Primary Artist: Terry Forman
Created: San Francisco Collective, 1987
Medium: Offset printed
Dimensions: 17x.5″ x 22.5″
In El Salvador between 1979 and 1992, The Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) fought a national liberation war to overthrow the U.S. backed government. The military’s US-trained government death squads terrorized, and targeted civilians including clergy, recruited child soldiers, and committed numerous other human rights violations. Yanira Merino, the daughter of Salvadoran political activists, was sent to the US when her parents became fearful for her safety. On July 7th, 1987, she was kidnapped from the Los Angeles office of the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES) and tortured and raped. While Yanira’s torture and rape was the first Salvadoran death squad-style abduction in the US by agents of the El Salvador government, the prior year had seen more than 60 break-ins of organizations working against U.S. policy in Central America.
Image: Photo of US capitol building in background, line of El Salvadoran death squad members standing over their dead victims in front, photo of El Salvador President Duarte and US President Reagan at the bottom.
Words: Stop the Death Squads in El Salvador and Los Angeles, Yanira, a Salvadoran activist was kidnapped July 7, 1987, from the Los Angeles office of the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador, was tortured and raped with a stick. “Just kill her,” one of her persecutors said, “No, this way we’re going to let them know that we are here,” the other answered.
Color: red, blue, black ink on white paper
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