Nationals
Almost 30 years after the end of the Salvadoran civil war, the Los Angeles City Council, in the United States, unanimously approved a resolution declaring August 30 as the International Day of the victims of enforced disappearances in El Salvador, as a special tribute to the Salvadoran diaspora.
The Mauricio Aquino Foundation, founded in 2013, works with the Salvadoran community in the United States and has spearheaded the “Los Bones de Nuestro Padres” campaign to find the remains of the disappeared in El Salvador and persuade the Salvadoran government to recognize this important day.
The president of the Mauricio Aquino Foundation, Alexandra Aquino-Fike, thanked the Los Angeles City Council and said through a statement: “My father was disappeared by the Salvadoran military and today the leaders of the city of Los Angeles hear our cry. What happened to our loved ones? We will not rest until we can bury them and impunity ends in El Salvador ”said Aquino-Fike.
According to the Mauricio Aquino Foundation, the vast majority of Salvadorans sought refuge in the United States during the 12-year war period from 1980 to 1992, when the United States government was financing the Salvadoran government army with funds and advisers. It is estimated that more than 10,000 Salvadorans were forcibly disappeared during the war.
“We have hundreds of thousands of Salvadoran-Angelenos who are still living with unrecognized trauma,” said Councilmember Kevin De León as he introduced the resolution to the legislative floor in Los Angeles, United States. “A trauma fed by our own nation, the same nation that at this moment threatens to take away their Temporary Protection Status or TPS,” he said.
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