
in Dos Erres was cut off…” he says, with his eyes fixed on the 
small grey well.