By Gigi Gruenke
Rufina Amaya, the only survivor of the Massacre of El Mozote entered Eternal Life at 12:40 p.m. on Tuesday, March 6, 2007. At last she is with her God, her children and husband, victims of the massacre, and all of the almost 1,000 El Mozote massacre victims for whom she worked tirelessly these past 25 years.
The death of Rufina came as a surprise. Though not in good health, she was busy meeting with visitors, working in her parish and caring for her family up to the day of her death. She arrived at the hospital in San Miguel just 10 hours prior to her death, caused by a series of strokes and a final heart attack. Rufina’s oldest daughter, Fidelia, and her youngest, Maria, were with her. Fidelia escaped death because she wasn’t in El Mozote that terrible December 11, 1981. Maria was born some four years after the massacre.
