COMADRES

El Salvador is filled with a long history of social and political unrest. There has been cycles of violence and various conflicts, a significant one being La Matanza in 1932. Indigenous peasants and community activist joined together to rebel against social, political and economic injustices. Under the order of Maximiliano Hernandez Martinez, the Salvadoran military gained more power and raided/killed indigenous villages and people. Major shifts and violence around the country continued during the 1960s and 1970s. The conflict between the left and right wing grew stronger which lead to the Salvadoran Civil War which occurred from 1980 to 1992.“In a sense, the conflict between left and right wings never ended. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, left-wing guerrillas and right-wing paramilitary death squads engaged in a deadly spiral of political violence. On October 15, 1979, a group of moderate officers ousted the dictator Carlos Humberto Romero and formed the Revolutionary Government Junta (JRG). In January 1980, right-wing violence broke out against the JRG, including bombings against government newspapers, kidnappings and murder. All of the JRG’s civilian leaders resigned. At the same time, the U.S. State Department received warnings that right-wing death squads were allying with the military against the government”.Women were involved in the war as guerilla fighters, activists, and post-war reconstruction. They were also heavily involved in NGOs. Some NGOs were women founded and led, such as COMADRES. Las COMADRES did not emerge from a feminist agenda but from the urgent pressures of stare oppression and political instability. As their husbands were killed, family members disappeared, or forced into hiding, many women suddenly became heads of household. In the countryside, women expanded their work for survival: " In the countryside, women have increased their activities for self-sufficiency ... producing essential goods ... and, at the same time, seeking to increase income ( trying to sell more products, looking for work as domestic laborers " ( Cabrales 4) Others joined migration movements in search of employment, often leaving their children behind simply to secure food and survive. These circumstances reveal the severe risks and daily struggles that pushed these women to resist political tyranny and ultimately fueled the formation of COMADRES. These women became powerful advocates for human and gender rights under El Salvador's "hegemonic ideological environment", which the military and right-wing groups sought to suppress political dissent. The COMADRES were viewed as threats because they publicly announced disappearances, actively protested, and supported families of the disappeared. Scholars described a women's identity as politically charged. As mothers became involved in social and political activism, many women began to be perceived by military authorities as "subversive" . Military officials framed their participation as a deviation from traditional gender expectations, portraying their motherhood as "tainted" or compromised because they challenged dominant political ideologies and addressed broader social injustices. As a result, they were subjected to violence, sexual harassment, and intimidation, a strategy used by the military in broader counterinsurgency efforts aimed at restricting the COMADRES' participation in social change. == Comadres background ==

"Comite de Madres y Familiares de Presos, Desaparecidos y Asesinados Politicos de El Salvador" was known as 'CoMadres'. This organization was founded in 1977 and consisted of approximately nine members. This organization played an important role during the civil war. The committee was made up of mothers and family members of people who were imprisoned, disappeared, or killed for political reasons. The goal was to advocate for the rights and social justice of their loved ones while at the same time raising awareness about the human rights violations committed by both sides. The committee consisted of students, teachers, workers, peasants, housewives and small shopkeepers.. Their office holds assemblies throughout the week to determine policy decisions and create campaigns for international solidarity and transnational activism. Another accomplishment in 1979 for COMADRES was their first trip abroad to Costa Rica."Debemos tomar una posición. Nadie m ́as lo va a hacer. La mayorparte del tiempo lo que hacemos es llorar pero esto no ayuda en nada alos que están presos".Comadres (CoMadres) is the committee of mothers and relatives of prisoners, the disappeared and the politically assassinated of El Salvador.The offices of the committee were subject to police raids by the government. In 1980, their first office was bombed, followed by 4 other bombings throughout the decade. However, each time they re-established thesmelves and continued working. " In 1989, the women's section of the Norweign Social Democratic Party donated money that was used to purchase a permanent office site". This does not only show the international support the COMADRES gained, but also their global recognition of their legitmacy and resilinece that allowed them to rebuild themselves after repeated attacks. Following the year of 1992, there was a signing of the Acuerdos de Paz, which brought hope that human rights violations would finally be addressed and that justice could be found for the disappeared and the murdered. However, the constant pattern of impunity continued. The state failed in its commitments, using COMADRES only as a political tool to gain public support while never fulfilling their campaign promises to help the victims Even in midst of the brutal attacks, the women demonstrated strength and courage. They gathered in front of government buildings, demanding justice while holding banners bearing the names of their daughters, young women who had been brutally raped and murdered. In response, authorities and society shifted the blame towards the mothers, claiming they had raised " girls from the streets" [ muchachas de la calle]. They delivered public announcements, filed reports, and occupied government offices at the United Nations in San Salvador to fax their demands to Washington and Geneva, putting international pressure on the Salvadoran government . They also organized sit-ins at the Ministry of Justice and at churches in different neighborhoods to denounce the tactic of forced disappearances, while running their own radio program to amplify their message. In 1983, Las COMADRES adopted a distinct way of dressing during their marches. Alicia Panameño de Garcia, one of the members of COMADRES, explained that " black signifies the condolences and affliction we carry for each person killed. And the white headscarf represents the peace we are seeking -- but it must be a peace with justice, not a peace with impunity! We also carry a red and white carnation: the red for the spilled blood, the white for the detained disappeared, and the green leaves, the hope for life" In 1984, Comadres received the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights Award for individuals or groups around the world who show courage and have made a significant contribution to human rights in their country. Aside from the Robert Kennedy Award, COMADRES was awarded five international awards for their humanitarian work.In 1986, Bono of the rock band U2 paid tribute to their cause, and a similar group in Nicaragua, by writing the song "Mothers of the Disappeared", which was released in 1987 on The Joshua Tree. Another accomplishment of COMADRES is the documentary they partook in during International Women's Day on March 8, 1987. == Individual key leaders ==

COMADRES was formed by women, primarily mothers, ranging from lower, middle, and elite classes. Amongst these women were important leaders such as María Teresa Tula, Alicia Panameño de García, and Sofia Aves Escamillas. Despite all of these different background, they were all married and had children which explains their motherly instincts to help find missing relatives. María Teresa Tula came from a town called Izalco and was considered a lower class. Before joining, María had no prior political experience, but eventually become involved full time around the mid-1980s. Sofía Aves Escamillas came from a poor background and from a small area called Guazapa. Coming from a rural area, her job consisted of agricultural work as well as making wallets and suitcases. Sofía joined COMADRES after her son and husband were murdered to due their engagement in peasant and labor organizing. While María and Sofía come from a lower class, their counterpart Alicia Panemeño de García came from a lower middle class where she worked as a nurse in a hospital. She grew up in a town named Santa Lucía and had previously been involved in a Christisn base community. Alicia joined COMADRES when it first formed in 1977 and eventually became director in 1993. These role of directors was not added until the early 1980s and it consists of day to day planning as well as running the organization. == Historical and Political Significance ==

Gendered Consciousness The COMADRES are widely regarded in the struggles of mothers, wives, and daughters within the political sphere of El Salvador and more broadly in Latin American women's organizing. In a state with an authoritarian government and society that limited women to domestic roles, the COMADRES mobilized to demonstrate against state violence, demanded information for the deceased and disappeared and expanded their human rights advocacy. A lot of the members were bombed, gang raped, harassed, and forced to speak of secret intel as noted in commission reports.“In July 1980, a bomb damaged windows and doors of the institution's headquarters...In 1986 the Police in Hacienda arrested and tortured Gloria Alicia Galán...María Teresa Tula, who was seven months pregnant, and took her to an unknown place where she was tortured for three days, being cut with a sharp pointed weapon, beaten and raped by three men who questioned her on her activities in COMADRES...On May 28, 1987, a bomb exploded in the interior of the COMADRES headquarters, wounding Angela López, a member of the organization, and her daughter Margarita López, and severely damaging the furnishings.”. He named the song “Mothers of the Disappeared” after being inspired by learning the tragic events the COMADRES faced and dedicated the song to their story They sang Queremos Paz’s 2001 song Peace is in Our Hands: Peace Liturgies to commemorate the COMADRES and recognize the group's work for human rights history. “We remember those who are being disappeared today in El Salvador – young women and men who are disappeared, raped, executed, and whose bodies are left on the streets because of the increasing violence by gangs and the resurgence of the death squads. We hear your cries. Cries, we hear your cries, for liberty in this wide world. Paz queremos paz y libertad en este mundo.” ==References==