Born to Salvadoran immigrants, Roberto Lovato grew up in 1970s San Francisco. His father Ramon was involved in suspect business dealings, and could sometimes be angry and violent. As their relationship became increasingly strained Roberto rebelled, influenced by the culture of emerging organised street gangs. He became more interested in the civil war, which was escalating in El Salvador, and joined the guerrilla group the FMLN and went there to fight. In later years, Roberto became a successful academic and began to learn more about El Salvador’s bloody history. It was then he discovered his father was a witness of one of the most violent episodes the country had ever seen, La Matanza, “the massacre”. It was a secret Ramon had taken 70 years to share but in doing so, it helped Roberto come to terms with his own troubled past.

"Unforgetting: A Memoir of Family, Migration, Gangs, and Revolution in the Americas" by Roberto Lovato is out now.
Presenter: Anu Anand
Producer: Katy Takatsuki

Picture: Roberto Lovato in San Francisco's Mission District, Aug 2020
Credit: Roberto Lovato