The Massacre at El Mozote

Rufina is mentioned in almost every chapter. While she is initially alluded to in rather vague ways (“the most eloquent witness of what had happened at El Mozote” in Chapter 1, for instance [7]), her voice carries through especially forcefully in Chapter 5, in which we’re given an almost moment-by-moment description of the horrific events of the massacre largely through her perspective, as Rufina is one of the only survivors. A figure of tremendous fortitude, Amaya is presented throughout the book as a testament to the capacity of human beings to survive tragedy.

One of the main figures in especially Chapter 2, Díaz is one of the leading citizens of the town of El Mozote; he runs the town store and wields much influence. In the book, he functions largely as a tragic figure, attempting to do the right thing and what is best for everyone in the area, and trying to keep them safe. In so doing, however, he unwittingly leads them to their slaughter. Danner presents his decisions as logical and kindly, based on the information available to him through his contacts in the army, who said that El Mozote would be spared in the midst of Operation Rescue. He highlights the book’s theme of the uncertainties at the heart of modern warfare.

The guerilla counterpart to Monterrosa, Villalobos is presented largely as the mirror image of Monterrosa, with Monterrosa taking center stage and Villalobos taking the role of supporting actor. It is through these two figures that Danner is able to establish the strangely personal nature of the conflict. Danner focuses on their rivalry, and, as the surviving member of that rivalry, Villalobos is a lens through which to view Monterrosa. There is a begrudging respect that he and other guerrillas, such as Licho and Santiago, give to Monterrosa that serves to contrast the life-and-death stakes and horrors faced by the civilian population.

As the “director of Radio Venceremos” (28), Santiago is presented primarily as an antagonist to Monterrosa. Though he fades from the narrative soon after Chapter 3, his impact is nonetheless felt, especially in the concluding lines of Chapter 9, in which Radio Venceremos takes center stage.

As the main US press correspondent presented in the book, Bonner serves as an instrument to both applaud and critique the role of the press in the events of El Mozote and its aftermath. As one of the initial reporters who heard about the rumors of a massacre and persisted in pushing for access to the guerrillas to report on it and get the facts out there, Bonner is seen as a sort of heroic figure. As the narrative continues, and despite his best efforts, Bonner is eventually removed from Central America as a correspondent, in part, Danner suggests, due to criticism from the Reagan Administration that he was overly biased, and partly because of the political biases of his boss, Abe Rosenthal.