War and Immigration

WAR

The Salvadoran Civil War (1979–1992) was a conflict in El Salvador between the military-led government of El Salvador backed by the United States government, and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), a coalition or 'umbrella organization' of five left-wingguerrilla groups. Significant tensions and violence already existed in the 1970s, before the full-fledged official outbreak of the civil war—which lasted for twelve years. El Salvador's Civil War was the second longest civil war in Latin America after the Guatemalan Civil War.
The conflict ended in the early 1990s. An unknown number of people disappeared, and more than 70,000 were killed.
Source: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salvadoran_Civil_War

Movie Recommendation: Voces Inocentes 
 2004 Mexican film directed by Luis Mandoki. The plot is set during the Salvadoran Civil War in 1980, and is based on writer Óscar Torres's childhood. The film serves as a general commentary on the military use of children. The movie also shows injustice against innocent people who are forced to fight in the war. It follows the story of the narrator, a boy named Chava.

Immigration

The seven countries of Central America south of Mexico are smaller, poorer, and more rural than Mexico. They sent about 40,000 legal immigrants to the US in FY94--the highest rates of emigration were from Belize and El Salvador, and the lowest was from Costa Rica. Over 90 percent of the 1.1 million Central American immigrants who arrived in the US since 1820 came in the last 15 years, versus 60 percent of the Mexican immigrants. According to unofficial estimates, over 400,000 Central Americans enter Mexico with the intend of traveling on to the US.Mexico expels more than 70,000 illegal aliens across the Guatemalan border each year. Over 65 percent of the migrants arriving illegally in Mexico report "ill treatment, beatings and threats at the hands of the authorities," according the official Mexican human rights commission.
source: migration.ucdavis.edu/mn/more.php?id=945_0_2_0

Movie Recommendation: Sin Nombre
Honduran teenager Sayra reunites with her father, an opportunity for her to potentially realize her dream of a life in the U.S. Moving to Mexico is the first step in a fateful journey of unexpected events.