National Forest of Reconciliation
The Indigenous People of El Salvador Continue to Endure a Long History of Repression
Asociacion Nacional de Indigenas de El Salvador -- ANIS
1932 January 22. Indian and peasant uprising takes place in western El Salvador, demanding the return of their lands and an improvement in their social and political conditions. The Government of General Hernandez Martinez orders the massacre of 30,000 people and the execution of their leaders, including Farabundo Martí and two others. Five brothers of Adrian Esquino Lisco are killed in the massacre.
1938 Adrian Esquino Lisco b. Cantón Comarca San Ramon, Municipio de San Antonio del Monte, Departamento de Sonsonate, El Salvador
1959 Chief Rosendo Esquina Cerén founds ANIS and hands title of Spiritual Chief to his son Adrian Esquino Lisco. The mission of ANIS is to revive the customs, ceremonies, and language of the Maya, Lenca and Nahoa peoples of El Salvador
1982 Juan Maye Esquina is burned to death in a cemetery in Sonsonate.
1983 On February 22, 74 members of ANIS are massacred by armed soldiers in the community of Las Hojas.
1984 ANIS wins recognition as a legal entity after 25 years of struggle.
1986 Aides to Senator Edward Kennedy, Joe Moakly and Jim McGovern visit the scene of the 1983 massacre at Las Hojas.
1993 On August 7, death squads invade the home of Margarito Esquino, torturing him and throwing his body over a cliff, where he lands in an amate tree on the banks of the Cuyuapa River in Sonsonate. He survives and he and his family escape to the town of Izalco where, on August 12, the death squads attack again, raping Margarito’s wife and children, wounding two others and killing a third. The family flees to the United States where Margarito files for political asylum.
1998 Chief Adrian Esquino Lisco is jailed by order of then-President Armando Calderon Sol, under the charge of usurpation of land and other false accusations.
2003 Chief Adrian Esquino Lisco is hospitalized with acute kidney failure as a complication of diabetes.
2005 Chief Adrian Esquino Lisco passes the title of spiritual chief to his son, Margarito Esquino, who lives in political exile in the United States. On August 10, 2005, the act is commemorated in a sundance ceremony led by Chief Billy Tayac of the Piscataway Indian tribe of Maryland.
2007 September 8. Chief Adrian Esquino Lisco passes away at the Social Security Hospital in San Salvador.
