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Sunday, September 7, 2008
FMLN Blames ARENA for Violence
(From InsideCostaRica.com) The opposition Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) in
El Salvador hold the ruling Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) accountable for the riots in this capital related with
forthcoming elections.
According to the FMNL denunciations a group of activists from ARENA attacked supporters of the
left-wing party, wounding four seriously.
The coordinator of the FMLN Campaign Command in San Salvador Lorena Peña
denounced physical and verbal aggression by ARENA's party members who were accompanying the candidate to mayoralty in the
capital Norman Quijano to the Farabundo Communication Brigade.
It is reprehensible that Norman Quijano said in public
that there were 90 activists in front of 25 from the FMLN but more worrying is that he expressed that his brigades are armed,
emphasized Peña.
The FMLN leader Roberto Lorenzana assured that with the view to avoid violence in the electoral campaign
the government party rejected an invitation issued to all political parties to sign an agreement.
“We want a peaceful
campaign, we regret Thursday's event so it is necessary to coordinate information among parties to avoid incidents, emphasized
Lorenzana.
The Front called the authorities, specially the National Civil Police, to investigate the riots and put
end to this type of events which has become a routine in every election period. | |
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Friday, September 5, 2008
El Salvador ethanol facility
Renewable energy company Southridge Enterprises Inc. has inked a deal with Beijing investment firm Shenyang Rrzk Co. to sell a 20 percent stake in Southridge’s El Salvador-based ethanol facility.
The transaction is valued at $4 million. Dallas-based Southridge started construction on the plant in February
and expects, when finished, the facility will produce up to 20 million gallons of ethanol per year. The plant is slated for
opening at the end of 2009 or the very beginning of 2010.
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Twenty-two year old street vendor assassinated at noon Saturday "probably by mistake"
Six apparent gang members gunned down a fruit vendor on Independence Avenue in San Salvador yesterday.
The alleged gunmen escaped by car and were captured by police several minutes later on Bulevard del Ejército in Lamatepec
(down the hill from San Andres).
Other vendors in the area said that the young man “did not cause problems for anybody and
that they killed him probably by mistake”. However, police sources said that many of the incidents that occur
in that place happen because of gang problems.
FMLN insists on electoral reforms to comply with constitutional requirements
The party of the left (FMLN) has demanded, in preparation for the 2009 elections, that the 84 legislative
districts be redrawn to give an equal number of voters in each district. A bill on this subject was introduced in the
legislature this past week. The most recent census showed the population to have decreased from 6.0 million to 5.7 million.
This demand is based on article 69 of the Salvadoran constitution. Redistricting is expected to increase the number
of legislators from the Department of San Salvador, which tends to be central left, from 23 to 25.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Survey Shows A Tight Presidential Race
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Left and right are waging a close presidential battle in
El Salvador, according to a poll by Consulta Mitofsky released by TCS. 34.2 per cent of respondents would vote for Mauricio
Funes of the left-leaning Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) in next year’s ballot, while 30.8 per cent would
back Rodrigo Ávila of the governing conservative Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA). Go to http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/view/salvadorans_headed_to_tight_presidential_race for the rest of the story.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
New Security Measures at National University
On Monday the University of El Salvador will begin requiring identification of all who enter the campus.
The campus, which is located about a mile north of the geographic center of San Salvador, is thought to be a gathering place
for activists. (Unversity web site: http://www.ues.edu.sv/) The rector (president) of the university said, "This is to control who enters the university campus,
because of the high crime rate in the university."
René Figueroa, Salvadoran Security Minister, had a slightly different view. The university, rather
than the police, handle security on campus, he said. Figueroa added that they are already investigating a group of "professional
agitators" on campus.
On July 4, groups of young people with uniforms of the INFRAMEN
and the institute Albert Camus closed the streets in front of the University and destroyed some property. This demostration happened a day before the second anniversary of the death of two agents
of the UMO, killed July 5, 2006, in a demonstrationover the price of electricity and bus fares.
For coverage of the 2006 demonstration click the link:
Thursday, July 10, 2008
Update from Audrey and Noah in Usulután
JULY 2008 UPDATE: Many things are happening at the Centro Pastoral in Bajo Lempa.
Go here for a PDF report with photos written by Noah Bullock and Audrey Denny.
Highlights include:
¶ update on the Hasta la Cosecha project
¶ the road to El Carmen and bridge project
¶ El Carmen youth garden project
¶ donation of property on which to build a church and flood shelter
¶ activism regarding a paved road that would serve elite hotels and pressure for people to "donate" their
property to this project
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Thirty-one die on Church Bus
All but one of the passengers on a bus tranporting members of the evangelical church Elim died when it was
swept away in a flood near San Salvador on Thursday. Additionally, five people were killed in floods in La Libertad.
More than 2,000 were affected by the flloods in La Libertad according to government authorities.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
A CNY/El Salvador Connection from Iraq
With thanks to Felicity for the info...
El Salvador is the only Central American country with troops in Iraq.
The Salvadoran contingent is under the command of the 10th Mountain Brigade, based at Fort Drum in Central New York.
The following is from a recent news story in The Mountain View.
Iraqi Soldiers unload[ed] boxes
of medical supplies and water prior to a medical assistance activity at the hospital in Numaniyah
June 12. Seven Iraqi doctors, a doctor and a nurse from the 1st Georgian Infantry Brigade, a dentist from the Salvadoran Cuscatlán Battalion and
U.S. Army medics treated more than 150 patients. Iraqi Security Forces provided security for the event with support
from elements of the 511th Military Police Co., from Fort Drum, N.Y.
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Video on Hunger
Univision coverage of malnutrition in El Salvador
Friday, June 27, 2008
Note from Audrey
Audrey Denney pens her thoughts as she completes a year in Usulután.
Why hello!
Audrey
here with a long, long overdue update. As many of you know I was home in California for a brief stint in May, for a wedding
and my mom’s graduation from seminary. It was a lovely and much needed time at home. I ate an obscene quantity of bagels and
cream cheese (sorely lacking in these here parts). For all of you who came out to “Audreyfest 2008” I really appreciate your
generous support of me. We raised enough money that night to fund an entire month of me being down here.
I’ve been
back down in El Salvador for a month now, the weeks just seem to fly by. Its crazy that I’ll be finishing my year and moving
home in just 8 short weeks!
The projects are going well: I’m working on promoting and finding funding for our big sustainable
agriculture project, I planted a bunch of Moringa trees and am going to do a workshop with them in a month, I’m still working
with short term mission groups. The kids are harvesting their crop from our organic garden and selling the produce. We have
a garden team with officers and committees and everything. And tomorrow we will be putting the finishing touches on our greenhouse.
We made it out of sticks and clear plastic. Pictures to follow. We’re also building composting bins this week. The kids are
so awesome.
One girl,
Glenda, is probably one of the sharpest young people I have ever worked with. She is always right on track in the workshops
and knows the answers almost before I ask the questions. She is the secretary of the group and keeps track of all the applications
and treatments to the plants in a binder, she takes attendance, and helps design the schedule. She is 14 and just finishing
9th grade. She will not get to continue on to high school because it is too expensive and too far away. She will stay around
the house helping at home and in the cornfield until she get pregnant and moves in with her “compañero.” A free high school
education, roads, school buses, are all things that we take for granted. As well we should. It is a government’s responsibility
to provide for the education of their people.
These amazing kids have water in their homes for an hour and a half every
3rd day. They walk an hour and a half to school and an hour and a half home from school every day. These kids live on the
margins of their society, some in houses made of sticks and black plastic trash bags. They are citizens of a middle-income
country but are part of one of the five worst fed populations in the world. A country where an oligarchy of 14 families, or
8 business conglomerates controls virtually all the resources of the country. Every one of these kids has had family members
massacred by their government.
That is injustice. That is the injustice in one corner of one small Central American
country. When we open our eyes and our hearts to the rest of the world we see that these injustices cover the world. One billion
people, just like us, are hungry without access to clean drinking water. Annually, malnutrition claims the lives of six million
children before their fifth birthday. The enormity of the injustice in the world suffocates me. The despair we feel for the
world threatens to drown us.
What do we do with that emotion? Do we ignore it? “I really don’t have much to give.”
“There is nothing that can be done.” “The world is too screwed up.” Or do we take that painful emotion and recognize it as
compassion for the world. Recognize it as a call for us to look outside of ourselves and to give to the world the gifts that
we have received.
Open your eyes. Look at the rest of the world. Feel the difficult emotions. You will be transformed.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Coffee Exports Up Almost Thirty Percent
In May, exports of coffee from El Salvador were up 28.7% thanks to improved weather and seasonal rain.
Meanwhile coffee prices in the market in New York dropped slightly to $1.31 per pound.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Convention Digest Available
If you would like a PDF of the convention digest (parochial and committee reports, budget, etc., etc.) from
last month's convention in San Salvador contact Chuck by e-mail at (cnstewart at verizon dot net) or call me at +1 315 685
8578.
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Diversion of Pharmaceuticals.
Pharmacies, medical clinics and medical professionals are under investigation for
selling large quantities of cold medications, which it is suspected, go into the hands of Mexican narcos. Since 2006, El Salvador
has doubled the manufacture of medicines with pseudoephedrine. It is claimed that Salvadorans and Guatemalans buy hundreds
or thousands of tablets from pharmacies in San Salvador.
For these reasons, both the Supreme Council of Public Health (CSSP) and the Police's Antinarcotics
Division (DAN), have been investigating for several months several local pharmacies that have sold large quantities
of these OTC drugs to Guatemalan citizens. Researchers have identified specific Guatemalan car plates of people
who are buying in bulk.
Yellow alert over further storm threat
MEXICO CITY, June 3 (Xinhua) -- The authorities of El Salvador said Tuesday the country will stay on yellow
alert due to another possible tropical depression.
El Salvador's government declared a green alert in late May due to rains caused by
tropical depression Arthur. The threat level was later raised to yellow in fear of landslides or flooding.
Interior Minister Juan Miguel Bolanos said Tuesday the yellow alert will remain in
force since "low pressure has formed that could cause another tropical depression in the coming days."
The low pressure, a phenomenon caused by Arthur, will cause "cloudy skies and intermittent
rains," said Bolanos, who is also president of the National Civil Protection system.
In the capital San Salvador, a total of 197 people have been relocated into 8 shelters
after their homes were flooded or due to landslides, Bolanos said.
Six of the shelters are in San Salvador and another two in the central provinces of
Cuscutlan and La Paz.
"Citizens must understand that we are still in danger as humidity and water saturation
remain high. The risk still exists," Bolanos said.
From an earlier AP report: Authorities in El Salvador say they have found the bodies of two young girls
who were swept away by a flash flood. Their father is still missing.
The bodies of the girls, aged 10 and 12, were found Tuesday (May 27) in a river downstream from the spot where they
disappeared the night before.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Totally Awesome
From Mike Angel and UCSD and the Episcopal Church in San Diego:
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Remittances hit record of $1.25B
(Associated Press) Salvadoran migrants in the U.S. and elsewhere are sending home record
amounts of money, while remittances to other countries taper off.
El Salvador's Central Reserve Bank reported Friday that it has received a record $1.25 billion in the first
four months of 2008. The previous record was set last year during the same time period -- $1.17 billion.
Mexican remittances have fallen 2.9 percent this year due to the U.S. economic downturn and crackdown on immigration.
But El Salvador's central bank said many of the 2.5 million Salvadorans living in the U.S. haven't been hit
as hard by job cuts and have permission to work legally granted after earthquakes in their homeland in 2001.
[Note that total exports from El Salvador are less than $4.0B. The 'export' of Salvadoran labor is a
very large contributor to the economy.]
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Presidential candidate walks line between right and left
(From The Guardian)
At a raucous rally in Santa Tecla, El Salvador, the banner hanging behind journalist-turned-presidential candidate
Mauricio Funes explained the heart of his campaign: Cambio. Change.
Employing a buzzword from this year's US election, the leftwing Funes has become a political phenomenon by
promising a new direction for one of the staunchest American allies in the region, a country that adopted the dollar as its
currency and is the only Latin American nation to still have troops in Iraq.
The former television host has tried to deftly manage a growing challenge in the politically polarised region
- vowing to remain friendly with both the US and leftist Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez while implementing the same formula
of government-funded social programs backed by Chavez and his leftist allies.
But an equally daunting challenge for Funes, arguably El Salvador's most respected journalist, is his effort
to shake up his own party, the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front.
The party began as a 1980s guerrilla movement and evolved into the country's second-strongest political force
but has failed to win the presidency with more traditional leftist candidates.
Funes wants to remake the FMLN into a pragmatic party that, if victorious, would join El Salvador with Guatemala
and Nicaragua as former Cold War-era battlegrounds where voters are trying leftist leaders for the first time since their
conflicts ended.
Suchitoto 14 assassinated
(From WW4 Report) On Friday May 2, Hector Antonio Ventura was assassinated in the community of Valle Verde,
Suchitoto. Ventura was the youngest of the 14 political prisoners captured in Suchitoto on July 2, 2007. According to preliminary
reports, Ventura was stabbed to death.
Ventura was killed days after having agreed to speak at the Day Against Impunity, an event planned to take
place this coming July 2 in Suchitoto, on the anniversary of last years capture of the Suchitoto 14 by police.
Yesterday in a press conference, Salvadoran legal and community organizations demanded that the Attorney General
and National Civilian Police begin an extensive investigation of the case, one that investigates not only the assailants but
also the intellectual authors of the assassination.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Gangs Are ‘Perfect Scapegoats’, Say Experts
For years, the authorities have blamed the country’s high levels of crime on youth gangs, which have been
the main targets of law enforcement efforts.
Drug trafficking and organised crime were hardly mentioned until last
year, when the "maras" (gangs) were accused of being "mutant monsters" that had transformed themselves into branches of these
types of criminal activity.
The police estimate that there are between 10,000 and 13,500 members of the two gangs -- which are sworn
enemies -- in El Salvador, and between 60,000 and 120,000 in the region. Some researchers regard the larger figure as an exaggeration.
Rafael Jordán joined Mara 18 when he was 15. He does not deny that the maras commit "crimes in order to
finance themselves" .... But he denies that they form "part of those organised crime groups." Jordán is now the coordinator
of the human rights unit of Homies Unidos, a non-governmental organisation which helps former gang members.
The Institute of Legal Medicine (IML) reports that only 12 percent of the murders committed in 2005
and 2006 can be attributed to the gangs and 18 percent to common criminals, while 67 percent remain unsolved, with motives
unknown.
"It’s undeniable that the gangs are an important factor in aggravating violence," but the authorities have
made them their "perfect scapegoats" by identifying them as the main culprits and overlooking the activities of organised
crime and drug traffickers, said Jeannette Aguilar, the head of the Central American University’s Institute of Public Opinion
(IUDOP-UCA), who has conducted several regional research projects on the maras.
"Countries in the region have a preeminently
authoritarian vision" of how to combat the gangs, especially the northern triangle comprising El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala,
she said.
Their assumption that "the gangs are a transnational form of organised crime, and that therefore the fight
against them must be regionalised" becomes a "simplistic vision of the phenomenon, used to criminalise poor young people and
their relatives and friends, and to consolidate police states," said Aguilar.
Thu, May 1, 2008 | link
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