Santiago Nonualco

Infobox Settlement
name = Santiago Nonualco
settlement_type = Municipality
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pushpin_map_caption =Location in El Salvador
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = flag|El Salvador
subdivision_type1 = Department
subdivision_name1 = La Paz
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population_total = 37,399
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longd=88 |longm=57|longs= |longEW=W
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Santiago Nonualco is a municipality in La Paz department of El Salvador.

According to the Spanish language web site for the municipal government, "Nonualco" means tribe of mutes ("tribo de mudos") in the native Nahuat language. There are three "Nonualcos" in the area, the other two are San Juan Nonualco and San Pedro Nonualco. Santiago Nonualco has two famous native sons, both warriors. One, Anastasio "Indio" Aquino, gained fame leading an uprising against the Spanish in 1832-3. He led his insurgency from a cave located just north of what is now El Salvador International Airport. "La cueva de Indio Aquino" (Indio Aquino's cave) is a little visited site located in Cerro El Tigre overlooking the Jiboa river and the airport. After a seven month long rebellion, Indio Aquino was captured and executed by firing squad in San Vicente.

The second warrior son of Santiago Nonualco is Colonel Domingo Monterrosa. Lt Col Monterrosa commanded the famous (or infamous) Atlacatl Battalion linked to several massacres during the 1980-1992 civil war, including El Mozote in 1981. Monterrosa was small in stature, but huge in personality and charisma. The troops loved him and the enemy feared him. Shortly before his death in a UH-1H Huey helicopter accident in 1984 (the guerrillas claim it was shot down), Monterrosa assumed command of the 3rd Infantry Brigade in San Miguel. The brigade currently bears his name on its official uniform patch. Monterrosa was an extremely effective combat commander and was a favorite of U.S. advisors.

According to a Time Magazine article, Setback in the Skies, Nov. 5, 1984, "Monterrosa, 44, was in charge of Salvadoran army field operations in the eastern third of the country, stretching from the department of San Miguel to the Honduran border. More important, he was regarded by colleagues and U.S. advisers as the army's most effective combat commander, a tough, personable soldier who was equally adept at battling guerrillas and winning the affection of peasants. Monterrosa was aboard a U.S.-built UH-1 military helicopter flying from Joateca to San Francisco Gotera when the aircraft went down near the Honduran border, killing all 14 passengers, including other senior army officers. Radio Venceremos, the rebel station, claimed that guerrilla forces had shot down the helicopter, but according to an army investigation, metal fatigue in the rotor shaft caused both blades to snap shortly after takeoff." The wreckage of this helicopter is located at the FMLN's museum in Perquin, El Salvador. It shows no indications of hostile fire. Editor (a retired U.S. military officer) personally visited this museum and inspected the wreckage. The holes in aircraft skin the FMLN attributed to AK-47 fire appear to have come from inside the aircraft probably due to the transmission exploding when the rotors hit the ground. The holes are not regular in shape or size indicating they were caused by shrapnel of differing sizes and shapes, not bullets.

Santiago Nonualco is a relatively poor community even by El Salvadoran standards. The primary historical economic activity has been subsistence farming and the cultivation of sugar cane, providing back-breaking work for those willing to bake in the sun swinging their "corvos," curved tobacco-knife like machetes, for a couple of dollars a day. Currently there are very few employers in the area. Santiago Nonualco has a small central market, a few modest stores (tiendas), diners (comedores), bars, doctor's office, pharmacy, a couple of dentists, a small bank (casa de credito), some lawyers, and not much else. The nearest factories are located near the airport at El Pedregal about 25 minutes away by bus.

Note [August 2008] : These comments about Lt Col Domingo Monterrosa are disingenuous. Monterrosa was not "linked" to the massacre of some 1000 civilians in and around El Mozote, he ordered it as part of a deliberate strategy of terrorism. It was an atrocious crime, comparable to some of the worst actions of Nazi Germany (and many others). Second, the comments on how he died reflect some of the cover stories of the time, but are now known to be entirely false. His helicopter was not destroyed by "metal fatigue" nor was it shot down. An FMLN unit had planted a bomb in an old Radio Venceremos transmitter, which they permitted Monterrosa's men to capture. The bomb was set off by remote control as the colonel was taking his trophy to be shown off at a press conference.

A complete account of both the massacre and of Monterrosa's death is Mark Danner, "The Massacre at El Mozote," Vintage, 1994. A short account can be found on the web here: www.math.dartmouth.edu/~lamperti/Trojan_Horse.html.