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Saturday, December 31, 2005
New Year's Resolution
Lorena Abigaíl Rodríguez Mendoza, five years old, sells calendars in her mother's store in downtown San Salvador.
Lorena will begin school in January and says her goal is to get good grades in her classes.
Sat, December 31, 2005 | link
Friday, December 30, 2005
Feliz Año Nuevo
Fri, December 30, 2005 | link
Tuesday, December 27, 2005
Coffee Production Up
Coffee is El Salvador's largest agricultural export crop. PROCAFE (La Fundación Salvadoreña para Investigaciones
del Café) reports that more than two million quintals of coffee were produced in 2005; this is up about 10%. Of this
total 600,000 came from 12 Salvadoran cooperatives. Coffee production occupies 229,000 manzanas in El Salvador.
Coffee prices are up slightly in the last twelve months. (1 manzana = 1.7 acres; 1 quintal = 100 pounds of [green] beans)
Coffee is now the second largest export; offshore assembly exports (maquilas) are number one. Exports
total $3.2B and imports are $6.0B. The US is the number one trading partner, taking 66% of the exports and providing
46% or the imports. Kind of reminds one of the the good old colonial days....
Monday, December 26, 2005
Forty Percent of Latin American Familes Stuck in Poverty
After three years of economic growth, four of every ten Latin Americans continue to be poor.
"It can't be ingored that Latin America is growing more slowly than the average of developing countries."
according to José Luis Machinea of the Comisión Económica para América Latina y el Caribe (CEPAL). Developing countries,
on average, are growing at 5.7% a year, while Latin American countries average only 4%.
Christmas Eve in San Salvador
Mon, December 26, 2005 | link
American Nun Shuns Luxury for Mexican Jail
The cell at the end of the dark hallway barely fits a cot, a desk and a folding chair. This is home for
Sister Antonia Brenner, an American nun who was raised in Beverly Hills but abandoned a life of privilege to live in a notorious
Mexican jail.
Her neighbors are no longer Hollywood stars, but murderers, drug runners and human smugglers. They know
her as "angel de la carcel" — the prison angel.
(My wife tells me Sister Antonia was featured on TV a while ago.)
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Video of the Eruption and Aftermath of the Santa Ana Volcano (October 1)
Sun, December 18, 2005 | link
Airport in El Salvador
Interesting story on the crowded conditions at San Salvador International Airport. They
are talking about major expansion in the customs and immigration area which currently is very undersized. The link will
take you to a video from La Prensa Grafica; the report focuses on the situation in December when a lot of Salvadorans return
home.
Twenty One Schools Remain Closed Near Santa Ana Volcano
The Ministry of Education announced that 21 schools (11 schools in Sonsonate and 10 in Santa Ana) will
remain closed for the 2006 school year, which begins in mid January. About 4,000 students will have to be moved to different
schools.
House of Representatives Passes Immigration Reform Bill
Comments from Latin America on the House's recent action:
The initiative "is concentrated exclusively in reinforcing border security and reinforcing the power of the
justice department in migratory matters", lamented the Mexican Secretary of External Relations.
Before the vote the Mexican Commission on Human Rights said that construction of a barrier between Mexico
and the USA criminalizes migration. They also said that the proposed action brought back thoughts of the Berlin Wall.
According to a recent study 70% of immigrants come from Mexico or Central America. There are between
8 and 12 million undocumented immigrants in the USA.
WTO Negotiators Reach Deal On Farm-Export Subsidies
(From the WSJ & AP) WTO negotiators reached a breakthrough on the most contentious issue of the six-day
trade talks, agreeing that wealthy countries would eliminate farm-export subsidies by 2013, paving the way for a modest agreement
to cut trade barriers across various sectors....
The 2013 date for the end of farm subsidies was a key demand of the European Union, which held out against
intense pressure from Brazil and other developing nations to phase out a significant proportion of its farm export subsidies
by 2010. Developing nations say such government farm payments to promote exports undercuts the competitive advantage of poor
farmers....
The final draft also calls on wealthy nations to allow duty-free and quota-free privileges to at least 97%
of products exported by the so-called least developed countries by 2008. In a victory for West African cotton-producing
nations, the text retained an earlier proposal that rich countries eliminate all export subsidies on cotton in 2006.
Richter 4.6 Earthquake Hits El Salvador
Centered about 55 miles south of San Salvador, the quake struck at 09:27 GMT on Saturday, December 17. No injuries
have been reported.
Sun, December 18, 2005 | link
Friday, December 16, 2005
Wal-Mart in El Salvador
Wal-Mart said Friday over time it plans to acquire majority ownership of Carcho, a supermarket chain serving
Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Carcho is a joint venture between Royal Ahold NV of the Netherlands
and two Central American groups, the company said. Wal-Mart bought a minority stake in the venture in September.
The world's largest retailer reiterated Friday it plans to open as many as 600 new stores in 2006 -- 370 in
the U.S. and 230 around the world. Wal-Mart currently operates more than 5,400 stores
Military Deaths in Iraq
Two Salvadoran soldiers are among the approximately 2,300 occupying military who have died in Iraq.
The British military has reported 98 deaths; Italy, 27; Ukraine, 18; Poland, 17; Bulgaria, 13; Spain, 11;
Slovakia, three; Denmark, El Salvador, Estonia, Netherlands, Thailand, two each; Hungary, Kazakhstan, Latvia one death
each.
IMF Reports on Salvadoran Economy
"...The economy has performed well this year despite sharply higher oil prices and the adverse effects of
recent natural disasters. Real GDP growth is expected to pick up to 2½ percent in 2005, while the external current account
deficit is expected to remain at around 4 percent of GDP. Inflation has declined to 4½ percent despite increases in domestic
petroleum prices. The fiscal deficit has been broadly in line with the budget, helped by a strong revenue performance
after key tax measures taken in late 2004.
...The mission praised the authorities' efforts to deal with the social impact and damage to infrastructure
after tropical storm Stan and volcanic eruptions....
"El Salvador faces the major challenge of further raising the economy's growth potential, and reducing its
vulnerability to shocks. To address this challenge, the mission agreed with the authorities on the need to strengthen fiscal
revenue with a view of setting the public debt/GDP ratio on a firm downward path, while raising social spending....
Gold Mine in El Salvador
Vancouver-based SilverCrest Mines is performing metallurgical testing at
its El Zapote silver-gold-zinc project in El Salvador in order to complete a feasibility study as soon as possible, according
to COO Eric Fier.
"Everything is done on the exploration side. We're trying to optimize the recovery," Fier said, adding the
company will have preliminary test results within 30 days.
SilverCrest has submitted an environmental assessment to El Salvadorian authorities and expects to receive
in January the terms of reference, which will outline any additional information the authorities deem necessary.
El Zapote is in northeastern El Salvador
Tuesday, December 13, 2005
Salvadoran Student Competes at Inter-American Congress of Cardiology
Rafael Quezada, a student at the University of El Salvador, has completed a study on metabolic syndromes
at Rosales Hospital. Quezada has been nominated as one of three finalists at the Inter-American Congress of Cardiology
meeting, scheduled for next January in Cancun.
"I want to see my mother!"
From La Prensa Grafica
"It doesn't matter how many times you stop me, I am going to the States (to be with) my mama." says Timoteo
Barrios, 13 years old, when he was stopped by the Mexican authorities with his twenty eight year old uncle.
He says his mother, who calls him twice a month from the US, let him with his grandmother eleven years ago.
She lives in San Francisco and cleans houses for a living. She has twice sent Timoteo money to pay for his trip to the
US. Timoteo doesn't remember his father, who died when he was two and a half years old.
"The desire of a mother to embrace her son after so many years will not be deterred by anything, even if
they put thousands of police on the border." he says.
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