Jorge Artimas studied liberation theology with a priest in San Salvador and taught it in the church's small communities. "The people needed knowledge of the social forces that governed their lives," he says.
Jorge was on a bus with his cousin when the army stopped it and took them off. "I knew I was a dead man," he recalls. They shouted "Communist" at Jorge, cut off his cousin's fingers, then killed her while he watched.  They injected Jorge with something that would "send him to paradise."
Jorge regained consciousness in a truck filled with corpses. Surprised to be alive, he escaped. A nearby family helped him home. Three days later the entire family was assassinated. "That tortures me to this day," says Jorge, who spent months in a mental hospital after that.
When Jorge received a letter from the death squads, he left El Salvador. He now lives in San Francisco, working for a church helping Central American refugees.
 

Jorge's Dream
I dream of Monsignor Romero, the archbishop (Oscar Romero) they assassinated in El Salvador.I am in a humble house. I remember Monsignor Romero is coming to visit me at the school. A woman from the church comes to say, “Jorge, Monsignor has been waiting for you for two days.”
I find the Monsignor at the school, at a little table, writing. I am afraid he will say to me, “Jorge, you didn’t do what I told you to do.” And I know he is going to be angry with me.
But he only says, “Hello, Jorge. Good afternoon. How are you?” And I say, “Very well.” No more than this… and I wake up.
I remember the day when I awoke among the corpses in the truck. I realized that I had been given my life.  So this dream is the promise that I will also recover emotionally and spiritually. It is a symbol to me of the triumph of justice that will come in the future.