A Little Salvadoran History and Current Salvadoran Politics

In 1979, five Communist leaders from El Salvador flew in secret to Fidel Castro's Cuba, where they sat down in olive combat fatigues to negotiate the formation of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), a paramilitary organisation dedicated to overthrowing the military junta in their homeland.

Little did the idealistic rebels realise, as they smoked cigars and performed perfunctory salutes, that they were pushing the button on a bloody civil war that would last 13 years, kill 75,000, including 35,000 civilians, and spawn a succession of atrocities, on both sides, that were unprecedented even by the standards of Latin America's murderous history.

Today, watching members of the same FMLN, which has now renounced the gun and become El Salvador's second biggest political party, gather beneath a tattered portrait of Che Guevara in the party's regional headquarters in the small town of Usulutan, two hours' drive east of San Salvador, you could be forgiven for wondering if the Cold War ever actually ended.

They wear red T-shirts and call each other "comrade". Some discuss land reform; others talk re-distribution of wealth. Many sport "Che Vive!" bracelets and Guevara-style berets. Most members of the party's regional council are veterans of the armed struggle who can still, if they so desire, insist on being addressed as "Commandant".

Yet these radicals are on the brink of power. Next month El Salvador goes to the polls to elect a new parliament. Two months later, it will elect a new president. Every indication is that El Frente (the Front), as the FMLN is widely known, will achieve the first victory in its history, propelling its charismatic candidate Mauricio Funes, a 49-year-old television presenter, into the presidential palace in San Salvador.

Recent polls put Mr Funes between 6 and 15 points clear of his rival Rodrigo Avila, an uninspiring former police chief representing the Arena party. Voters seem hungry for change, and after two decades of economic liberalisation, are swinging en masse behind Mr Funes.
On the face of it, an FMLN victory would represent the stuff of nightmares for the US: it would be yet another socialist triumph in a region that has in recent years seen the election of Venezuela's Hugo Chavez, Nicaragua's Daniel Ortega, and Bolivia's Evo Morales.

But Mauricio Funes doesn't sit neatly in the category of left-wing firebrand. A Hispanic version of David Frost, he hosts a long-running morning chat show, and came to politics after growing increasingly critical of Arena, a party that was formed by army generals during the civil war, and has been in power since El Salvador's peace accords were signed in 1992. Mr Funes only joined the FMLN a few months ago, just before his presidential bid was announced. He preaches pragmatic democracy and responsible capitalism, and stands out at the party's campaign rallies like a sore thumb, in a well-cut suit and tie that provides a stark contrast to the Soviet-era combat uniforms that every other FMLN leader in history has chosen.

Crucially, unlike all of his predecessors, the Funes CV is untarnished by Communism. He never fought in the guerrilla war, but instead styles himself a creature of the centre-left with an Obama-style campaign slogan: "Nace la Esperanza, Viene el Cambio!" (Hope is born. Change is coming!)

El Salvador certainly needs change. A small, but crowded nation, it feels hopelessly divided. The capital, full of neon lights and small skyscrapers, resembles any other prosperous city where international corporations employ a growing middle class. But a short drive into the country, most rural communities are hopelessly impoverished, with millions living in mud shacks, down potholed dirt tracks, on a few dollars a day.

Mr Funes can take the rural poor's support for granted, but he is hoping to ride to power on the coat-tails of El Salvador's middle class. By pulling the FMLN subtly rightwards, and toning down the communist rhetoric, he seems to be succeeding.

Today, the party's distinctive red flag dominates the skyline above gritty urban barrios and rural towns, just as it always has done. But it also flutters in prosperous districts of San Salvador, where affluent professionals have been comforted by Mr Funes's promise to heal social divides that have led to rampant crime.

Aristides Valencia, the FMLN's regional leader in Usulutan, sums up the party's potential divide well. A former guerrilla leader, he has reluctantly decided to swap military fatigues for chinos and T-shirts for the duration of the campaign. But his rhetoric harks back to the old era. He explains that his priorities, should he be elected to office next month, as making sure that a constitutional amendment saying that no Salvadoran may own more than 245 hectares of land is rigidly enforced.

He promises to make sure that local peasant farmers, who produce the coffee and sugar that (aside from manual labour) make up the nation's biggest exports, are allowed to register legal claims to ownership of the fields where they work.

"The armed struggle is in the past, though," he adds. "The concept of Communism versus socialism, versus capitalism, belongs to another era. In a real democracy, in the democracy we are fighting to create, many points of view can be held together. People change, parties change."
El Salvador: Facts and figures

*One of Central America's smallest and most densely populated countries, with close to 7 million inhabitants, although 2 million Salvadorans live abroad.

*El Salvador's rich, volcanic soil is highly fertile, but a few rich landowners control a peasant population.

*The civil war, which ended in 1992, killed 70,000 people. Many citizens fled to the US.

*The capital, San Salvador, is infamous for its gang violence, with one of the highest murder
rates in the world. The two major gangs are Mara 18 and Mara Salvatrucha.

*El Salvador lies on a geological faultline which makes it vulnerable to earthquakes and volcanic activity. An earthquake in 2001 caused landslides, killing more than 800 people and damaging 130,000 homes.

*El Salvador, Spanish for "the saviour", dropped its own currency, the colon, in 2001 for the US dollar.

Marshall professor authors “The History of El Salvador”

This is a series of books that have been written about latin america since earlu 1998 I wncourage anyone interested in the history of latin america to take a look at this indepth study of some facinateing cultures and history.

HUNTINGTON — Dr. Christopher M. White, an assistant professor of Latin American history at Marshall University, has written a book titled “The History of El Salvador.” It was published as part of the Greenwood Histories of the Modern Nations series.More than 40 volumes of this series, which was launched in 1998, have been published.

The series is intended to provide students and interested lay people with up-to-date, concise and analytical histories of many of the nations of the contemporary world.For each nation, an author who was recognized as a specialist in the history of that nation was selected to write the book, according to series editors Frank W. Thackeray and John E. Findling.At Marshall, White teaches courses on Latin America, the developing world, and U.S. foreign relations. He also is the author of “Creating a Third World: Mexico, Cuba, and the United States during the Castro Era,” published in 2007.“

I jumped at the chance to write the book because I have had a special place in my heart for the Salvadoran people ever since I made friends with Salvadoran refugees 17 years ago,” White said.

“This is primarily a book for American students because, among other reasons, the U.S. government supplied more military aid to the Salvadoran military than to any other Latin American military until then (1980s), and the result was at least 70,000 murdered civilians.”

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

just want to wish everyone a merry christmas... and have a wonderful new year with all your wishes comeing true.. HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!!!

Church Volunteers Stricken With Lung Ailment

This group of notable volunteers went to El Salvador on a recent missions trip and were building ne facilities for people in El Salvador. They picked up a air born fungus that is usually left by bat droppings. It is always good in any situation or country to protect ones self from possible infections. So if you go to volunteer in any country even the US make sure to take care the proper protections so you don’t get hurt or sick.. an article with good advice though I would share.

For Original Article Click Here

Twenty Americans who traveled to El Salvador earlier this year to rebuild a church returned with serious cases of histoplasmosis, a lung disease caused by an airborne fungus, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported.

More than half of the 33 church volunteers from Pennsylvania and Virginia got sick, including six who had to be hospitalized, according to the current issue of the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The volunteers traveled in separate groups but worked at the same church last January and February.

“They were a healthy group, so this was a bit surprising,” said Dr. Katie Kurkjian, an epidemic intelligence services officer with the Virginia Department of Health who wrote the report. “That suggests there was a high level of exposure.”

The fungus that causes histoplasmosis grows in soil contaminated with bird or bat droppings. The spores become airborne when the soil is disturbed.

The volunteers may have kicked up the spores as they cleaned indoor and outdoor renovation sites, built rooms, installed plumbing and electricity and excavated a septic tank.

“People who are working in these types of environments should wear personal protective equipment like respirators and disposable booties over their shoes,” Dr. Kurkjian said, adding they may want to spray soil gently with water to reduce dust if they’re doing any digging.

Histoplasmosis is endemic in the Midwestern United States, Mexico, Central and South America, parts of eastern and southern Europe, parts of Africa, and in eastern Asia and Australia.

Tims El Salvador Blog has recently posted a interesting article on Armed mobs that may or may not be forming for the FMLN. most likely a politicle stunt performed by the Arena Group. This problem has had some people changeing there minds.. we will have to see how this is played out and until then wonder on the impact of the situation.

Quote from Tims Blog HERE

The article quoted government officials asserting that there were 40 armed groups in the areas which were controlled by the FMLN during the civil war. It asserted that the armed groups were being trained to use AK-47s and other weapons. The article included photos which appear to show a uniformed group of approximately 15 uniformed individuals, holding weapons in formation before a platform where FMLN officials sat. The paper stated that the picture was taken on October 25 in El Paisnal.

Honduran gang leader arrested in El Salvador

This goes to show that the Mara gangs that are in El Salvador are not just there this problem stretches all around El Salvador. To Honduras, Guatemala, Panama, Mexico ect.. This has become an international effort with many countries involved to help reduce and educate the local population that gangs are not the only choice they have. That a world of possibilities exists outside of the gangs that are recruiting The people need to stand up and say enough is enough. When that happens people will quit living in fear.


A Honduran official says one of the country's most dangerous gang leaders has been arrested in neighboring El Salvador.
Security Vice Minister Mario Perdomo says Jose Reyes is wanted in 13 killings, including the slaying of the leader of the Honduras' largest workers federation.

Altagracia Fuentes was shot to death in April along a road on Honduras' Atlantic coast. She was the secretary of Honduras' Workers Federation, which has some 300,000 members.

Perdomo said on Tuesday that Reyes is a leader of the Mara 18 gang.

He said Reyes was arrested on Saturday at a luxurious house in the city of Santa Tecla, in central El Salvador.

Original article Here

Local volunteers to observe elections in El Salvador

With the fear that it is a stolen election filled with decite and lies at least there are some people willing to stick there necks out to focus on what they can to make sure that the elections in there localities are fair to the best of there knowledge..

A small group of Halifax volunteers are heading to El Salvador next month to help observe the municipal elections. They will return for the presidential elections next March.

The Halifax Observers Project: El Salvador (HOPES) feels that being part of an international presence will help ensure that the country’s elections remain democratic.

Dr. Timothy Bood is one of six volunteers headed to San Salvador, the capital city, in January. HOPES was invited to observe the elections by the popular FMLN party. Bood says many Salvadorians see the coming elections as an opportunity for change.

“There’s a good chance that there’ll be a real choice for the people of El Salvador and a party that is very much interested in improving the health care — dedicated to the welfare of the people who are living in poverty — has a chance to win,” Bood said. “But there’s also a great fear that the election will be stolen.”

El Salvador has only been a democratic country since a 1992 peace accord ended a civil war that killed 90,000 people over 12 years. Around 80 per cent of these were civilian deaths.

El Salvador Coffee

Its that tme a year again to get our hands on the newest Cofee from the recent harvest in san salvador.. I my self am committed to by at least two bags but only becuase i love to roast my own coffee.. but if you do not like to roast you can also buy pre made cofee from Here or to help support el salvadors coffee market make sure to stop by a local store and purchase a pound it will help with exports that truly need a hand and also you get a great cup of coffee... !!

El Salvadoran coffee exports in November, the second month of the new 2008-09 crop cycle, fell 4.8% to 22,386 bags of 60 kilograms each, the Salvadoran Coffee Council said Thursday.
This compares with total Salvadoran coffee exports of 23,522 bags shipped in November last year during the 2007-08 crop cycle (October-September), the council said in its latest monthly report for the new harvest year.

Total coffee exports from El Salvador from the beginning of the 2008-09 crop year Oct.1 through Nov. 30, meanwhile, declined 17% to 51,386 bags, compared to shipments of 61,833 bags in the first two months of the 2007-08 cycle, the council said.

Physical harvesting of El Salvador's 2008-09 harvest recently started in the medium altitudes, but has yet to start in earnest in most of the country's key producing high-altitude areas later this month.

Coffee from the new harvest, however, normally doesn't start reaching the market until early December and exports shipped in the first few months of the new cycle traditionally consist almost exclusively of old-crop beans.

El Salvadoran coffee exports in the last 2007-08 crop cycle ended at 1,464,288 bags, up 20% from 1,220,137 bags in the 2006-07 cycle and in line with forecasts for exports to reach close to 1.5 million bags, the council said last month.

El Salvador’s New Left

Has the new revolution finally come to el salvador with away to continue the support for the governemtn and work for the people at the same time. To change current policys towards a better el salvador for everyone.. ?

Ex-combatant communities: the FMLN’s voto duro

One voting bloc that doesn't want El Salvador's FMLN party to become political pragmatists is the ex-combatant community that spent much of the war in exile.

This group—the party's base—is known as the "voto duro" (or hard vote), and they received appropriated land from the government after the 1992 peace accords. For its members, a victory by the FMLN would help heal wounds inflicted by government repression, burned villages, and murdered family members. It would also mandate a path toward socialism.
The community of Ciudad Romero—in the Bajo Lempa region of Usulután province, where the Rio Lempa empties into the Pacific Ocean—was born from the war's ashes. It was named after El Salvador's martyred Archbishop Oscar Romero, who was murdered by a military assassin on March 24, 1980, for condemning the government's repression of the peasantry.

"Romero denounced everything we wanted to denounce but couldn't," says José Nohé Reyes Granados, 30, who is writing a book about his community's journey. "He was the voice for those without a voice. ... When they killed him, we realized that talking was futile. They killed the archbishop ... who could speak now? The only path was armed resistance."

Two months later, the military attacked the village where Reyes and his family lived in La Union—a province in eastern El Salvador—because many in the community were suspected of being active in the guerrilla movement. Some 600 villagers fled across the Lempa River to neighboring Honduras—under the cover of night because an equally repressive Honduran military was guarding the border.

The Organization of American States learned of the refugees' plight and gave them food and shelter for six months in Honduras, until the Panamanian government agreed to shelter them—under the condition that the Salvadorans would help clear roads through the thick jungle, from Panama City to the Atlantic Ocean.

But when Panama's leftist President Omar Torrijos was assassinated a year later, the Salvadorans found themselves politically isolated. They built a village deep in the jungle that they named Ciudad Romero, or Romero City. There, community members built homes and a church, in which they painted a mural of their beloved archbishop. They were able to pick up a radio signal from the FMLN rebels, which allowed them to follow events back home, as they lived in exile for a decade.

In November 1989, the FMLN launched a successful offensive in both San Salvador and in the countryside, proving to the military regime that it had the popular support to continue its resistance indefinitely. The offensive, coupled with the military's massacre of six Jesuit priests at the University of Central America, forced the government to negotiate with the FMLN.
The refugees took down the church wall, piece-by-piece, and returned to El Salvador with the mural in tow. The government granted land in Bajo Lempa to the approximately 220 families that represented Ciudad Romero, and there they arrived in March 1991 to build another community from scratch.

Approximately 1,000 people live today in Ciudad Romero, which operates under the umbrella of the Associacion Mangle, a nonprofit rural development organization that works with 70 communities to facilitate public projects, such as building homes or protecting the nearby endangered mangrove forests. The association also operates Radio Mangle, a radio station in nearby San Nicolas that broadcasts music, news and cultural programming.

Other communities in the Associacion Mangle share similarly dramatic war stories. The residents of San Hilario and Amando Lopez were originally from Morazán and La Union, provinces in eastern El Salvador where the guerrilla was based, because of their remoteness and access to the Honduran and Nicaraguan borders. Most joined the rebels or were active in the resistance. Like Ciudad Romero, many had to leave the country when the military arrived in their villages.

San Hilario resident Arnoldo Ortiz, who joined the guerrilla at age 14 in 1980, never thought he'd survive the war—and see the other side. "The transition from armed conflict to peace has been difficult because I grew up with the war," he says. "We arrived from a process where we didn't know much about civilian life. We had no idea about houses, land or economics.
"What we learned during the war was to live together like brothers. As combatants, we shared everything to survive... whether it was a tortilla, a cookie or a cigar."

Mariela Luciña Hernandez, 45, of Amando Lopez—a community named after one of the Jesuit priests the military murdered in 1989—was a doctor with the rebels. The military captured and tortured her in 1981, and she later escaped to Nicaragua.

Today, Hernandez directs an association of community women and works with war veterans. She says the most important thing she and her compañeros learned during that time is how to organize and work together.

"We work to organize on a local level for the party, to advance the cause through the community, through Radio Mangle," she says. "If we can plant corn, and harvest all the seeds we plant, the FMLN can buy them and feed the people. The country has to change, bit by bit."
In a striking turn of the political tide, Ciudad Romero's neighbors in Nuevo Amanecer now join them in wearing the red shirts of the FMLN. The military granted land to ex-soldiers, who named their community Nuevo Amanecer ("a new dawn"), and they have remained faithful to the ARENA-government, until little by little, Reyes says, they realized that ARENA was doing little to help their community. For 20 years, they've struggled with limited water access and agricultural projects.

In the 20 years of ARENA rule, El Salvador has suffered from neoliberal economic reforms that privatized social services and destroyed jobs, primarily in the agriculture sector. Paul D. Almeida, a professor of business at Georgetown University, writes in his 2006 book, Waves of Protest: Popular Struggle in El Salvador, 1925-2005, that the post-war generation of Salvadoran dissidents has fought not for land or to overthrow the government, but to oppose the privatization of key human needs like healthcare, education and water access. In return for the hundreds of millions of dollars the United States sent to the Salvadoran government during the war, Washington insisted on planting the seeds to liberalize the post-war economy.

The repression has continued. In July 2007, the Salvadoran police arrested 14 rural activists in the town of Suchitoto, who were protesting water privatization. They were tried under the government’s “Special Law Against Acts of Terrorism,” which was modeled after the U.S. Patriot Act.

Julia Evelyn Martinez, a progressive economist at the University of Central America, says that the privatization of social services, El Salvador’s adoption of the U.S. dollar in 2001, and free-trade agreements — such as the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) — have placed the country at the mercy of foreign corporations and made it too dependent on imports.
Remittances from Salvadorans living in the United States — which represent an astounding 20 percent of the country’s gross domestic product — are keeping the economy afloat, and as many as one-third of all Salvadorans live abroad.

Meanwhile, food and fuel prices have skyrocketed in El Salvador. A can of beans that cost 30 cents a couple years ago now sells for over $1. Gasoline prices topped $5 a gallon in mid-October. Those staple products cost more in El Salvador than they do in parts of the United States. An estimated 100,000 Salvadorans — approximately one out of every 60 — fell below the poverty line between September 2007 and June 2008, according to the World Food Program.

Martinez says the first thing the new government must do is to tear down all the neoliberal policies that were implemented in El Salvador since 1989. She suggests the new president and parliament put their focus on developing markets within the country: “That would stimulate businesses to produce for internal markets, and not just for certain groups of the population,” Martinez says. “Instead, all the opportunities for development are directed outside of the country, in the form of remittances, maquiladoras [that export cheap clothing] or the need for foreign investments.”

The U.N. Development Program reported recently that 62.4 percent of Salvadoran youth are underemployed — lacking work sufficient to sustain a dignified life — compared to half of the general population.

The lack of sustainable markets within El Salvador leaves many youth with two options: Scrounge up $9,000 — reportedly the going rate for a coyote to traffic a person into the United States — or join a gang.

President Bush and Tony Saca meet again

The two leaders are meeting again.. what will the accomplish or not accomplish this time around. Every time they meet there is a great initiative on the table yet nothing is ever done to promote the bettering of either country in there relationships. sorry to fume but tired of the fluff these to spew..

President Bush will welcome President Elias Antonio Saca of El Salvador to the White House on December 16, 2008. El Salvador is an important ally of the United States, and this visit underscores the deep friendship between the United States and El Salvador. The two leaders will discuss a range of issues, including their shared commitment to strengthening democracy and advancing economic development.

How is Deporting My Brother a Solution to Gang Violence?

This is a story of Frank. not unlike many brothers that are involved in Gangs and are being deported.. leaveing freinds and family behind to visit a country that they are from even if they ever have little or no knowledge of. Is this the way to solve the gang problem? read this heart wretching story and see if you feel the same way ...


Today, my step-brother Frank, 23, was deported back to El Salvador. The thing I remember most about him is seeing him laugh. He would laugh about everything, then hide his face to drown his loud mischievous laugh. Frank is about eight years older then me, but I have always been a little bit better at video games. We could play for hours, Frank and my brothers Carlos and Irvin and I.

Frank was deported after being arrested and incarcerated for armed robbery. He had shot someone, but luckily did not kill him. I was in disbelief when it happened, all I could say was: "Frank isn't that stupid." Meaning I knew he was sort of dumb, for joining a gang, carrying a gun, taking pills and drinking, but I never thought he would actually hurt someone.

Many people like to say that their relatives are innocent and that they are good people inside, well, I won't bore you with the same story. Instead, I will tell you that my brother is guilty. He was affiliated with gangs and deserves time away from society, but he was paying for his time by being locked up. His incarceration really seemed to change him for the better. But, in sending him back to El Salvador, I worry that he'll have to resort back to gang life to survive because he won't have any family or support system.

My mother and father are both immigrants to this country from El Salvador. They were dating since before they came here. My mom came over first and got a job in a restaurant near Jack London Square in Oakland, washing dishes and serving food. She then saved up enough money to bring my dad over in the 80s. They got married then divorced six years later, when I was about three years old. After that day in court, I did not see my dad for about two years. He had traveled back to El Salvador to forget his problems for a while. Meanwhile, my mom got together with my stepfather. When my father came back, he had a new wife. When my dad took my brothers and I to his house for the weekend, I was surprised to meet his new step-kids: Frank, Sulma and Mercedez. I never really resented them or my parents for the divorce. I consider them all my family, because they are as much a part of my life as I am a part of theirs. Frank was around 12 or 13 years old when he came to the U.S.

When I met my brother Frank, I was a very young, but I remember he ate a lot. One good memory I have of him is when he took my brothers and me to the theater to watch The Amityville Horror. I was so scared during the movie that I started to eat my pound of watermelon-flavored jellybeans in a rush. And I remember him telling us how he always wanted little brothers, since he only had little sisters.

I knew Frank was in a gang. He showed my brother Carlos the gun he was carrying, not to frighten him, but to prove that he was "bad," that he was "down" with gangs. I still remember that smile on his face when Carlos called him an idiot. I suppose Frank just took it as a joke. When I heard about it, I thought: "My brother is going to shoot someone, or get shot, what do I prefer?" I do not remember talking to him about gang life too much, but he did tell us how he would punch and kick rival gang members, wipe the blood off his shoes with a dirty shirt then throw it away.

I always saw gangs as people who lost their way. I was never interested in the whole idea that a gang serves as your "family." I have no need for such a family; I have always had my two older brothers, my little sister and my mother. I was not alone because I had my family, but most of all my brothers. They were people I could look up to and always did, but Frank didn't have anything like that. He had no brothers, no one he could connect to and had a lot of pressure being the oldest of the family and coming here as an immigrant. In my opinion, he did all those things that ended up getting him deported to seem brave, to seem cool for all the people in his gang. He wanted to be noticed maybe, have someone look up to him.

Even though I knew about Frank's activities, I was still shocked when he was arrested and I had a hard time imagining that he could hurt anyone.

I remember when my dad and I went to visit him in prison last summer. He was dressed in an orange uniform with a white undershirt. I remember watching him as he folded the orange shirt over and over making lines in the fabric. It was easy to tell he was scared in there – he had lost a lot of weight and had not seen outside in months. It was the first time I had visited someone in jail, and hoped it would be the last. A feeling of pain and sadness could be felt through the walls of the building. It was very depressing seeing my brother through a piece of glass. I remember being able to talk to him about a bunch of things, and mainly about girls, and we reminisced about the good old days. I heard a voice on a speaker, and I knew it was time to say goodbye until our next visit. Afterwards I talked with my dad about his experiences in jail for drinking and driving. Then he went on and on about his experiences in the military during the war in El Salvador.

I did not know exactly what to think or say when I heard my brother was going to be deported. My step mom, Lydia, was really sad about his crime but she knew he would eventually get out. My brother Irvin wrote letters to him in prison and told me that Frank had gotten very "philosophical", giving him advice about all sorts of things. I care about my brother, but he made a lot of mistakes that have caused him to be where he is today. For that very reason is why I stay away from gangs and drugs, and always will.

I miss my Frank. I miss how he was always able to say something funny to make people laugh. I am realizing how you never notice things about people until they are far away or just gone. I think it is unjust that my brother is far away from his family, without a way to get back. Lydia still has three daughters, whom she must take care of, which means she can't go to El Salvador to see him.

This Oct. 31, I - along with a big group of people - protested in front of the San Francisco ICE office, with the purpose of stopping the raids happening in Sanctuary Cities, such as San Francisco and Oakland. It was one of the first major protests I have attended and I felt proud to be out there making a stand for all immigrants who are being treated unjustly. Again, I know that Frank committed a serious crime but I believe it is unfair that my brother is being deported, because it does not solve anything, there are still gangs in El Salvador. If someone does a crime make them do their time, but do not move them far away from their families, it not only hurts them but their families as well.

The last time I talked to him on the phone, was about four days before he was deported. He sounded like the same Frank I knew. When I asked him if he was going to still be in a gang after all that happened he simply said "no." None of his gang friends visited him during the time he was in jail. One of his friends did write letters to him. All the people in his gang that were his "family" never visited him. On the other hand, his mother, sisters, my dad, my brothers and I visited him every chance we had. Now he is alone in El Salvador, because his only family is here.

Just before the call ended, the dial tone buzzed, and a woman's voice said: "This call has ended." Frank said to me: "Be safe, bro," and I said, "Yeah, you too."

Salvadoran Prisoners Escape From Jail

Have to give it to people in desperate times they can o to desperate measures to try to get away.. as of the writing of this article they are still on the loose. hopefully with the help of the national police force will come to swift justice.

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — A dozen prisoners escaped Friday from a jail in downtown El Salvador, but four were quickly recaptured. Officials were still searching for the other eight.One of the prison's guards is in custody for allegedly helping the group, top police official Cesar Flores said.

Flores said the prisoners tied their shirts together to make a rope and used that to climb to the jail's roof before dawn. They then fled by jumping to other buildings.

"Neighbors in the area called 9-1-1 to report that there were several suspects on the roofs, and we believe they were the escaped inmates," he said.The jail at the Isidro Menendez judicial center in downtown San Salvador was holding 80 inmates at the time of the escape. Most are awaiting trial.

Those who escaped were members of the violent and feared Mara Salvatrucha street gang.
Police say El Salvador has about 13,500 Mara gang members, many of whom are involved in kidnappings, extortion rings and other crimes.

original article Here

Remittance at risk for families back home?

El Salvador continues to struggle along with the US because recent remittance payments have dropped. This will become worry some for families here and there loved ones back home. as the recession takes a hold of Latin America as well and spreads.


to read original article click Here


INTIPUCA, El Salvador -- For almost two generations, residents of this rural community who emigrated to the United States have sent back tens of millions of dollars to support their families and bring prosperity to their once impoverished town.

Officials of Intipucá, 120 miles east of San Salvador, were so grateful for those remittances that they built a park to honor migrants, with a statue representing the first resident to leave for the United States back in 1967.

''Remittances have transformed Intipucá,'' said Omar Chávez, a town leader and himself the beneficiary of funds sent by his brother Pedro, who has lived in Maryland since 1979. Thanks to those remittances, the Chávez family was able to cover basic needs, like food and clothing, and educate its children.

Now, the slowdown in the growth of remittances caused by the U.S. economic crisis threatens the welfare of residents of this town of 10,000 and towns throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.

The 2008 Inter-American Development Bank survey of remittances from the United States to Latin America shows that remittances, flat for much of last year, might even begin to fall this year.

The survey added that while the total of remittances from the United States to Latin America will probably reach overall levels comparable to those of the past two years, the number of migrants sending remittances may fall by up to 25 percent during 2008, compared with 2006.
Such a slowdown ''would negatively impact the standards of living of millions of families in the region who depend on the remittances migrants send home,'' according to IDB officials.

CLOUDY OUTLOOK

In a report on the outlook of remittance flows from 2008 to 2010, the World Bank said that remittances to Latin America will remain flat next year in the best-case scenario, but that in the worst-case scenario, they will decline to $58 billion from $61 billion.

''The crisis is now in the advanced markets, and it will have an impact in the emerging markets,'' said Massimo Cirasino, a World Bank economist.

Cirasino said that all Latin American governments should be worried about a decrease in the flow of remittances, but that countries with weak economies will be more negatively affected. ''Some countries have a certain leeway,'' he said. ''In a country like Brazil, for example, there will be pressure on politicians to activate programs'' to stimulate the economy. But, he added, ''there are other countries that don't have the financial resources.'' Those countries, Cerasino said, will have to turn to the IDB or other international institutions for help.

In El Salvador, remittances account for 18 percent of the country's gross domestic product. They are the equivalent of 126 percent of El Salvador's total exports and of 242 percent of all direct foreign investment.

Last year, $70 of every $100 of El Salvador's income from abroad came from remittances, while only $5 of every $100 came from traditional agricultural exports, such as coffee and cotton. Back in 1978, $81 of every $100 of income from abroad came from agricultural exports.

Eighty percent of the remittance revenue comes from Salvadorans in the United States. The numerous roadside billboards advertising remittance-related businesses frequently feature stars and stripes or other red, white and blue themes.

WORLD AIDS DAY

The reeducation of the people needs to be the first step in the prevention of this terrible dieses along with adequate medical care for those already infected. Even a recognizition by the government of El Salvador that this is not just a one country problem but a worldwide problem. We have come so far in prevention and education yet there are those who still are not even aware of what a danger this really is. Lets all pray for education and medical improvements this worlds aids Day. The following article explains the effects on el Salvador.

SAN SALVADOR, Nov 30 (IPS) - The rise in new HIV/AIDS cases in El Salvador shows either that the government strategy to combat the epidemic is failing, or that a larger proportion of the population is being tested, depending on the respective viewpoints of non-governmental organisations and local authorities.María de la Paz was diagnosed HIV-positive in March 2004.

At first "it was very difficult; I didn’t want to accept that I had the virus. I went through a phase when I was stigmatised and discriminated against by my partner’s family, and for weeks I just wanted the earth to swallow me up." Then she found doctors who convinced her that she "was a human being, with a right to live," and helped her get over the death of her partner in 2004, from AIDS. María de la Paz is just one of thousands of Salvadorans living with HIV.

According to the health authorities, the epidemic has gained ground in 2007, after two successive years with slightly lower numbers of new infections. From January through October, 1,872 new infections were reported, an average of 6.2 new cases a day in this Central American country of seven million people, according to the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance (MSPAS). In 2006, the authorities registered 1,705 new cases, and 1,625 in 2005, down from 2,089 in 2004. Civil society organisations say the resurgence of the disease is due to the lack of comprehensive programmes to combat it. By law, the Public Health and Social Assistance Ministry (MSPAS) in El Salvador provides universal treatment for HIV/AIDS, including

antiretroviral therapy, but in fact services are mostly centralised in hospitals in the capital, and do not necessarily reach all rural areas, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

According to the MSPAS, the increase is due to a rise in the number of people taking HIV tests, which means more cases are detected. However, the health authorities themselves, international organisations and civil society groups all agree that under-reporting of HIV/AIDS infections is at least 50 percent. "Although the overall numbers are greater, we’re sure they do not reflect an increase in the epidemic, but rather a higher proportion of cases being detected," said Rodrigo Simán, the head of the National Programme of Sexually Transmitted Infections and HIV/AIDS. Dr. Jeannette Alvarado, head of the Maquilishuat Foundation (FUMA), said the epidemic was showing no signs of abating, in spite of the Salvadoran government’s commitment to the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to halt the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015.

In September 2000, the United Nations member countries pledged to achieve eight MDGs to drastically reduce extreme poverty and hunger, serious illnesses, inequality and pollution. The state anti-HIV/AIDS campaign is attempting to project the image that every effort is being made to combat the disease, but the government’s promise that "there will be no new cases by 2015 is not being fulfilled; on the contrary, new infections are increasing all the time," Alvarado told IPS. She said there were two major defects in official policies to combat the epidemic: "The lack of an educational policy for prevention, and lack of follow-up of diagnosed cases."

The Joint U.N. Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) says in its 2007 AIDS Epidemic Update report that "global HIV prevalence has levelled off, and the number of new infections has fallen," which is attributed by international experts to improvements in medication. According to the report, 2.1 million people died of AIDS this year, while 2.5 million new infections occurred, equivalent to 6,800 new cases a day. A total of 33.2 million people are currently living with HIV worldwide, it adds. Another UNAIDS report, presented in Nicaragua in early November at the Central American Congress on STI/HIV/AIDS (CONCASIDA 2007), indicated that 208,600 people are living with HIV in Central America. In El Salvador and Guatemala, 0.9 percent of the population are HIV-positive. The total number of medically confirmed HIV-positive people in El Salvador is 19,890. MSPAS records indicate that 4,754 people have died of AIDS in the last 10 years. Of those newly infected, 61 percent are men and 39 percent women.

Sixty-six percent of infections occur in people between the ages of 25 and 49. Sexual transmission remains the predominant infection route, causing 92 percent of cases, particularly heterosexual relations, which are responsible for 81 percent. Many people "lack adequate and timely medical care," the education programme coordinator for the Foundation to Prevent, Educate and Support People Living with HIV/AIDS (FUNDASIDA), Laura Valladares, told IPS. "Even the slightest increase in the number of infections should concern us," said the activist, in response to government statements that infections are not rising, but rather, more of them are being diagnosed. María de la Paz is now working for FUNDASIDA, and is receiving antiretroviral treatment. She is determined to fight for her life, and to work at "educating the general public, in order to stop the spread of AIDS," she says. (END/2007)

El Salvador To Be Seen the World Over Once Again On E!

El Salvador is going to be Featured on E! TV entertainment news in a E! SPECIAL EL SALVADOR! IMPRESIONANTE! This will give El Salvador some much needed publicity and some needed new that it really is a beautiful and wonderful place to live and visit.. I encourage everyone to pass this article along so that a many of your friends and neighbors can watch this program on some of the spectacular destinations El Salvador has to offer..


SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador, Nov 28, 2008 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- For the second consecutive year, El Salvador will make known its tourist options through Sony Pictures, in a simultaneous world-level broadcast of the E! SPECIAL EL SALVADOR !IMPRESIONANTE! program.

The presence of the team from the US firm was once again achieved through the promotional work carried out at international level by the Salvadorean Ministry of Tourism and the Salvadorean Tourism Corporation (CORSATUR). The purpose of this work is to persuade the entire world on the outstanding attractions offered by El Salvador.

Due to last year's success of the E! Special El Salvador Impresionante program, the international firm decided to include it in this year's special programming. For this purpose, the Salvadorean Ministry of Tourism and CORSATUR have invested a total of USD 80,000 to promote the nation abroad through this special television show.

E! Entertainment Television will air the most splendid Salvadorean landscapes, in Spanish for Latin American viewers and in English for the rest of the world.

Argentine model Carola Kirby arrived in San Salvador in August with several company members to work on video takes and presentation issues.

Miss Kirby flew by helicopter over El Salvador's famous beaches. Some of the tourist attractions covered include rafting on the Lempa River, sports fishing at Costa del Sol, scuba diving in Lake Ilopango, surfing, and night-life events. "Through this worldwide program, we share the same playing grounds withthe most popular and solid tourist destinations in the world, which
allows us to appear before foreign tourists as an attractive and strong option in Central America." Ruben Rochi Minister of Tourism of El Salvador

Original Article Posted Here