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Madre Coraje
Maria Elena Moyano
Most of this I wrote in 1992 and I think it should not be forgotten.
Here in Peru, before the Spaniards, there was an estimated population of 12 million. 70 years later, only 1.2 million were left alive. Their numbers increased with other races, other bloods. Throughout the centuries black slaves, Chinese coolies, Japanese immigrants and some Europeans arrived in Peru and mixed up.Racism is therefore not an issue here... openly. The crisis helped to integrate people more than everything else, we all shared the plight. I want to tell you about a woman leader I had the honour of meeting and about what happened to her, regardless of her race, her youth and her charm.
The rural migrants invaded - or rather squatted in - the deserts around Lima, and women were among their most strong leaders. Working for UNICEF, as interpreter on a documentary, I had the honour of meeting Maria Elena Moyano, a mulatto young woman, possessed of great charisma. At a congress in Cieneguilla (outside Lima) in 1991, I met her again, and she gave some interesting facts: 30% of people in the shanty towns of Lima (of all shanty towns) are not only not against Shining Path anymore, but appreciate the movement, and would not give them away. This is completely different to the survey done by the same NGO one year ago, when 82% of the people in shanty towns were definitely against Sendero.
When working with a Canadian evaluator in another shanty town, we met a woman who had spoken with people of Shining Path on the death of a woman who was a leader in the 'Glass of Milk' organisation in Callao. The Glass of Milk was founded and maintained by poor women, who received funds from the Municipality of Lima to give a glass of milk to school children. A survey had revealed that 90% of school children during the crisis went to school with only a cup of tea, and had nothing for lunch. These women woke up at 4 a.m. to collect the milk powder, prepare breakfast, and look after the children. All this was volunteer work, by the poorest, for the poorest of the poor.
Maria Elena told us that women were so frightened after their leader's death that they started to resign, and refused to work for the GoM. They received leaflets from SP saying that they shouldn't do so, that they were picking up the leftovers of developed imperialist countries, and that they would punish those who stole from the poor. So the GoM leaders called the young people of SP who lived in this neighbourhood and told them they had no right to act thus, that their smaller brothers and cousins were beneficiaries of this volunteer work. They asked why should they kill them for doing this - were they mad or what?
The boys replied that the woman of Callao had been killed because she was in the payroll of the Navy Ministry, because she was a spy on SP's followers, and besides, she had stolen money from other grassroots organisations.
One week later the women received a leaflet in red ink from SP saying that they only threatened people who stole from the poor, that Maria Elena and her group had blown up the community warehouse in Villa El Salvador and blamed SP for it, so they were going to kill her.
Maria Elena seemed to me nervous - no wonder! - but brave. She said that only mass mobilisation can stop SP, but with the results of the survey she was no longer sure this would take place.
In 1992, when I was in Chile, I heard the terrible news of Maria Elena Moyano's murder. I still can't recover from the shock, sorrow, and fury. She was a wonderful woman and I loved her. She was full of life, full of the joy of living, enthusiastic, and totally devoted to women's organisation, with so much to give still ahead! She was young, strong, and beautiful; she was merry, and completely lacking in envy or personal ambition.
The last time I saw her was in December 1991, when she made a public presentation of the situation in Peru from the viewpoint of grassroots organisations. She was really frightened then. She asked me about the film, and sadly said she knew she would die. An officer, who knew her well, told me the same thing: horrified, she said "She's going to get herself killed!"
From what little I knew of Maria Elena, my impression is that she would never have stolen from the poor. On the contrary, she was generous with everyone, beloved by all women and children. She sacrificed her personal life for the benefit of those poorer than herself, and even though she had a very clear political mind and understanding, and was constantly attracted by NGOs and Foundations, she never gave up her life in Villa El Salvador.
When we visited Villa El Salvador she received us in her home, a tidy, nice, congenial house similar to thousands of other houses in Villa El Salvador. Her big smile and dimpled cheeks, combined with her big eyes, gave her the look of a forever-young, even rather mischievous, woman. After explaining to us the work of women in Villa El Salvador she proudly invited us to the Casa de la Mujer (Women's House) where they had a doctor's office for the gynaecologist, and where women received talks about family planning and women's health issues.
She quickly and effortlessly climbed to the back of the small truck and invited several women to join her. I had the impression we were going to a picnic. Her smile, her laughter, her genuine way of enjoying everything she did, so easily spread amogst us, until we were all caught up in her infectious enthusiasm.
The fact that they blasted her body after killing her shows there was far more than a 'political judgement' against her. It's been a demonstration of elemental sadism and madness: definitely something of a darker psychological nature was at stake there. The curious thing now is that all the media, who never dared to present her in interviews or films because she spoke always the truth, have since made her a martyr: even the very conservative daily 'El Comercio' paid her homage in the Environmental column. Her ashes were scattered in front of the Municipality, in front of the house we visited, that of the Women Federation of Villa El Salvador, and in front of the place where she was killed.
The fact is she was too great a woman for this country. I feel so sorry for her children. They loved her deeply, and she was so proud of them.
Now I don't know what will happen with her organisation. The funeral was followed by thousands of people. Her death is one of the worst things the popular organisations - and especially women's organisations - have suffered. It will take ages for another Maria Elena to appear, and there isn't enough time for that now.
Centro de la Mujer Flora Tristan / alternativa
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