Homicide rate significantly up from 2008

The online periodical Contra Punto reports the latest homicide statistics for the first 7 months of 2009 and they are troubling. Murders are up 37% in El Salvador for the first seven months of 2009 compared with the same period in 2008. So far in 2009, there have been 2428 violent deaths, compared to 1767 in 2008. These statistics come from the Attorney General's office who asserts that the majority of these murders are gang-related.

This senseless violence bringing grief to so many Salvadoran families has to stop. But no one seems able to implement a solution.

The case of the El Chaparral dam

Another water issue which could be characterized as the environment versus development, or rich versus poor, or powerful versus powerless, or progress versus obstruction is the construction of the El Chapparal dam on the Torola river in northern El Salvador. Local communities who face displacement are trying to stop the construction of the hydroelectric dam which is already underway.

The blog at Voices on the Border provides a description of the project:

Despite controversy over environmental destruction of surrounding communities, the Comisión Ejecutiva del Río Lempa (CEL) in El Salvador has began constructing a new hydroelectric dam in the Río Torola located in the northern part of the department of San Miguel in an area known as El Chaparral. Construction began at the beginning of January this year and is expected to continue for fifty months.

Proponents of the project say that the dam is in accordance with the Kyoto Protocol and has the potential to provide electricity to two hundred thousand families in El Salvador. Other touted benefits would include new economic opportunities in agriculture, fishing, and tourism.

However, there is great contention about the benefits of this project due to the resulting flooding of current communities. Contractors and government officials assure that those individuals who lose their land will be compensated and provided a place to live, but according to parish priest, José Antonio Confesor, of the community of San Antonio del Mosco, the majority of the local population does not agree with the construction. Others living in the affected areas say that they were deceived by CEL concerning the purchase of lands.

The project is being financed by a loan from the Banco Centroamericano de Integración Económica (BCIE) for 163 million dollars and by the government that has contributed 56 million dollars.

You can read more technical details about the construction of the dam in a Project Idea Note which I found on the website of El Salvador's environment ministry.

Voices on the Border also describes the recent protests:

Citizens of San Antonio del Mosco, San Luis de La Reina, and Sesori participated in protests on Wednesday, July 22, against the construction of El Chaparral dam in the department of San Miguel, demanding that President Funes end the construction project. About 200 people were involved in the protests during the visit of Óscar Luna, the Human Rights Ombudsman for the area.

Luna, who has agreed to act as a mediator between the local population and the national government, said that “The offices of the Ombudsman are open to the two parties meeting and looking for a solution to the problem.”

The local population has questioned President Funes in his commitment to the people. Funes has thus far not called for the halting of the construction of the dam, whose construction began under former President Tony Saca. He has been criticized for the campaign support he received from Nicolás Salume, president of the Executive Hydroelectric Commission of the Lempa River (CEL).

While I was in El Salvador two weeks ago, protesters camped out at the presidential residence to try and force government ministers to meet with them and get a halt to construction activities. Protests earlier this month blocked the passage of traffic on the Panamerican highway.
Protesters have also uploaded YouTube videos here and here.

The president of El Salvador, Mauricio Funes, has addressed the El Chaparral controversy in recent statements to the press:

President Funes said that for the moment there is no executive decision on the case of El Chaparral, saying that "this decision" will be taken by him, after receiving a report that is already being assembled by a commission, chaired by the Secretary of Strategic Affairs, Hato Hasbun.

He also clarified that he is not accepting the request to dismiss the president of CEL or stopping the work of El Chaparral or construction work on [another hydo project] El Cimarron.

"I'm saying we're going to listen to them, let us know their views and we will reach an understanding that is beneficial to them and that would be beneficial for all the population. We must take into account that we have an energy deficit of nearly 6% and who will fill this need," he said.

Moreover, he stated that it is necessary to meet energy demand, because "we can not stop the country, industry, commerce, social sectors, hospitals, because they need energy to operate."

Funes said that the president seeks to reconcile national interests, creating a climate of understanding, reach agreement and establish priorities. "In 60 days we can not change the country, the number of problems that we have obliges us to set priorities, so we have created the commission to resolve this issue," he said.
(any errors in translation are mine)

The issue of the nature and extent of El Salvador's electricity deficit is central to the debate over the hydroelectric project. The proponents of the project, as echoed in Funes' comments, point to shortfalls in electricity generation compared to El Salvador's needs and argue that increased generating capacity, which the dam would provide, is necessary to attract investment and keep business functioning. Opponents of the dam argue that the shortfall is overstated and that the country's energy needs could be met more cheaply and effectively through conservation efforts.

The El Chapparal dam project has more challenges for Funes than just the local protesters. An article in La Prensa Grafica describes a report from the country's General Superintendent for Electricity and Telecommunications raising concerns about the way the Comisión Ejecutiva del Río Lempa (CEL), the autonomous agency which owns the project, awarded the contracts for construction of the dam. Blogger Neto Rivas points out that this issue is a problem for the new president because because the head of the CEL just happens to be the son of Funes' largest campaign supporter, Nicolás Salume.

Translating pain

Today I am republishing a post written by my friend Laura Hershberger. Laura is working in El Salvador with the SHARE Foundation, and is sponsored there by the Volunteer Missionary Movement or VMM. (More about VMM below). Laura's blog post is titled Back pain:

This is a reflection on the week in June that I spent as a medical interpreter at the clinic at Maria Madre de los Pobres Catholic Church in La Chacra, San Salvador. The medical professionals who I interpreted for come to El Salvador everyone on a SHARE delegation from Visitation Parish in Kansas City.

She was a street vendor who walked around carrying a giant tub of juice cans. The pain in her heals was unbearable.

He threw his back out six years ago. He still has horrible pain. He thought it was cancer. But really it was the fact that he lifted tires everyday and put more and more strain on his back.

She lost her arm during the war. Her husband just had a stroke and is paralyzed, she now does everything for him and work to support them. She can't sleep from back pain.

She was hit by a motorcycle two years ago. She and her daughter and grandson received death threats until the boy fled the community. They cried when they talked about being afraid. They both have knee and back pain.

She didn't know that there is no pill for her mother's alzheimer's. I explained it to her as best as I could.

His knees are shot from arthritus. But he needs the factory job, and so he continues to climb up steps and lift stacks of metal plates.

She can't afford the medicine for her Parkinson's. She came to see if we would give her a cane.

One by one, they sat down with us. Soy Laura y voy a traducir. Supposedly a translator is just a tool for the doctor, but the pain they carried stuck to me and I couldn't forget after they left. Everyone was carrying some kind of pain. We taught them leg, knee, back and neck exercises. To strengthen and stretch. To give some relief. Something that could possibly be more sustainable to a pill. We were able to give some of them canes. We hoped it would work. But we couldn't give them new shoes, new floors to walk on or beds to sleep on. We couldn't give them access to a swimming pool to do their exercises. We couldn't give them new jobs or new homes. We couldn't take them out of La Chacra and the poverty and violence. We could teach some breathing techniques but we couldn't take away the stressors.

On Friday, after all the patient visits, we went with the group to the UCA to see the sacred site. On the wall there was a drawing I had never seen on previous visits. Stick figures going through their day to day life. Working in construction, repairing cars, walking through the market. Each one was drawn with a cross on their back. The cross that the poor person carries as they go through their day. No one is going to give them a break, a win. The cross gets heavier and it weighs them down. No wonder they all have back pain.

Laura is one of several lay missionaries who commit to spend two years in Central America or other parts of the world (including poverty-stricken areas in the US) with VMM. Their purpose is to act out the call of their faith to serve those who are poor, oppressed and suffering. I support VMM and serve on its board. I encourage readers of this blog to learn more about VMM on its website at www.vmmusa.org, then consider supporting VMM by getting involved, volunteering, or making a donation. You can help Laura and others like her to alleviate some of the pains of the world.

Schools and universities in El Salvador to close for two weeks

Beginning on Monday, July 27, classes at El Salvador's schools and universities will be suspended for two weeks until August 9 according to news reports. The measure was put in place by Salvadoran health authorities to stop the spread of H1N1 flu. (Classes would not have been in session during the week of August 2 in any event since that is the week of August vacations associated with the feast of El Salvador del Mundo, the patron saint of the country). El Salvador has 469 confirmed cases of H1N1 flu, including 6 deaths.

Story heard in El Salvador last week:

A wolf, a lion and a pig were debating who was the greatest and most fearsome animal.

The wolf declared, "I am the greatest. When I howl the people shake with fear."

The lion retorted, "No, it is I who am the greatest. When I roar, all of the people run away."

The pig then said, "That's nothing. When I sneeze, everyone dies."

Off the beaten track

From time to time, posts appear on travel blogs praising the beauties of El Salvador and its people, as the travel writer goes "off the beaten track." This week I ran across a beautifully photographed example in a blog by authors named David and Vladi. In a post titled El Salvador, a dangerous country?, they write:

Vladi and I spent a wonderful week in some little villages located in the highlands, far away from big cities and their safety problems. Come with us to get to know El Salvador better...

After a long day of bus(es), we arrived at night in Juayua, a pretty town surrounded by volcanoes and coffee plantations. We found thanks to a local guy a great hotel with private bathroom & TV for 15$, breakfast included. In El Salvador, prices are more expansive than in Nicaragua or Guatemala, and believe me, that was quite a good deal! So we stayed there 6 nights, using the chicken buses to visit the nearby villages rather than changing every 2 days our accomodation.

With its bright colored facades and its lovely people, Juayua is a friendly "off the beaten path" village in a "off the beaten path" country! We spent some nice days at the rythm of the church bells, and enjoyed the local weekend food celebration a lot...

See all their photos and descriptions of going off the beaten track in El Salvador here.

Roadblocks to gold mining remain in place

An essay at Foreign Policy In Focus titled El Salvador's Gold Fight presents a viewpoint sympathetic to the efforts to block gold-mining in El Salvador. The article focuses on gold-mining company Pacific Rim and that company's arbitration against the government of El Salvador. Popular resistance to mining continues:

The combined effect of local resistance and religious backing had a decisive impact on government decision-making. With public opinion polls showing a clear majority in opposition to gold mining, and despite its initial enthusiasm for Pacific Rim's mining proposals, officials from the ruling conservative ARENA party refused to issue the company permits to begin extracting gold from underground deposits. In essence, the government ceased to acknowledge Pacific Rim's existence. Repeated complaints and applications for permits were filed by the company with government ministries, and promptly ignored.

Since then, La Mesa has continued to push the envelope. Not trusting that government silence on the permits issue equaled support for their cause, the organization presented a bill for congressional consideration in 2006 that would ban all precious metal mining in El Salvador. While the bill was almost immediately withdrawn from deliberation, it wasn't forgotten. Shortly after Funes took power, the Frente Fabarundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (a left-wing opposition party, better known as the FMLN) resurrected the proposed legislation and presented it to El Salvador's National Assembly for a vote. According to the Latin American Herald Tribune, the proposed law would grant Pacific Rim and other foreign companies six months to discontinue operations before being ordered to leave the country.

At the moment, El Salvador's government seems intent on resisting the promise of job creation and royalty revenues from gold mining and on giving credence to the spectre of environmental degradation portrayed by the protesters. There doesn't seem to be any force in the government aligning itself with the miners. With no one advocating for mining in El Salvador's government, it is hard to imagine mining permits being issued at any time during Mauricio Funes' term as president.

The maras run the prisons

El Salvador's prisons are not just dangerous and ineffectual -- the maras, or gangs, actually run their criminal enterprise from behind the prison walls. An article from the BBC details how authorities often cede authority over much of what happens inside the prisons to one of the country's two rival gangs:

Part of the problem is the authorities' policy of dedicating certain prisons to one particular gang.

The idea is to avoid violence between rival groups, yet in practice it means the state has handed over control of the prisons to the gangs, argues Jeanette Aguilar, an expert on the topic at the University of Central America (UCA).

"The prisons have been the place where the gangs have moved towards institutionalising themselves. They have created criminal economic networks," she said.

Inmates at Ciudad Barrios happily refer to the prison as the MS's home or neighbourhood. Lack of supervision means prisoners can easily get hold of the phones they allegedly use to arrange murders and illegal deals.(more).

Police version of activist's death questioned

Numerous civil society organizations in El Salvador are rejecting the hypothesis of the police that Marcelo Rivera was murdered by gang members he knew after talking and drinking with them. Rivera was a prominent activist who had denounced election fraud and protested the possibility of gold mining in the country. The civil society groups are complaining that the police have completely discounted any link between enemies made by Rivera's activism and his violent death.

The website World War 4 Report states:

The victim's brother, Miguel Rivera, dismissed the gang violence explanation. "Saying that my brother died at the hands of gang members is an unbelievable story and becomes a mockery for my family. My brother was tortured. He was alive for nine days after his disappearance. His trachea was broken by a nylon cord that strangled him, pushing his arm up to his face. This is not an act of gang members. It is torture."

Rivera was director of the Casa de Cultura in San Isidro, and was active in social justice and environmental struggles. Friends and family members report that he received many threats in response to his public denunciations of San Isidro Mayor Ignacio Bautista of the ARENA party. Rivera was vocal in his stance against attempted fraud in the municipal and legislative elections of Jan. 18, which led community members to shut down the town's voting centers, forcing a make-up election to be held the following week. Rivera was also active in the national movement against mining projects that threaten El Salvador's principal watersheds.

With a new government, a new head to the National Police, and a new attorney general, this case will be worth watching to determine whether a greater number of murders, particularly those which might have a political connection, are solved to the satisfaction of all interested parties. Prior cases under the ARENA administrations, like the cases of Gilberto Soto or the Manzanares family, have left many unanswered questions.

H1N1 Flu in El Salvador

I am currently in El Salvador, and one of the things I noticed right away was the amount of attention being paid to H1N1 flu. From the screening by thermal cameras of arriving international travelers, to the signs in many locations about how to avoid the spread of the flu, it is clear that a prevention effort is in full swing. A report in La Prensa today states that the number of cases in the country has risen to 379. Three children have died from the disease. Various schools have been closed. The bishops of the Roman Catholic church and Lutheran church have talked to the press about possible closings of churches if the health authorities deem it necessary.

All this is a little strange to someone coming from Wisconsin, with a similar population to El Salvador, where we have more than 2000 confirmed cases of the H1N1 flu and we have learned to live with the fact that it is widespread but the symptoms are not severe. Where El Salvador has increased risk is the weakness of its healthcare system to deal with illnesses of almost any type.

Resource Guide to the Crisis in Honduras

If, like me, you are looking for good resources to help you understand the events in Honduras, a very good site is the AS/COA Resource Guide to the Crisis in Honduras. There you will find collected news analysis as well as links to original documents such as the decrees of the Honduran Supreme Court and the Honduran constitution.

Suspects in activist murder captured

Two weeks ago, I wrote about the disappearance of Salvadoran activist Marcelo Rivera. Rivera's body was subsequently found at the bottom of a well. According to a La Prensa Grafica article yesterday, four suspects have now been arrested in the disappearance and murder of Rivera. A fifth is already in prison for other crimes. According to the LPG article, the suspects and Rivera were drinking together when they got into a "discussion" which led to Rivera's death.

Marcelo Rivera was a social activist and FMLN party member who had been involved in criticizing fraud in the recent elections in San Isidro and opposing the gold mining activities of Pacific Rim. The explanation of these suspects' involvement in the crime is not going to satisfy those who believe that his death was a result of his political views and actions.

Salvadorans trust Funes to govern well

A recent public opinion poll found that almost 70% of Salvadorans expect newly installed president Mauricio Funes to govern well or very well:

Polling Data

How do you expect Mauricio Funes to govern?

Very well / Well	69%
Average	19%
Very badly / Badly	4%
Not sure	8%

Declining remittances threaten El Salvador's economy

The table below shows the amount of remittance money sent into El Salvador by Salvadorans living abroad for the first 5 months of this year compared to the same period in 2008:

Month	2008	2009	% change
Jan	$275.5	$252.4	-8.4%
Feb	$298.3	$275.1	-7.8%
Mar	$338.4	$315.8	-6.7%
Apr	$338.5	$292.5	-13.6%
May	$353.4	$308.2	-12.8%

Source: El Salvador Central Reserve Bank statistics in millions of US dollars.

The decline in remittances, which make up 1/6th of El Salvador's economy, is one factor leading rating agencies to downgrade El Salvador's public debt according to the WSJ:

Fitch Ratings cut El Salvador's long-term ratings one notch deeper into junk territory, saying that nation's economy is expected to shrink 2.5% this year.

The move to BB matches the one handed out last month by Standard & Poor's Ratings Service. Fitch lowered its ratings outlook on the country to negative in October, where is remains even after the downgrade, meaning further cuts aren't out of the question.

Like many countries, El Salvador's deficit and debt are expected to increase this year. Financing needs for 2010, said Fitch, depends on the nation's fiscal prudence, being able to maintain domestic investor confidence and continued multilateral support. In 2011, El Salvador could require international aid, especially with a $650 million Eurobond maturing then.

Political and economic uncertainty in El Salvador have led to delays in potential investments, hurting growth prospects, and the country is starting from a worse economic position than others with the same ratings, Fitch noted. However, the financial system was resilient during the recent pre-electoral period and "notably smooth political transition," the firm added.

Leftist Mauricio Funes was elected president in March, but he has said he doesn't plan to turn the country away from closer ties to the U.S., where more than two million Salvadoran expatriates live.

Casey Reckman, associate director in Fitch's sovereign group, said reductions in money sent into the nation and reduced demand have "demonstrated El Salvador's vulnerability to the U.S. downturn."

As I look at the statistics, forecasting a 2.5% downturn in El Salvador is a pretty safe bet, when the decline in remittances is already at 10% for the first five months (or $160 million of lost income in the pockets of Salvadoran families) and trending higher.

Thinking about Honduras

One week ago, the military in Honduras ousted Manuel Zelaya as president of that country. Since that time, the great majority of the world community, including the United Nations, the Organization of American States (OAS), El Salvador and the US have condemned the military coup. When the OAS declared that Honduras would be suspended from the organization if the country did not restore Zelaya to the presidency by Saturday, July 4, the new government in Honduras responded by quitting the OAS. Tensions are running high today as Zelaya plans to return to Honduras and the government plans to stop him.

I'm not a student of Honduran government and politics, so I have not been writing about the coup in this blog. The blogging community does have several good sources of information in English and Spanish about the evolving situation. A Global Voices blog post published just before the ouster of Zelaya gives an overview of the tensions in the country in the days leading up to the coup. Global Voices followed up with a post on the night following the coup.

Latin America blogger Boz offers his usual insightful commentary about what is going on in the country. Among his comments:

The interim Micheletti government in Honduras has not helped itself by issuing a curfew, censoring the media and breaking up protests. Their attempts to claim democratic legitimacy don't look particularly convincing when they decide to shut down pro-Zelaya media outlets and censor the international coverage entering the country. The only remotely positive thing they've done is call for presidential elections in November as scheduled, but that doesn't negate the fact that the government could be an unelected regime for the next six months.

There are a number of themes which run through discussions of the Honduran coup:

• Was it a "coup" at all? Both the legislature and the Supreme Court in Honduras found that Zelaya's proposed referendum on changing the Constitution was illegal and support his ouster.

• Aren't we past the time in Latin American history when masked army troops can come into the presidential residence and depose a democratically elected president?

• Are Zelaya's close ties with Hugo Chaez of Venezuela and Castro in Cuba a reason to support his removal?

• What justification exists for the new Honduran government to shut down television stations and the press, impose a curfew, arrest foreign journalists, use force against demonstrators, and generally squash the ability of Hondurans to learn what is going on in the country?
  
  
• There is a significant block of Hondurans who support Zelaya's ouster, what right do international organizations have to dictate the internal politics of the country?

For some up to date blogging on Honduras, try the LatinAmericanist, IncaKola News, Justin Delacour or Boz, and in Spanish there is the Honduras Resistencia Blog.