Betty Pérez
Sebastián Claros
"For a country with a history of blood and loss, it is necessary for the brave to be a beacon of hope"
Who is she?
She is a Salvadoran indigenous activist who has dedicated her life to the protection of indigenous rights in El Salvador, as well as the preservation of indigenous communities in the country.
She was born in Cacaopera, Morazán on May 27th1975 in an indigenous family on the outskirts of the valley in a small town. Her lineage belongs to the Kakawira, a very old indigenous community that has survived since colinization, suffering an extreme decline in population due to the numerous military dictatorships that have existed throughout the country's history. She is the only voice that the surviving indigenous peoples of the country have today.
What motivated her?
After learning about her past and her ancestors, she easily recognized all the violence, humiliation and mistreatment that her people and all others have suffered, so she decided that she was going to fight for the indigenous community to have a voice in the country's parliament and not suffer again.
Some of historical context that further impelled Betty's decision was the massacre of 1932, where under the military dictatorship of Maximiliano Hernandez Martinez a brutal peasant massacre was carried out at the national level, where more than 30 thousand indigenous people were massacred without mercy throughout the country, during this massacre more than 85% of the indigenous community was eliminated and the survivors were forced to flee and hide in the mountains.
The country never recovered from such atrocity, since then the indigenous community in El Salvador is less than the minority to the point of almost completely disappearing from the country. For this and more Betty decided that she would not allow something like this to happen to people again and she fights every day to make it happen.
What has she achieved?
In El Salvador there are currently only 3 indigenous peoples: Náhua Pipil, Lenca and Kakawira; and only 2 "living" indigenous languages: Nahuatl and Lenca. Betty Perez has created agreements so that these languages do not disappear completely and together with her foundations she has managed to teach these languages to the youth of the schools of towns interested in reviving the language so that it is transmitted to the next generations.
With a lot of effort and time, she has managed to have indigenous rights restored in the Legislative Assembly of the country, ensuring their compliance and protection.
In the same way, she has organized the indigenous marches that take place throughout the country to celebrate the importance of caring for indigenous peoples