Leticia Cordero lives in California. Her father, Edgar Cordero, carried her into the US in 1982 immediately after the massacre at El Mozote, her family’s hometown in El Salvador. Leticia remembers living with her extended family in their home in El Mozote, doing chores and playing outdoors. At age seven, Leticia developed a stomach ulcer, and her neighbors all contributed to help pay for bus tickets to the capital, San Salvador, for treatment. At the hospital, the ulcer ruptured, leading to Leticia’s hospitalization. When Edgar came back five days later to pick her up, he looked haggard and told Leticia that they couldn’t return to El Mozote.

Leticia later learned that a combination of military battalions in El Salvador and CIA operations committed massacres across Latin America to scare inhabitants away from leftist ideologies. These attacks were brutal, and the El Mozote massacre involved the killing of children, sexual crimes against women, and complete destruction of property. Leticia and Edgar stayed in San Salvador for two weeks after Leticia’s release and then started walking north. The trek to the US was arduous, and when Leticia and Edgar arrived, they had to move frequently because Edgar struggled to find work.