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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
Friday, April 11, 2008
Santisima Trinidad Video
The link will take you to a video of the visit to Santisima Trinidad on February 17, 2008.
I had to cut 40% of the scenes to meet You Tube's limit on playing time. I also uploaded a lower resolution version
to save upload time. I can make the high resolution version of the video available for anyone on DVD soon.
(Please excuse the 'artistic license' with the translations. I wanted the idea not the
exact words.)
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Alas....
Jet Blue, and perhaps other airlines, have some of their plane maintenance performed
in Ilopango, El Salvador. This brings a number of high paying jobs to El Salvador.
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Southwest Shelves Plan To Outsource Maintenance To El Salvador April 03, 2008: 09:21 AM EST
DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) said Thursday it has stopped plans to outsource
certain aircraft maintenance work to Aeroman, an El Salvador vendor.
In a statement to be read before the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee later this morning,
the Dallas-based airline said the decision was based on the heightened scrutiny following the discovery
last month of fuselage cracks in several of its Boeing 737s, and not because of doubts over Aeroman's professionalism.
Nonetheless, the move is a victory for union groups long distraught that airlines have been moving more of
their maintenance operations overseas, saying the policy means fewer American jobs and less Federal Aviation Administration
oversight.
Saturday, April 5, 2008
El Salvador Continues to Develop
The very first residential mortgage backed securitization (RMBS) ever completed for the capital markets
originated from El Salvador has been rated AA+ by Fitch (a rating service). These are clearly middle class mortgages
with an average value of about $20,000.
Saturday, March 22, 2008
The View from Rome
(From Zenit.org) Archbishop Romero's Beatification Cause Stalled
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, MARCH 20, 2008 (Zenit.org).- As the 28th anniversary of the assassination of San Salvador's archbishop nears, the prelate's cause of beatification
still needs more time.
Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero of San Salvador was assassinated March 24, 1980, when celebrating
Mass. He was a staunch critic of the El Salvadorian government and defender of the poor.
The adjunct postulator of
the cause of beatification and the vicar general of the Archdiocese of San Salvador, Monsignor Jesús Delgado, told a Latin
American communications service that a Vatican panel is examining "the social doctrine of the Church in the homilies and writings
of Archbishop Romero."
Monsignor Delgado explained to the Organización Católica Latinoamericana de Comunicación (Latin
American Catholic Organization of Communication) that a Latin American cardinal proposed delaying the prelate's beatification
cause to "give a little more time to the process, because in El Salvador, sentiments are still very conflicting."
According
to the monsignor, there are in El Salvador "two groups: those who are for Archbishop Romero, and sometimes take him as their
flag for a political fight; and those who are against him and would like him totally dead, even in the memory of history."
The monsignor explained the cardinal's point of view that it would not be good to canonize "a saint who would result in reinforcing
disunity and conflict."
Many in El Salvador will celebrate the 28th anniversary of the prelate's assassination with
a series of conferences and other activities from March 24 to 29. The events are organized by the Romero Foundation, led by
Monsignor Ricardo Urioste and an ad-hoc committee recognized by El Salvador's episcopal conference.
Benedict XVI recalled
Archbishop Romero in his Feb. 28 address to El Salvador's new ambassador to the Holy See, referring to him as one of the "pastors full of love for God"
who has helped to root the Gospel in the Central American nation, "bringing abundant fruits of Christian life and holiness."
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Airline Maintenance in El Salvador
In the wake of their recent maintenance troubles, Southwest Airlines has backed off their plan to outsource
some of their maintenance work to El Salvador. America West and Jet Blue are already sending their planes to El Salvador.
The FAA has never found a significant problem with this outsourcing but the unions in the USA and some others are concerned.
Polls Cover Salvadoran Presidential Race
The election of the national legislature is scheduled for January 18, 2009, and the presidential election
on March 15, 2009. Angus Reid (http://www.angus-reid.com/) has been reporting on polling in El Salvador for the last seven months. The most recent poll shows the FMLN candidate,
Mauricio Funes, well in the lead with 44% vs. the just named ARENA candidate, Rodrigo Ávila, who is at 23%. As recently
as February ARENA led FMLN, 30% to 24%.
Thursday, March 13, 2008
From Tim's El Salvador Blog
More than 20,000 Salvadoran were
deported from the US
back to El Salvador during 2007. That
means one out of every 300 persons in El Salvador
right now arrived courtesy of US immigration authorities in the past 12 months.
Joe DeRaymond, an activist currently
working in El Salvador, wrote to describe
how this flow of persons from south to north has become institutionalized:
Looking north from El Salvador, one quickly realizes that there is no stopping
this tide. The latest United Nations figures indicate that 1,070 people every day are leaving El Salvador for the trip north. This human flow is not a flow that will be stopped;
it has been institutionalized and constructed into the societies of El Salvador,
and of the United States.
For example, in 2007, Salvadorans
working in the United States sent $3.695 billion back to El Salvador to family members left behind. This represents
18% of the Gross Domestic Product of El Salvador. The latest census data indicates that the population in El Salvador is about 5.6 million people, which means that almost a third of the population
is living and working in the US, given that well over 2 million are in
the US....
The trip north is made in many
ways, depending on your resources. For $10,000, one can get a custom, first class journey north, by boat or plane. For those
with no money, a very difficult train ride north, hopping freight trains through Mexico is a commonly used route. An often cited fee for an overland trip north
with a guide, called a coyote, is $6,500. What these numbers mean is that every day, millions of dollars are spent on human
traficking, on the monetization of migration from a weak, dominated economy to the largest consumer economy in the world.
And economically, El Salvador is hurting. Bean prices have gone from $.60 a
pound in June of 2007 to $1.15 a pound throughout the country and as much as $1.25 a pound in the eastern part of the country.
Bread and milk prices are rising rapidly; gasoline is at least $3.60 a gallon. There is high unemployment, and the jobs available
do not pay enough to justify the work. The minimum wage in the countryside is $85 a month; in the city, $174 a month. If a
family is not receiving remittances from a family member working in the US,
it is very poor.
Testimony of a University Student
What I heard at dinner on the first night of spring break was hard to believe. A group of seven other Georgetown
students, two leaders from Campus Ministry and I spent the break in El Salvador as part of the “Magis Immersion and Justice
Program,” and to kick off our trip we went to a small restaurant with our guide and bus driver. I was practicing my Spanish
and chatting with our driver, Santos, about how much I was looking forward to the week. It was Santos’ response that took
me by surprise. Rather than returning my excitement or laughing along with me, he became very solemn and told me this would
be one of the most important weeks of my life. He told me that our group would be learning and seeing so much during our time
there that our lives would be changed afterward. I found Santos’ statement touching, but couldn’t help but think he was being
a little dramatic. I knew I would be exposed to different lifestyles and challenges during the trip, but it seemed unlikely
that one week could change my life.http://www.georgetownvoice.com/2008-03-13/voices/the-el-salvador-experience
Sunday, March 9, 2008
Gangs in El Salvador
Interesting article from Al Jazeera on the gangs and work that is being done to help young people.
Saturday, March 8, 2008
El Salvador's ratings are supported by a stable monetary and economic environment
(From Fitch Ratings) El Salvador's ratings are supported by a stable monetary and economic environment,
a good record on structural reforms (including the implementation of DR-CAFTA), a manageable public-sector debt burden, and
stronger governance indicators than its rating peers.
El Salvador's ratings are constrained by relatively modest growth rates compared to the 'BB' median, structural
weaknesses in public finances, especially the low revenue base, as well as weak social indicators and high crime rates, which
detract from sustained investment and growth.
Fitch notes the continuation of positive trends observed in the last review, including a second consecutive
year of higher GDP growth and reduced potential for contingent liabilities due to greater foreign participation in the banking
system. Meanwhile, high oil prices, slowing U.S. growth (which could weaken demand for El Salvador's exports and dampen remittance
inflows), and increased political uncertainty represent El Salvador's primary near-term challenges.
"Higher growth remains critical for El Salvador's dollarized economy to keep public debt dynamics on a downward
trajectory, as well as to improve social conditions and increase per capita income," said Casey Reckman, Associate Director
in Fitch's Sovereign Group.
Sustained consumption and investment drove 4.7% real GDP growth in 2007 and Fitch expects growth of 4% over
the forecast horizon led by the agriculture, tourism, manufacturing, and services sectors. A sharper than expected US slowdown
combined with the higher uncertainty related to El Salvador's political cycle could increase downside risks to growth forecasts.
http://www.centredaily.com/business/story/453020.html
http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2008/03/04/afx4725680.html
Saturday, March 1, 2008
Ruling ARENA Holds Early Lead
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - The undefined candidate of El Salvador’s governing conservatives holds a slight
edge in the early stages of the country’s presidential race, according to a poll by Consulta Mitofsky released by TCS. 29.8
per cent of respondents would vote for the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) nominee in the next election, up 1.9 points
since November.
A candidate representing the opposition leftist Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) would be
second with 24.3 per cent. More than two-in-five respondents remain undecided.
Antonio Saca, a media businessman, was elected in March 2004 as the ARENA candidate, garnering 57.73 per cent
of the vote. ARENA candidates have won the last four presidential elections in the Central American country. Saca is ineligible
for a consecutive term in office.
Earlier this month, FMLN presidential candidate Mauricio Funes—a television journalist—alleged that he is
the victim of political persecution, declaring, "I’ve been on tour for four months along the country’s municipalities, and
what we have noticed is that, over the past few weeks, pick-up trucks with tinted windows have been following us."
In November 2007, Saca announced that ARENA would choose its next presidential nominee by holding a three-candidate
nationwide primary before March 2008. Yesterday, ARENA revealed the names of the three contenders: former National Police
chief Rodrigo Ávila, current vice-president Ana Vilma de Escobar, and former presidential advisor Luis Mario Rodríguez.
New Videos from February Pilgrimage
I've got about three hours of video to edit. The original footage of two clips has been loaded into
You Tube. Unfortunately some of the resolution is lost. More later.
Go to:
and
Friday, January 18, 2008
Breast Cancer in Latin America
An article in e-newsletter of El Hospital recounts the 22% increase in the number of cases of breast cancer and a 38% increase in the number of deaths in Mexico over
the past ten years. Breast cancer is the leading cause of death from cancer for women over 25 years old. Unlike
the USA, where women over 60 are most frequently diagnosed with breast cancer, in Mexico younger women are affected.
Women between 45 and 54 are more likely to present than older women.
The federal government has been promoting mammograms since 2002. Eighty digital mammography machines were
purchased in 2003. Whether the increase in numbers result from a greater incidence or more testing is not known.
An article in the Salvadoran newspaper La Prensa Gráfica on October 31 reported a similar increase in breast cancer in El Salvador. In El Salvador, however, there are not eighty
new digital mammography machine but only three at the public hospitals. Salvadorans who are not eligible for
the Social Security hospitals and can not pay for private hospitals must go to the public hospitals. There are 630,000
women over 40 (the at risk group) who are relegated to these facilities. These three machines can in no way handle mammograms
for more than 600 thousand women.
In some cases women have to pay for their own chemotherapy drugs becasue the public hopitals do not have
the budget. The poor continue to suffer unequally.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Twenty-two Prisoners Begin University Studies
The Director General of Prisons in El Salvador has told La Prensa Grafica that twenty-two prisoners completed
their high school education while incarcerated last year and have now embarked on university studies -- still in prison.
These new university students were among 258 new high school graduates. The new school year has just begun in El Salvador
and there are 6,323 enrolled in school just like those on the outside. Classes from primary though high school are available.
Monday, January 7, 2008
Church Stands with Immigrants of All Statuses
[Episcopal Life] As immigration reform eludes Congress and as resentment, hate speech and anger about the
issue build across the United States, leaders of the Episcopal Church are calling church members to stand with the suffering.
Undocumented
immigrants, disparaged as "illegal aliens" by some who want them out of this country -- and out of its schools, hospitals
and jobs -- present a moral dilemma for dioceses and ministries in every state. Raids at workplaces, and the arrests, detentions
and deportations that follow, devastate families and divide communities.
Employers who need workers find themselves
pitted against taxpayers who resent increasing costs of social services. This nation of immigrants, once proud to be a "melting
pot," now builds prisons and detention centers one after another to remove those it sees as a threat. "Hospitality is becoming
an endangered trait at the official level," laments Richard Parkins, director of Episcopal Migration Ministries. "We are developing
a culture of fear and suspicion. It permeates the community...and we begin to close our doors.
Sunday, January 6, 2008
IT IS COLD!
Many of us think of El Salvador as a warm (or hot) tropical country. It is true that nearer the ocean
it is almost always in the 80's or 90's in the daytime. Recently, however, a cold front blasted through the country;
3,000 homes were damaged by the winds and one woman was killed. Below is a picture from yesterday of boys huddled against
the 37 degree night in the mountains.
Monday, December 31, 2007
Hassles Getting to Rose Bowl Parade
(LA Times) A five-day trek from El Salvador to Pasadena was not supposed to be part of the Rose Parade route
for the 230-member youth marching band Nuestros Ángeles de El Salvador.
But plane tickets were out of the question
after a big chunk of the band's funding fell through just weeks before the parade.
What followed was an odyssey by bus that included thousands of miles on the road, plus two excruciating
days in limbo on the border of Guatemala and Mexico.
But they made it, rolling into town Sunday only hours before their
slot at Bandfest, the annual showcase of Rose Parade bands held at Pasadena City College this weekend. Organizers said the
show drew more than 5,000 people.
"Uno, dos, tres -- brinca!" band members cried during the Salvadoran
song "La Bala": "One, two, three -- jump!"
Saul Perez, one of the band's directors, said it would have been a crushing
defeat if the group had not made it to Pasadena. The youth members practiced for more than a year, went through a rigorous
selection process and were poised to represent their country on the world's stage at Tuesday's parade.
But problems
began when 30 members of the group could not even begin the journey because they didn't receive visas. Then the band canceled
their flights because their budget was still short $200,000. They set out instead in a caravan of five buses on Christmas
Day. "When we left, we thought the trip would take three days," Perez said. "It was a tale of many difficulties."
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