The following notes have been edited to correct errors and to add explanations and updates. Parenthetical notes and remarks from the original are enclosed in parentheses. Present day [2022] updates are italicized and enclosed in square brackets.
Wednesday, 16 October 1991 - 2:30 PM - Comunidad Rutilio Grande
The road into Comunidad Rutilio Grande is as bad, if not worse, than the one coming out of Comunidad Ellacuria last year. In fact, "linear mudhole" would not be an inaccurate description of it. We get stuck several times on the way in and even more frequently on the way back out. Twice people along the road stop to help push us out, and we do a lot of walking while our driver fishtails the van through the worst spots.
It is with a certain sense of triumph and relief that we assemble in the community office to speak with representatives from the directorate. These include V., who works with human rights, J., a health promoter, and R., the coordinator for production. After introducing themselves, they ask for introductions from each of us.
"This community is called Rutilio Grande (after a well-known priest who had served that area until he was assassinated by the military in 1977). We didn't know that you were coming to visit, so not all of the directorate is here. The president is in San Salvador, accompanied by the director of finances. And another is out in the region. [St. Oscar Romero, who was Archbishop of El Salvador, was good friends with Fr. Rutilio Grande. Romero’s decision to hold a public funeral for Fr. Grande – a controversial and provocative move at the time – is considered to have been a clear early signal to authorities that he sided with the poor.]
