by Benito Chica Argueta (Sebastián Torogoz)
The “musical expression of the Salvadoran revolution,” Los Torogoces de Morazán were born in the mountains of Morazán in eastern El Salvador. Comprising oral testimony from Benito Chica Argueta (Sebastián Torogoz), a founding member of the group, in addition to firsthand accounts by others who collaborated with the collective, Sonic Rebellion in El Salvador is a compilation of historical events transformed into songs which filled a people in struggle for liberation with hope. In parallel with Radio Venceremos, the clandestine radio network operated by Frente Farabundo Martà para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN), the group gave a voice to the voiceless during times of great adversity throughout the armed conflict in El Salvador. Using historical memory as a tool against forgetting, and by intertwining music and moving testimonies, the Torogoces' songbook rebels against a politics of forgetfulness—one which seeks to impose silence and the denial of liberation and peace, both past and present. In solidarity, organization, and struggle from Morazán to Chicago: ¡prohibido olvidar!
With contributions by: Benito Chica Argueta (Sebastián Torogoz), Pilar Vázquez de Prada, Paco Fernández Segura, Rogelio Ponseele, Domingo Tobar RamĂrez (Melo), Paolo LĂĽers, JosĂ© Márquez, Marcelo Cruz Cruz, Editorial Revolucionaria del Pueblo “Ernesto Amaya,” JesĂşs Orta Ruiz (El Indio NaborĂ), and Jacob Lindgren. Published by Alma de Izote and Other Forms. Portions of the book originally published in Spanish in 2024 as La Onda de los Torogoces de Morazán and published by Editorial Universidad Don Bosco in El Salvador, with proofreading by Juan Vicente Chopin and edited by Nelson LĂłpez. ISBN 978-1-7340943-6-7
- Toogoces de Morazán
- Todo Nuestro Pueblo (All Our People)
- Pequeña Guerrillera (Little Guerrilla)
- La Compa Roxana (Roxana)
- Radio Venceremos ("We Shall Overcome" Radio)
- Batalla Comandante Gonzalo (Battle Commander Gonzalo)
- ChicharrĂłn 4 (Fried Pork Four)
- Batalla San Felipe (Battle of San Felipe)
- Los Fusilitos (The Little Rifles)
- El Beso del Sapo (Kiss of the Frog)
- Soy Combatiente (I'm a Combatant)
- Vamos a la Lucha (Let's Go to the Struggle)
- La Hora (The Hour)
- Corrido al Mozote (Corrido for El Mozote)
- Heroico Morazán (Heroic Morazán)
- La Vieja OligarquĂa (The Old Oligarchy)
- Recordando al Profeta (Remembering the Prophet)
- Yo Quiero Ser Combatiente (I Want to be a Combatant)
- Soy Guerrillero (I'm a Guerrilla)
- Toda Centroamérica (All of Central America)