COMADRES (CoMadres) is the group of mothers and family members of disappeared, imprisoned political prisoners in El Salvador. They are known for their impactful protests throughout the Salvadoran Civil War which in turn allowed them to receive international attention. They continued to organize and fight against injustices even after the Civil War.
Political history 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. In the first two years, COMADRES had no formal office and it wasn't until 1979 that they found a definite location where they established a governance structure to maintain and organize themselves. Their organizational structure was built off of 5 different committees: Publicity, Finances, Organizing, Exterior Political relations and a director with 5 representatives that work on daily planning. 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.
Within the Latinnews Archive, two representatives of Comadres mentioned "indiscriminate military bombing campaigns of civilian targets causing an unknown number of deaths"."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. Impunity for these crimes only deepened, A total of about 48 members were abducted by death squads and subject to torture and rape. Of these, five were assassinated. Rape was strategically employed by state and military institutions as a tool to intimidate and suppress women protestors of COMADRES. 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], who were allegedly involved in drug trafficking and prostitution. This narrative was also used as a tactic to stigmatize victims and deflect official responsibility for the disappearances and the broader patterns of state violence.
They also claimed that an average of 30 people were disappearing each week, with most of them being lost trace. It was established in December, 1977, with the help of the Catholic Archdiocese of San Salvador and the Archbishop Óscar Romero, to discover the truth behind the missing relatives of the membership. The COMADRES carried out a wide range of public actions to demand justice: they passed out flyers during Sunday Mass at the National Cathedral and managed to bring their protests onto television, radio stations and newspaper offices. 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". Their outfits served as a form of protection. When dressed in civilian clothes, the army felt free to arrest or mistreat them, but in their recognizable black clothing associated with the women's committee, the army was less willing to capture or harm them because the attire carried authority and visibility. By 1993, there were an estimated 500 or more members. A leader of this organisation was María Teresa Tula.María Teresa Tula , RFK center, retrieved 7 April 2015
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. María joined COMADRES in hopes of helping her husband out of jail after his incarceration for leading a sugar mill strike in 1978. After her husbands release from jail, he was not in accordance to her political involvement and led to conflict. She now resides in Minneapolis on the basis of political asylum and became one of the most vocal and prominent leaders of COMADRES. Aside from her political work with COMADRES, she also developed her own testimonio. In this testimonio, María talks about feminism and her own life story.
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.