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.

Tony Saca urges Salvadoran immigrants to stay in the U.S

Reported from the L.A Times Click Here

Salvadoran President Tony Saca will be traveling to the United States to urge Salvadoran immigrants there to re-register in a temporary visa program.

The Central American leader plans to visit Dallas, Houston and Los Angeles Dec. 6-9. Earlier this month, Saca visited Washington, D.C. and New York's Long Island.

During his trip, Saca will ask some 240,000 Salvadorans to stay in the visa program created to help El Salvador after two deadly earthquakes in 2001. The U.S. government extended the program in September.

Salvadoran immigrants have until Dec. 30 to sign up for the extension, which allows them to stay in the United States until September 2010.

Some 2.5 million Salvadorans live in the United States and sent home a record $3.7 billion in 2007.

-- Deborah Bonello in Mexico City

Central American crime is our problem

I found this article on a respected website into the issues of crime in El Salvador. It suggest that as the increase in crime in el Salvador directly effects the us and that the first problem for President elect Barak Obama is to figure out away to stop the influx of new immigrants into the path of gangs and extortion. Yet how can the US help stop this influx when we were the ones that shipped criminals back to el Salvador with nothing to go back to. SO the social nor would be to stick with what you know and these people that were sent back knew Gangs offered a family structure to take care of their own. I wonder what other policies Barack might handle in his new administration that seem to have no answer

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador – One of the first issues President-elect Barack Obama's transition team will look into when it starts mapping its Latin America policy: the wave of crime that is rocking much of the region and that is increasingly spreading into major U.S. cities.

According to a new study by U.N. Development Program economist Carlos Acevedo, Central America has the world's highest regional homicide rates, and several Caribbean and South American countries are not far behind.

El Salvador's homicide rate of 68 killings a year per 100,000 inhabitants – the world's highest, after Iraq – is followed within the region by Guatemala, with 45 homicides; Colombia and Honduras with 43; and Venezuela with 41. By comparison, the U.S. homicide rate is 5.7, the study says.

And from what I heard from international experts and government officials during a recent visit, a major increase in the number of U.S. deportations of undocumented migrants with criminal records is swelling the ranks of the unemployed in Central America and further driving up crime rates.

"A friend of mine was robbed at gunpoint on a bus three times within one week," Mr. Acevedo told me. "I've been luckier: I have only been robbed once, also at gunpoint, when I stopped my car at a red light."

I asked several law enforcement experts here what the Obama administration should do. Most agreed that Central America is getting too little of the $400 million Merída Initiative U.S. aid package to help combat violence in Mexico and Central America. They also complained that most of the U.S. aid is focused on anti-drug equipment rather than on crime prevention.

It's time to step up transnational anti-gang efforts, take stronger actions to prevent U.S. arms trafficking and change the focus of U.S. anti-crime measures toward more education and crime prevention programs.

Increasingly, crime in Central America has become far more than a local issue. Increasingly, it's a U.S. problem.

for origianl article please referance fromthe dallas morning star http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/opinion/viewpoints/stories/DN-oppenheimer_24edi.State.Edition1.1acb7d5.html

New President

Well.. it is finally completed the US has finally elected the new president of the united states Barack Obama...

Is this a good thing for El Salvador..?

Maybe not I guess it depends on the elections coming up in April on how the country of El Salvador will fair against its new more liberal neighbors to the north..

The FMLN party of El Salvador has a lot of things in common with Barrack Obamas political views.. which will hopefully help El salvador..

Funes congratulates Obama .. Following the victory of Barack Obama in the election for president of the United States, Mauricio Funes issued a statement congratulating the president-elect. "These winds of change have begun to blow from the United States to refresh the global atmosphere, in need of more democracy and greater social justice. The Americans have not been afraid to choose change, as they have staked out the future and not the immobility of the past," said Funes.

Both countrys need the have that feeling of change available to them..but .. the majority of El Salvadoren feel that a Obama win will have a tremendouse effect on there country in a positive way i gues we will just have to hold out and see what develops... keep an eye out its going to be an interesting ride .. for more information on the new presidents policys on latin america read it here http://justf.org/node/264