Lilian Mercedes Letona

{{Infobox person

| name = Lilian Mercedes Letona

| image = Lilian Mercedes LETONA.jpg

| caption =

| birthname =

| birth_date = {{birth date|1954|9|24|mf=y}}

| birth_place = Turín, El Salvador

| death_date = {{Death date and age|1983|8|1|1954|9|24}}

| death_place = ? (El Salvador)

| yearsactive = 1972–1983

| occupation = Guerrilla, Political activist

| parents =

| awards =

| website =

}}{{external media

| image1 = [http://www.cedema.org/uploads/erp1.jpg A picture of Lilian Mercedes Letona]}}

Lilian Mercedes Letona (September 24, 1954 – August 1, 1983), was a Salvadoran guerrilla and communist revolutionary, member of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN). Also known with her "nom de guerre" Comandante Clelia (Commander Clelia),{{cite web|url=http://www.myetymology.com/encyclopedia/Lilian_Mercedes_Letona_-_Clelia_Commander.html|title=Lilian Mercedes Letona - Clelia Commander|website=SpeedyLook Encyclopaedia|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304055427/http://www.myetymology.com/encyclopedia/Lilian_Mercedes_Letona_-_Clelia_Commander.html|archive-date=4 March 2016|url-status=usurped|accessdate=4 January 2017}}{{Circular reference|date=December 2017}} she took part in the Salvadoran Civil War.

Biography

Born in 1954 in Turín, a town located in the Ahuachapán Department, she was the daughter of a school teacher and a small tradeswoman. Graduated in 1972 in painting, she was member of a student movement before to join the Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo (ERP - People's Revolutionary Army),{{in lang|es}} [http://eltorogoz.net/erp.htm Origin and development of the ERP] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723013320/http://eltorogoz.net/erp.htm |date=2011-07-23 }}{{cite web|url=http://www.fmln-ny.org/historia/erp|title=Ejercito Revolucionario del Pueblo – ERP|website=FMLN-NY|language=Spanish|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100815050658/http://www.fmln-ny.org/historia/erp|archivedate=15 August 2010|url-status=dead|accessdate=4 January 2017}} while promoting the incorporation of her sister Mercedes del Carmen Letona (nom de guerre Comandante Luisa) who later became a responsible of Radio Venceremos.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ErXKWF5u7OMC&dq=radio+venceremos+comandante+luisa&pg=PA188|title=The Social Documentary in Latin America|first=Julianne|last=Burton|date=15 September 1990|publisher=University of Pittsburgh Pre|isbn=9780822974444|accessdate=4 January 2017|via=Google Books}}

File:ERP combatants Perquín 1990 22.jpg

Since 1973, Clelia incorporated many workers of the factory "Cinturón Obrero" of San Salvador, in the secret worker unit of the ERP. She joined the urban guerrilla and took part in armed actions and revolutionary propaganda. In January 1974, aged 19, she went underground to avoid persecutions and joined the armed struggle, where she partecipe to the construction of the Partido de la Revolución Salvadoreña (PRS-ERP - Salvadoran Revolution Party,[http://www.marxists.org/espanol/tematica/elsalvador/archivo/prs-erp/index.htm Documentary archive of PRS-ERP] at Marxists Internet Archive one of the founding subjects of the FMLN){{in lang|es}} [http://www.fmln.org.sv/oficial/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=231&Itemid=56 History of FMLN (from the official FMLN website)] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204210121/http://www.fmln.org.sv/oficial/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=231&Itemid=56 |date=2012-02-04 }} becoming a member of its central committee in 1977. As member of it, she was responsible for the party and participated in the preparation of the general offensive of 1981 around the city of San Salvador, when she was captured of February 11.

For 22 days Clelia stayed on condition of desaparecida in a clandestine prison of the Policía Nacional (National Police), wheres she was found by the International Red Cross and transferred to the women's prison of Ilopango. She was released in June 1983 by an amnesty decreed by the government of Álvaro Magaña. After it, she joined the north-eastern military front Francisco Sánchez of the FMLN. Two months later she died in battle.

Media

A 1985 song of the Salvadoran singer Eduardo Cutumay Camones was named Comandante Clelia. The song is part of the album Por Eso Luchamos{{cite web|url=http://www.folkways.si.edu/TrackDetails.aspx?itemid=27130|title=Smithsonian Folkways|publisher=|accessdate=4 January 2017}}
The 1984 documentary film Commander Clelia: Political Prisoner{{cite web|url=http://www.twn.org/catalog/pages/cpage.aspx?rec=835&card=price|title=Commander Clelia: Political Prisoner|publisher=|accessdate=4 January 2017}} is based on the interviews of 5 women, included Lilian Letona, imprisoned in the Salvadoran women's prison of Ilopango[http://www.mediarights.org/film/Commander_Clelia_Political_Prisoner Infos at mediarights.org] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071023133516/http://www.mediarights.org/film/commander_clelia_political_prisoner |date=2007-10-23 }}
In a 1992 song of the Italian group Banda Bassotti, named Figli della stessa rabbia, the Commander Clelia was cited with other revolutionary marxists.{{in lang|it}} [http://angolotesti.leonardo.it/B/testi_canzoni_banda_bassotti_2263/testo_canzone_figli_della_stessa_rabbia_72562.html Figli della stessa rabbia lyrics] The song is part of the homonym album{{in lang|it}} [http://www.radiochango.com/italiano/dischi/Figli-della-Stessa-Rabbia.html Figli della stessa rabbia: album details and track listing]