This day, in the Sensuntepeque Sentencing Court, Cabañas, the trial began against eight former guerrillas accused of murdering María Inés Alvarenga Leiva in August 1989, in the community of Santa Marta.
The events occurred in the context of the Salvadoran armed conflict, in a period marked by extreme tensions between the army and the insurgent forces. According to the Attorney General’s Office (FGR), the victim was identified by the accused as an army informant, which is why she would have been executed.
The FGR has presented compelling evidence that includes expert, documentary and testimonial evidence to demonstrate the guilt of the defendants. The crimes they are accused of are murder and illicit associations, based on the events that occurred during one of the most violent stages of the Salvadoran civil war.
After more than 30 years of waiting, Alvarenga’s family seeks justice, while the FGR has asked the court to impose an exemplary sentence. The case represents an effort to resolve unsolved crimes that took place during the conflict, in which thousands of Salvadorans were victims of summary executions, forced disappearances and other human rights violations.
The community of Santa Marta, where the murder occurred, was an emblematic place during the war, being a refuge for combatants and sympathizers of the guerrilla. In the trial, the Prosecutor’s Office seeks to close this dark chapter in Salvadoran history, bringing justice to a family that has waited more than three decades to know the truth and see those responsible punished.
The Salvadoran armed conflict, which took place between 1980 and 1992, left more than 75,000 dead or missing, according to official data, and its legacy is still present in cases like this one, which resurface in the search for justice and national reconciliation.