Manlio Argueta
(1935 - )


Salvadoran leftist novelist and poet. Was involved with a progressive literary group in El Salvador that counted among it's members the great Roque Dalton. Forced into exile for over twenty years for opposing the authoritarian government.

One Day of Life (1980): 214 pages. The events in the book take place shortly before the start of the Salvadoran Civil War in 1979, and the book was banned on release by the right-wing military-junta government. A passionate attack on the right-wing government and the fascistic armed forces engaged in repressing progressive movements. An exposure of how life was for those living in Latin America under right-wing dictatorships that would "disappear" it's citizens and massacre protesters. It also clearly show why Salvadorans, like other Latin Americans in similar situations, organized the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front and launched a more than 20-year-long guerilla war on the government.