Moving Forward from the Devastation of Tropical Storms Amanda and Cristóbal

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In the midst of the most critical part of the COVID-19 pandemic, with a little more than 3,000 people infected and more than fifty registered Coronavirus related deaths, El Salvador suffered another strong blow: the severe impacts of two consecutive tropical storms. Storms Amanda and Cristóbal have claimed 30 lives, destroyed hundreds of houses, affected bridges, obstructed streets due to landslides, and led to the evacuation of thousands of families.

The situation is especially hard since the recommendation to avoid COVID-19 is to stay at home, but for families who have lost their homes or are close to losing everything, effective distancing is almost impossible in crowded shelters where obtaining adequate food and clean water is priority.

The post-pandemic food crisis will now be more intense, since the storms caused the ruin of thousands of hectares used to cultivate corn, beans, vegetables and fruit, in addition to hundreds of lost cattle and livestock. The Minister of Agriculture and Livestock has reported 29,527 acres of affected crops and a harvest loss of 284,411 quintals of basic grains, affecting 22,476 producers.

As always, one of the most heavily affected areas is the coastal region, because the geography of the terrain favors the accumulation of water flooding the land. In the Bajo Lempa, communities Octavio Ortiz and Amando López have lost entire family farms, as well as their corn, vegetable and plantain crops and two substantial community fish production projects.

Thankfully, the sun is now shining over most parts of the country and the storm systems have moved north. According to the Ministry of Environment (MARN), El Salvador will experience a gradual return to typical rainy season conditions: scattered storms in the afternoons and evenings. Despite the reduction in rains, communities that live on the banks of the river Lempa continue to closely monitor it’s behavior, and they have also equipped temporary shelters for any emergency that may arise throughout the winter.

Voices on the Border maintains a state of alert as well in order to support these vulnerable communities take selected preventive measures or enact immediate live saving actions. At this time, we are working with the Amando López and Octavio Ortiz communities in their efforts to restore their massive crop and livestock loss.

If you would like to express your solidarity with these families, please consider making a donation to our 2020 El Salvador Storm Season Relief Fund and in doing so create some hope, in the midst of two crises.

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Superando la Devastación de las Tormentas Tropicales Amanda y Cristóbal

En medio de la parte más crítica de la pandemia de COVID-19, con un poco más de 3.000 personas infectadas y más de cincuenta muertes relacionadas con COVID-19, El Salvador sufrió otro fuerte golpe, los graves impactos de dos tormentas tropicales consecutivas. Las tormentas Amanda y Cristóbal se cobraron 30 vidas, destruyeron cientos de casas, afectaron puentes, obstruyeron calles debido a deslizamientos de tierra y llevaron a la evacuación de miles de familias.

La situación es conmovedora, en momentos donde la recomendación para evitar el COVID-19 es quedarse en casa, las familias que han perdido la suya o están cerca de perderla; el distanciamiento físico tampoco funciona, la gente se aglomera para conseguir un poco de comida o agua limpia y en los saturados albergues resulta casi imposible hacer efectivo dicho distanciamiento.

La crisis alimentaria que se advierte pos pandemia, ahora se presentará con mayor intensidad, puesto que las tormentas causaron la ruina de millas de hectáreas cultivadas con maíz, frijol, hortalizas y frutales además de cientos de cabezas de ganado perdidas. El Ministro de Agricultura y Ganadería ha reportado 17,369 manzanas de cultivos afectados y una pérdida de cosecha de 284,411 quintales de granos básicos, afectando a 22,476 productores.

Como siempre una de las regiones fuertemente afectadas por la pérdida de cultivos es la zona costera, debido a que la geografía del terreno favorece la acumulación de agua inundando los terrenos. En el Bajo Lempa, las comunidades Octavio Ortiz y Amando López han perdido granjas familiares enteras, así como sus cultivos de maíz, vegetales y plátanos y dos importantes proyectos comunitarios de producción pesquera.

Afortunadamente, el sol ahora brilla sobre la mayor parte del país y los sistemas de tormentas se han movido hacia el norte. Según el Ministerio de Medio Ambiente (MARN), El Salvador experimentará un retorno gradual a las condiciones típicas de la temporada de lluvias: tormentas dispersas por las tardes y noches. A pesar de la reducción de las lluvias, las comunidades que viven en las orillas del río Lempa continúan monitoreando de cerca su comportamiento, y también han equipado refugios temporales para cualquier emergencia que pueda surgir durante el invierno.

Voces en la Frontera también mantiene un estado de alerta para ayudar a estas comunidades vulnerables a tomar medidas preventivas seleccionadas o promulgar acciones inmediatas para salvar vidas. En este momento, estamos trabajando con las comunidades de Amando López y Octavio Ortiz en sus esfuerzos por restaurar su pérdida masiva de cultivos y ganado.

Si desea expresar su solidaridad con estas familias, considere hacer una donación a nuestro Fondo de Ayuda de Emergencia para la Temporada de Tormentas 2020 y, al hacerlo, cree alguna esperanza para ellas, en medio de dos crisis.

More Neoliberal Economic Policies Will Not Stop Unaccompanied Minors From Seeking Refuge

March 2-3, Vice President Joe Biden was in Guatemala with leaders from El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB). Their agenda was to “accelerate the implementation of the Plan for the Alliance for Prosperity in the Northern Triangle (the Plan).” The meeting came just a month after Vice President Biden announced that the Obama Administration would ask Congress for $1 billion in aid for the region.

The purpose of the Alliance’s Plan, $1 billion fund, and the March meeting is to address the surge of unaccompanied minors leaving the Northern Triangle for the U.S. It’s an important goal. In FY2014, more than 60,000 youth were caught trying to enter the U.S. and government officials expect more than twice that in FY2015.

While the Plan arguably contains some constructive approaches towards decreasing violence, the emphasis is on implementing neoliberal economic policies. The proposal reads more like CAFTA-DR 2.0 or a World Bank structural adjustment plan, than an effort to stem the flow of emigration. The Northern Triangle and U.S. governments are proposing that foreign investment, more integrated economies, and free trade – and a gas pipeline – will provide the jobs and opportunities necessary to keep youth from seeking refuge in the U.S.

Income inequality and violence are the driving forces behind youth seeking refuge in the U.S., but its hard to imagine how more neoliberal economic policies, which many cite as the reason for inequality over the past 25 years, will do anything except ensure the region’s rich will remain so. A skeptic might even argue that the U.S. and Northern Triangle governments are using the “crisis” of violence and emigration in order to implement policies that further their own economic interests.

Increasing Foreign Investment and Investing in Our People

The Alliance Plan and other related documents emphasize that the solution to emigration, violence and inequality has to be economic – attracting foreign investment, unifying regional economies, increasing competitiveness in global markets, and training the workforce. The Plan, which was first published in September 2014, offers four Strategic Lines of Action. The first, and most detailed, is to stimulate the productive sector. The second is to develop opportunities for our people. Of the $1 billion grant from the U.S., $400 million will support these two lines of action.

Stimulating the productive sector means “attracting investment and promoting strategic sectors capable of stimulating growth and creating jobs… we will make more efficient use of our regional platform to reduce energy costs that stifle our industries and the national treasury, overcome infrastructural and logistical problems that curb growth and prevent better use of the regional market, and harmonize our quality standards to put them on par with what the global market requires.”

The Plan identifies four productive sectors: textiles, agro-industry, light manufacturing, and tourism, none of which are new to the Northern Triangle. Textile maquiladoras, sugarcane producers, factories, and tourism have exploited the region’s labor force and natural resources for years. They have created jobs, but ones in which workers are paid a sub-poverty minimum wage and endure a myriad of human rights abuses. Saskia Sassen wrote in 1998, and other since then report that so far the global economy has produced “a growing supply of poorly paid, semi-skilled or unskilled production jobs.” That has not changed in the past 17 years. When unions and workers try to negotiate better wages or working conditions, manufactures and investors simply leave. The environmental impacts of these sectors have been equally devastating, and will get exponentially worse if large-scale tourism, a gas-pipeline, and other industries are allowed to move forward.

While CAFTA-DR pretends to address labor and environment, and the “race to the bottom”, Northern Alliance governments provide detail about the concessions they will give to foreign investors. These include lower energy costs, infrastructure, and “harmonization” of standards, which some believe means an agreement on a very low bottom.

The U.S. and Northern Alliance countries have been implementing neo-liberal economic policies since the early 1990s; the same period that crime and gang violence began to proliferate. Privatization, dollarization, free trade agreements, maquiladoras, Millennium Challenge Corporation grants, Partnership for Growth, Public-Private Partnerships, and more have all been implemented over the past 25 years. The same period that crime and violence has skyrocketed.

As academics (good articles here and here) and campesino leaders in rural El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras have articulated for years – globalization and neoliberal economic policies are the reason for the high rates of inequality that has resulted in the high levels of crime and violence, and lack of opportunities that have forced youth to flee. Poverty and inequality are nothing new in the Northern Triangle, but Globalization and neoliberalism is simply the latest tools the elite use to maintain and grow their wealth.

Just this week, El Faro published an article titled “The Neoliberal Trap: Violent Individuals or Violent Situations ” that is based on 2013 study in El Salvador. The authors found that communities that are more isolated from the global community and depend sustenance agriculture were less likely to experience social isolation, gangs, crime and violence. Communities that have a greater market mentality are more socially isolated and prone to crime. The article argues, “The neoliberal reconstruction has renewed and amplified the conditions of alienation. Meanwhile, some elites embrace neoliberal reconstruction as a means of assuring their position in the new “transnational capital class of global capitalism, while a large part of the population is left out and has to fend for themselves.”

Colette Hellenkamp drew a similar conclusion in her piece War and Peace in El Salvador. She concludes, “The wealthy few in [the El Salvador] do whatever is necessary to maintain their riches and quench their thirst for comfort and power. Their status and wealth will not be threatened as long as they ensure that the masses remain uneducated and in chaos.” The crime and violence in El Salvador has certainly caused such chaos that instead of opening small shops and providing services the region’s otherwise hard-working and industrious workforce is leaving en masse.

Academics also point out that proponents of neo-liberal ideologies believe their model is perfect – “everyone benefits, not just some, all.” Those that don’t are referred to as the “underserving poor or the underclass that demonstrate two characteristics – they are underserving and predisposed to unlawful behavior. Proponents argue that free market, neoliberalism is perfect and if people don’t benefit, its not the market’s fault, it’s because people are lazy and prone to violence.

The Northern Alliance Plan is to double down on the neoliberal policies that sustain the same economic inequalities they say they are want to correct. Bur more sub-poverty, minimum wages will only serve to further stratify the economic and social classes.

Albert Einstein said, “We can not solve our problems with the same level of thinking that created them.” But that’s what the Northern Triangle Plan seems to want to try and do.

Violence and Security

Instead of focusing on more neoliberal economic policies, the Plan must focus on putting an end to the high rates of crime and violence.

Analysts agree that most of the youth detained on the U.S. border were fleeing violence. A report published by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees found that 58% of the minors interviewed “were forcibly displaced because they suffered or faced harms that indicated a potential or actual need for international protection.” The report identified two sources of violence – “organized armed criminal actors and violence at home.” A report written by Fulbright Fellow Elizabeth Kennedy found, “59 percent of Salvadoran boys and 61 percent of Salvadoran girls list crime, gang threats, or violence as a reason for their emigration. Whereas males most feared assault or death for not joining gangs or interacting with corrupt government officials, females most feared rape or disappearance at the hands of the same groups.” Other reasons for leaving included the lack of economic opportunities and reunification with family members in the U.S. But of those youth, “most referenced crime and violence (the chaos) as the underlying motive for their decision to reunify with family now rather than two years in the past or two years in the future.”

The proposal for decreasing violence in the Northern Triangle is a mixed bag at best. The Plan wants to invest more money into the same heavy-handed, militarized, law enforcement policies that have been failing for 25 years. Alexander Main provides a good critic of these policies in his Truthout article, Will Biden’s Billion-Dollar Plan Help Central America.

But its not all bad. There are some proposals in the Plan that focus on alternative conflict resolution, safe schools, trustworthy community policing, modernizing the justice system, and giving civil society and churches a greater role in prevention and rehabilitation. There are also needed reforms for ensuring better governance and addressing organized crime. One of the more positive ideas is to “improve prison systems, including infrastructure based on prisoner risk profiles, the capacity of prison staffs, and rehabilitation programs, including those focused on juvenile offenders and their prison conditions.”

El Salvador has even proposed an ambitious $2 billion plan that proposes similarly progressive policies for ending violence at the national level. The plan “promises parks, sports facilities, education and training programs for the country’s 50 most violent municipalities, as well as improvements to the worst prisons where the country’s biggest gangs – Mara Salvatrucha 13 (MS13) and Calle 18 – have proliferated over the past decade.”

If implemented, these projects could help decrease levels of crime and violence, and calming the chaos that helps maintain high levels of inequality. But if academics and campesino leaders are right, and globalization is the cause of the inequality, these positive steps are unlikely to have any lasting impact. The undeserving poor will still be limited to working sub-poverty wages and have little if any social and economic mobility.

If Not More Neoliberal Economic Policies…

Stemming the flow of emigration is a complex task, and the Northern Triangle and U.S. governments are right to consider a multi-faceted approach that aims to provide economic opportunities, end violence, and address other deficiencies.

Instead of more neoliberal economic policies, the Northern Triangle and U.S. governments, and the IADB should focus their plan on making the region safe from crime and violence. There are very smart, informed civil society leaders who have put forth some very reasonable proposals. The governments should do more to work with them to implement their ideas and proposals on a large scale. The plan articulates some of these ideas, but instead of taking second place to more neoliberalism, they should be at the heart of the proposal.

The solution should include creating economic opportunities, but that does not require foreign investors or selling out the region’s workforce and environment. Salvadorans, Guatemalans, and Hondurans are known as hardworking and industrious. Instead of building infrastructure and providing incentives to multinational corporations, the governments should focus those investments on supporting and incentivizing local, small businesses. That does not mean small business loans, but it might mean making it more difficult for international corporations like Walmart to run all the mom-and-pop shops out of business. Family businesses do more than provide jobs; they build neighborhoods and social networks.

Instead of promoting agro-industry and exports, as proposed by the Plan and Partnership for Growth, governments should support communities in their efforts to promote food security and sovereignty. El Salvador’s family seed program, for example is an example of a relatively low cost government action that supports small family farmers that are trying to feed their family and contribute to their local economy. In 2013, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development called for a “rapid and significant shift from conventional, monoculture-based and high-external-input-dependent industrial production towards mosaics of sustainable, regenerative production systems that also considerably improve the productivity of small-scale farmers.”

There are solutions. The only question is motive and whether policy makers are really interested in addressing emigration, violence, and economic inequality, or using the chaos and “crises” as means to further their own economic interests. This month, President Sanchez Cerén and the Legislative Assembly declared March 26 as the National Day of Peace, Life and Justice – a day in which all Salvadorans will unite and demand an end to the violence and chaos. But even this simple idea of bringing people together was too much for the business class. ANEP (El Salvador’s Chamber of Commerce) came out against the Day of Peace, Life, and Justice, argues that celebrating a National Day of Peace would cost El Salvador $56 million in lost economic opportunities. ANEP representatives argue, “the suspension of just one day of work will cost Salvadorans more that 56 million dollars, and could result in the loss of contracts from export businesses, and thus the employment of workers.”

Their position could be one of pure practicality. More likely it is a true reflection of their priorities – money and profits over peace, life, and justice.

The Debate Over Public-Private Partnership Law and MCC Funding in El Salvador

Last week Pacific Rim Mining Company announced it is seeking $315 million dollars in damages from El Salvador. It was a stark reminder that the 8-year old mining debate, which included several years of threats and violence between mining supporters and opponents, has yet to been resolved and could still result in a devastating economic blow to El Salvador.

As the mining issue continues, another debate with the potential to become just as volatile is brewing. In March the Funes Administration provided some details about its proposal for a second round of funding from the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), a US aid program started by President Bush in 2004. The proposal is worth $413 million dollars, half of which will likely go towards an infrastructure project like improving the Litoral Highway that runs along El Salvador’s southern coast. The other half is likely to help finance public-private partnerships and improve human capital, which seems to mean education.

As details of the proposal emerge, opposition to a second round of MCC funding is growing. So far, opposition has opened on two fronts. The Salvadoran labor movement has been the most outspoken opponent, denouncing the proposed Law on Public Private Partnerships (P3 Law) since last year. Environmentalists and communities in the Lower Lempa region of Usulután have been less outspoken, but oppose the MCC proposal because the public-private partnerships will support tourism, which they strongly oppose. In 2011, members of the anti-mining movement also spoke out against the P3 Law fearing it would result in mining activities.

Mangrove Forests near La Tirana, a community targeted for a large tourism project

Because politicians within the FMLN are supporting the MCC, the politics of opposing the P3 Law and tourism are a little more complicated than opposition to mining was. Other than a protest outside the US Embassy in March and other small activities organized by the labor movement, opposition has remained largely behind closed doors, which may change soon.

            The Public Private Partnership Law

US Ambassador Maria Carmen Aponte said in October 2012 that approval of a second round of MCC funds relies on the passage of the P3 Law. The labor movement and their international supporters, argue that the P3 Law will privatize government operations including the airport, seaports, health care facilities, and other important services. They fear it will result in the loss of thousands of jobs, increasing the country’s already high rates of unemployment and driving wages down even further.

The labor movement and other opponents also do not want the private sector to control important resources and services like water, education, and health controlled. For example, Salvadoran civil society has fought against privatization of water for many years, making it such a toxic issue that politicians are unable to advocate for it publicly. Just like the government has not been able to privatize water, civil society organizations have not been able to pass a water law they have been promoting for over 8 years. Among other things, the law would protect water resources from privatization. Similarly, in 2002 then President Francisco Flores tried to privatize part of the health care system, but health care workers and many others took to the streets and forced the government to back off. Opponents of the P3 law fear it will make it easier for the government to accomplish what it has failed to do in the past – privatizing water and health care.

Supporters of the P3 Law, including President Funes, counter that public-private partnerships are not privatization, and the government will not privatize any important services, like health and education. They argue, instead, that public-private partnerships will result in more foreign direct investments, injecting capital into services and industries that are lagging behind.

The labor movement and other activists fear, however, that while not called privatization, the P3s are a way to accomplish the same goals. Concessions could last as long as 40 years, which means the state is essentially relinquishing control of an asset. Similarly, while capital investments are needed, the P3 Law will allow private, international investors to generate profits from basic services in El Salvador and take the profits overseas instead of re-investing in El Salvador.

Public-private partnerships are not new in El Salvador – they government has contracted out many operations to private companies over the years. One regular criticism is that these relationships prioritize profits over the well being of Salvadorans. For example, in the aftermath of the October 2011 floods, communities and organizations in the Lower Lempa blamed the CEL for washing them out. The CEL is the state-owned agency that manages the dam, generating electricity that private power companies sell for profit. The more electricity produced, the more money the companies make. In the months after the 2011 floods CEL representatives responded frankly, stating they operate the dams to make electricity and generate profits, not protect the people downstream.

FESPAD and Voices on the Borders 2012 legal interns recently published a full analysis of the P3 Law.

Tourism and other Investments

One of the public-private partnerships being proposed in the second MCC compact is tourism – hotels and resorts being built along El Salvador’s Pacific coast. In December the government solicited proposals from the private sector and received 49 responses, 27 of which are tourism projects in Usulután, La Paz, and La Libertad.

Tourism is not inherently bad, but communities in the Lower Lempa of Usulután fear that building hotels and resorts in and around their important and fragile ecosystems will cause irreparable harm. One Lower Lempa community targeted for a tourism project is La Tirana, an isolated and economically poor community located at the edge of one of the most pristine mangrove forest in Central America. In addition to its immense natural beauty, the forest supports thousands of species of flora and fauna. The nearby beaches are protected as a nesting ground for several species of endangered sea turtles. Residents of La Tirana fear tourists would damage the fragile mangroves with construction of houses and resorts, jet skis and motorboats, and solid waste and sewage, while displacing local residents and their farms.

Proponents of tourism argue that resorts and hotels in places like Tirana would provide jobs and spur the local economy. They believe this to be especially important in communities, such as those in the Lower Lempa, that have had their agricultural economy diminished by free trade. But locals doubt resorts will help the local economy. They know that hotels are much more likely to hire bilingual youth from San Salvador who have degrees in hotel management than poor campesinos who barely have a sixth grade education.

Voices staff recently met with community members in La Tirana, and they are very much against outside investors building resorts in their region. Recognizing that they live in a special place, the community board is proposing that the community build a series of small, humble cabanas that would have a small ecological footprint, but provide comfortable housing for a small number of guests. They are also proposing that the community build a small community kitchen that could feed guests. The community wants to develop its own small eco-tourism industry that it can regulate and ensure does not harm the forest or turtle nesting ground. It would also mean that the money from tourism would benefit the community, and not just make wealthy investors in San Salvador or abroad even richer.

Other communities in the region are even more vulnerable than La Tirana. In El Chile and other small communities, many residents still do not have title to their land. They fear that if a private investor wants to build a hotel or resort the State could take their land and they would have no legal recourse.

Our staff also met with other communities in the Lower Lempa – Comunidad Octavio Ortiz, Amando Lopez, Nueva Esperanza – and several local organizations. They are also completely opposed to tourism projects in the region. They fear that hotels and resorts will further destroy agricultural land, use up limited water resources, and destroy local culture. The community of Octavio Ortiz even wrote in their strategic plan that they see tourism as a large threat to farming and their peaceful way of life.

While most of the public-private partnership proposals involve tourism, there are quite a few agricultural projects. According to PRESA, the government agency managing the project proposals, they received 14 requests to support production of exports in dairy, mangoes, limes, and honey. In order to be considered for a public-private partnership, investors have to have $100,000 in capital and be producing export crops. The capital requirement means local farmers will not be able to participate. And the requirement that products be grown for export means even more land will be dedicated to products that do not contribute to food sovereignty, which is a top priority for the region.

There are also civil society leaders and academics in El Salvador who oppose the MCC because they see it as the latest phase in implementing a neoliberal economic agenda in their country. They hold it in the same regard as the privatization of state assets (1990s), dollarization (1995-2001), Central American Free Trade Agreement (2006), the first MCC compact (2007-2012), and Partnership for Growth (2011). Similarly, Gilberto Garcia from Center for Labor Studies (CEAL, in Spanish) believes the

highway projects, including the northern highway funded by the first MCC compact and the Litoral Highway project planned for the second compact, are part of an effort to build a land bridge in Guatemala. The “Inter-Oceanic Corridor” will connect ports on the Pacific coasts of Guatemala and El Salvador with Caribbean or Atlantic ports in Guatemala. ODEPAL is managing the project in what they call a public-private partnership. The land bridge is located in Guatemala, but it is right on the borders with El Salvador and Honduras, giving both countries easy access.

Politics of Opposing the MCC and P3 Law

Building a strong national movement around opposition to the second MCC compact and the P3 Law may be more difficult than organizing Salvadorans against mining. While the anti-mining movement was able to reduce the debate to a single issue that all Salvadorans could understand – i.e. gold mining will destroy water resources for 60% of the country – most people believe that tourism, better highways, and other capital investments are always good. Similarly, the P3 Law is fairly abstract and difficult to reduce into a simple message that the majority of Salvadorans can relate to their everyday lives.

The politics around the MCC and P3 Law will make it more difficult to achieve the kind of nation-wide opposition that the anti-mining movement was able to garner. During the mining debate, the FMLN (leftist political party) was the opposition party and had the political freedom to take an anti-mining position. The FMLN is now in power and has to consider the economic and political interests that helped them get there. President Funes and FMLN presidential candidate Sanchez Cerén support the P3 Law and MCC compact, arguing the investments will be good for the economy. According to anonymous sources, many of the same business interests that helped Mauricio Funes with the 2009 presidential elections will benefit from the P3 Law and MCC funds. FMLN legislators have been a slower to sign on to the P3 Law. At times FMLN legislators have said it was not their top priority, and more recently they have tried to negotiate amendments to exclude certain sectors such as health and education from public-private partnerships. Officials from the conservative ARENA party have accused the FMLN legislators of not supporting the law because they want to implement a socialist economy agenda.

But the civil society organizations, communities, and labor unions that are opposed to the P3 Law and the MCC funding generally make up much of the FMLN’s base. If Sanchez Cerén and his supporters continue to embrace the P3 law and the MCC funding, while many in their base protest against it, it could exacerbate an existing split within the party in the months leading up to the February 2014 presidential elections. Many former FMLN militants and supporters, especially in the Lower Lempa, already believe the movement they once fought for no longer represents their interests and values.

Though the US and Salvadoran governments want to pass the P3 Law and sign the MCC compact before the elections, many opponents are gearing up for a long struggle. Even if the P3 Law passes, when the government wants to enter into a public-private partnership the Legislative Assembly will have to approve it. They are likely to face great scrutiny and opposition. Similarly, developers wanting to break ground on tourism projects in La Tirana and other communities are likely to face some rather significant legal and social barriers – much like Pacific Rim faced in Cabañas.

Discussion on Goldcorp at Salvadoran Consulate – Tuesday, October 30

This morning we (Voices staff) received an invitation for an important event next Tuesday evening (October 30^th) concerning the Cerro Blanco Mine in Guatemala and the environmental implications for El Salvador. The event is sponsored by the Salvadoran Consulate, the Office of the Ombudsman for Human Rights in El Salavdor, and CISPES.

The Cerro Blanco mine, which is owned and operated by Goldcorp –a Canadian mining company –, is in the Guatemalan province of Jutiapa. Environmentalists and local communities are concerned that mining activities will contaminate Lake Guija, which spans the border between El Salvador and Guatemala. Salvadoran environmentalist David Pereira explained a couple years ago that “toxic waste water from the mine will flow into the 45 square kilometers of Lake Guija, and on into the Lempa River, the main river basin in El Salvador.” Fears are substantiated by a study produced by Dina Larios, professor of geochemistry and hydrology at Ohio University, that contains serious warnings about wastewater from the mine.

Here’s some information on the event:

 “Implications of the Cerro Blanco mine on the El Salvador/Guatemala Border Area”

Report presented by the Ombudsman for Human Rights and the Center for Investigation of Commerce and Investment to the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights in Washington DC

Date:             Tuesday, October 30

Time:            6:00 pm

Place:            Salvadoran Consulate

2332 Wisconsin Ave. NW

Washington DC 2007

RSVP:            camelgar@rree.gob.sv or (301) 437-7698

We don’t hear as much about mining in El Salvador these days, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a huge issue. As long as there is gold, silver, and other minerals of value there will be people trying to extract them.

So if you’re in DC on Tuesday, please try to attend.

Decriminalization and the Impact of Drug Trafficking in Central America

Decriminalization, or legalization, of drugs in Central America is a hot topic in El Salvador and Guatemala right now. Last Friday, Inside Story Americas, an Al-Jazeera news program, ran a program on the effects of drug trafficking on Central America, touching on the pros/cons of decriminalization.

The program was in response to comments made last week by Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina, who said he would be open to decriminalizing drugs in an effort to address Guatemala’s security issues. The comments came after a meeting with Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes who also said he is also open to the idea. President Funes stated,

“Our government is open to discussion on any proposal or measure which achieves a reduction in the high levels of consumption in our countries, but particularly (to reduce) the production and trafficking of drugs. As long as the United States does not make any effort to reduce the high levels of (narcotics) consumption, there’s very little we can do in our countries to fight against the cartels, and try to block the production and trade in drugs.”

After returning to El Salvador from his meeting with President Perez Molina, President Funes backtracked a bit, saying that he does not favor decriminalizing drugs.

Saving the discussion about the pros and cons of decriminalization or legalization for another blog post, an interesting point of these recent conversations is the growing emphasis on the failure of the U.S. to curb its demand for drugs. Al Jazeera cited a recent government report that found that 22.6 million Americans used illicit drugs in 2010, nearly 9% of the population. While the number of users dropped from 2.4 million in 2006 to 1.5 million in 2010, the U.S. remains the largest consumer of cocaine in the world.

The Inside Story panelists said the heads of state in Central America, and even Mexico and Colombia who have talked about decriminalization, may be discussing decriminalization in order to pressure the U.S. into taking more actions to decrease demand. Experts from around the world agree that the “war on drugs,” as it has been fought over the past 40 years, has failed. Even President Obama has acknowledged that the U.S. needs to address the demand issue, and treat the issue as a public health problem.

U.S. policies have yet to change, though. In 2011, the National Drug Control Strategy had a budget of $15.5 billion, and the expenditures were roughly the same as in previous years. Approximately 1/3 ($5.6 billion) of the federal budget for the war on drugs was allocated for treatment and prevention – an increase of $0.2 billion from the 2010 budget. The remaining $9.9 billion was allocated for law enforcement, interdiction, and international support, the same as previous years.

In addition to the well-documented affects on Mexico and South America, the U.S. demand for illicit drugs produced in South America and trafficked through Central America and Mexico have very real consequences in Salvadoran communities.

El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala now comprise the most violent region in the world. While police officials blame 90% of the murders on local youth gangs, other government agencies, recently demoted police officials, and civil society organizations believe the violence is the result of international organized criminals who are trafficking drugs, guns, people, and laundering money. They estimate that only 10-20% of El Salvador’s murders are attributable to local gangs. The high murder rates have resulted in such insecurity in El Salvador that the U.S. aid program, Partnership for Growth, indentified it as one of the country’s two primary barriers to economic growth.

Traffickers use border communities, coastal villages, and other regions to move shipments from South American producers to North American markets. But they don’t just use these communities quietly – they often take them over, corrupting local government and police officials, making sure that local citizens and law enforcement do not interfere with their activities.

Along the coast, traffickers use small villages, ports and tourist destinations to refuel the small boats they use to transport drug shipments by sea. They also use these villages to transfer shipments that arrive by boat to cars and trucks, which then continue the journey north via land routes. Traffickers use communities along El Salvador’s borders with Honduras and Guatemala to move shipments without interference from border agents.

The cartels control these towns by putting local government and police officials on their payrolls. In turn these officials arrange for locals to move and provide security for shipments, and make sure that law enforcement agencies do not interfere. The local government and police officials maintain a culture of lawlessness that prevents political opposition and limits civil society.

One of the best examples of how traffickers work in El Salvador is the Texis Cartel, which was exposed in a report put together by El Faro in May 2011 and a companion video produced by the Washington Office on Latin America. The Texis Cartel ran a land route that trafficked drugs and other contraband from Honduras through northern El Salvador and on to Guatemala.

While it remains unclear how decriminalization or legalization would affect Central American communities, experts and even President Obama agree that the long-term solution must include a decrease demand in the U.S. Unfortunately, U.S. officials have yet to shift their priorities, forcing Central and South American governments to discuss other options. And until the U.S. can kick its cocaine problem, the violence will continue and the cartels will continue to control communities throughout the Americas.

Peace Corps Pulling Out of El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras

The Washington Post reported yesterday that the US Government is suspending training for new Peace Crops volunteers in Guatemala and El Salvador while they “reassess security concerns.” The volunteers currently in place will remain and Peace Corps officials report that they are all safe and accounted for.

A new group of volunteers was to arrive in January 2012, but their training has been cancelled and they are being reassigned to other countries.

The BBC is reporting that the Peace Corps is completely putting out of Honduras, bringing all 158 current volunteers home in January.

According to the Peace Corps website, there are currently 122 Peace Corps volunteers in El Salvador and over 2,186 have served in El Salvador since 1962. Volunteers work in areas of community organization and economic development, rural health and sanitation, sustainable agriculture, agro-forest and environmental education, and youth development.

The reason for the withdrawal is security. The New York Times quoted Kristina Edmunson, a Peace Corps spokeswoman in Washington, who said the move stemmed from “comprehensive safety and security concerns” rather than any specific threat or incident. The Times article, stated, however, that Peace Corps Journals, an online portal for blogs by Peace Corps volunteers, has an entry referring to a volunteer who was shot in the leg during an armed robbery on a bus.

Central America has become the most violent region in the world, and Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala have recently posted the highest murder rates in the world. Part of the reason for the uptick in violence is the increased presence of international organized criminal networks that are trafficking drugs from South American producers to North American markets.

Guatemalan Court finds Manuel Castillo Guilty of Murdering the Three Salvadoran Diputados

Last week, a Guatemalan court found ex-diputado Manuel Castillo guilty of being the intellectual author behind the assassination of three Salvadoran Diputados and their driver in February 2007. El Faro reported that the judges sentenced Castillo to 200 years in prison, 50 years for each murder. The court also found Carlos Alberto Gutiérrez Arévalo guilty of being an accessory to murder and sentenced him to 93 years in prison.

The prosecutor successfully convinced the court that Salvadoran ex-diputado Roberto Silva wanted revenge against the ARENA political party for turning on him when he was being charged with money laundering and corruption. The prosecutor claimed that Silva contacted Castillo to arrange the killings of the ARENA Diputados. Silva is in a detention facility in Arizona where he is being held on immigration charges and was not present for these hearings.

The defense argued that a parallel security force operated by high-ranking Guatemalan officials were responsible for the killings. This is a theory supported by the UN-sponsored International Commission Against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG, in Spanish). As we posted in November, a leaked CICIG report provided details about the parallel security force, as well as details about the murders. The report claims, in part, that William Pichinte – one of the Salvadoran Diputados – was carrying 20 kilograms of cocaine and $5 million in cash the night they were murdered. Former Guatemalan Interior Minister Carlos Vielmann and Victor Rivera (aka “Zacarias”), who were both involved in the parallel security force, learned of the drugs and money and arranged to have the vehicle detained and searched, and the Diputados and their driver killed.

Since the CICIG report came to light, there has been a lot of dispute about its findings concerning the assassinations of the Diputados. Salvadoran Diputado Roberto D’Aubuisson, the brother of Eduardo D’Aubuisson who was one of the Diputados killed, spoke out against the CICIG report, adamantly denying that drugs were not involved. Ex-Salvadoran President Alfredo Cristiani, who is also head of COENA (the leadership organization within the ARENA party), took a less aggressive position but called for a more thorough investigation before rushing to judgment. The Guatemalan prosecutors refused to investigate those implicated by the CICIG report.

From the beginning, this has been a very confusing case in which the truth seems illusive. Those following the story have had to interpret numerous hypothesis and accusations since the attacks against the Diputados and the assassinations of the four Guatemalan police officers arrested for their murders. Ex-Diputados Roberto Silva and Manuel Castillo, who are notorious for their  involvement in money laundering and organized crime, will be taking the fall for these murders.  The ruling nearly guarantees that the people implicated in the CICIG report will not be prosecuted for this crime.  In the days following the murders, there were reports that it was a drug deal gone bad and that cash and drugs had been stolen from the scene. Though it was the revenge theory pushed by the prosecutors, the drug trafficking theory survives and those in power continue to deny it and attack those who promote it. We hope that the investigations continue, but fear that like so many of the high profile corruption cases in the region, the truth will get buried in confusion.

Civil Society Leaders Still Targeted for Anti-Mining Activities

Last week, Salvadoran environmentalists were kidnapped and robbed for a second time in Guatemala. The activists have been protesting the Cerro Blanco mine on the Guatemala-El Salvador border and the victims believe this to be the motive of the attack.

On October 28, three Salvadoran environmentalists from the Center for Investigation of Investment and Commerce (CEICOM) and two Salvadoran journalists from Channel 10 were traveling on a Guatemalan Highway en route to the Capital when their vehicle was stopped by a group of armed men. Though the men were wearing civilian clothes, the victims report that some of their clothing identified them as Guatemalan police. The attackers took the environmentalists and reporters to a nearby farm where they were beaten, robbed of their video camera, laptops, cash, and mobile phones, and then abandoned.

Members of the MESA meeting with Foreign Minister Hugo Martinez

The CEICOM delegation was on its way to report on a hearing being held by the Guatemalan Legislative Assembly on the Cerro Blanco mine, and its impacts on El Salvador. The ministries of Foreign Relations, of the Environment, and Energy and Mines all testified. While the attackers first claimed that they suspected the delegation of smugglin

g drugs, during the detention they referred to the activists going to the legislative hearing about the Cerro Blanco mine.

The day before the attack, activists blocked the Guatemalan-Salvadoran border crossings at San Cristóbal and Cara Sucia in protest of the Cerro Blanco mine

. Environmental organizations that participated in the protests included the National Roundtable Against Mining (La Mesa), the Environmental Committee of Metapán, and CEICO

M from El Salvador, and the Madreselva Collective, the Catholic Church and the neighbors of Asunción Mita from Guatemala.

CEICOM and others have called for the Salvadoran government to denounce the assaults a

nd demand an investigation by the Guatemalan government. Salvadoran Foreign Minister Hugo Martínez announced that he would send an official diplomatic letter to the Guatemalan Government asking for explanations for the a

ttacks. Martínez also stated that he would meet with CEICOM representatives to discuss the potential impacts that the mine will have on Salvadoran communities.

This was not the first time that CEICOM environmentalists were stopped by the Guatemalan police. On July 30, a CEICOM delegation was en route to Guatemala City when the Guatemalan police detained them, claiming that they were searching for drug traffickers. According to reports at the time, the delegates were robbed of their money, cameras, and other items, and released after several hours of detention. The delegation was on its way to the Capital to file a complaint with the Guatemalan Human Rights Ombudsman for environmental harm that the Cerro Blanco mine would cause to El Salvador. In statement to the press, CEICOM representative Edgardo Mira said, “for us it is clear that this event is directly related to the first event.”

The CEICOM environmentalists are only the latest anti-mining activists from El Salvador to be attacked. As we’ve discussed in numerous other postings, activists from around Cabañas, El Salvador have been threatened, attacked, and even murdered for taking a public stand against mining. These attacks are all a part of a systematic attempt to quash civil society, and impunity in these attacks undermine weakens the rule of law and the democratic process in El Salvador and other Central American countries.

 

Bombing in Cojutepeque

Over the weekend, the Latin American Herald Tribune and El Diario de Hoy reported that Friday two teenagers were killed and four others wounded when a bomb or grenade exploded in the downtown area of Cojutepeuque, a city located about 20 miles outside of San Salvador. The youth were in the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant when unidentified attackers threw the bomb, which exploded causing severe injuries.  The two teens died before they could receive treatment at the Cojutepeque hospital. 

Investigators have yet to determine who instigated the attack or their motives.  Though violence in El Salvador is increasing, and police report between 10-12 murders everyday, these homicides stand out because the assailants used a bomb.

The bombing occurred two days after the UNDP released a report that ranks Central America as the most violent region in the world. As a region, Central America’s murder rate is 33 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants – the World Health Organization considers a murder rate greater than 10 per 100,000 an epidemic. Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala lead the region with homicide rate of 58, 52, and 48/100,000 respectively.

Hernando Gómez Buendía, who coordinated the report for the UNDP, stressed that the issue is more complex than comparing regional homicide statistics.  Mr. Gómez Buendía cites a survey within the report that reveals the populations’ high sense of insecurity.  For example, 14% of those surveyed had been a victim of a crime in the past year. El Salvador has the highest victimization rates, with 19% reporting that they were victimized.  Only 8.3% of Panamanians, however, reported being the victim of a crime, the lowest in the region. The insecurity that results from violent aggression, rape, kidnapping, corruption, and other crimes has an adverse affect on a country’s development. 

The UNDP report identifies the security policies adopted by Central American governments as a large part of the problem. UNDP official Marcela Smutt says “the policies were insufficient and ineffective in their efforts to control the violence, and they were irresponsible by giving their populations a false sense of security.” The report specifically cites El Salvador’s Super Mano Duro (heavy hand) policy, which was also adopted by Guatemala and Honduras.  The policy enacted a zero tolerance program that violated the basic due process and human rights of those believed to be involved in the violence, without addressing the roots of the violence.  During the life of Super Mano Duro, the homicide rates and violence increased considerably. Gómez Buendía said in an interview “it is necessary to understand that the phenomenon of youth gangs and violence is constantly changing.  We must also consider the issues of organized crime, drug trafficking, and corruption when considering how to address the problem of youth gangs.”

Violent Death for Nicaraguan Merchants

Last Saturday a bus of 15 Nicaraguan merchants and one Dutch national were taken hostage, shot, and then burned inside their bus in Zacapa, Guatemala, 125 miles from the Salvadoran border. The merchants traveled weekly to Guatemala for goods, but on this journey they were separated from their caravan after their bus had broken down. One of the deceased victims called a family member prior to the violence, describing a border patrol vehicle that had detained the bus.The Human Rights Ombudsman of Guatemala, Sergio Morales has called for both El Salvador and Guatemala to investigate the border patrols on duty that night.

A report by the US DEA and the Guatemalan Anti-narcotic department pointed to the Golfo cartel of Guatemala and members of the Mexican narco-assasin group Los Zetas as the culprits. The burned bus revealed empty hidden compartments built into the floor, and the report described the Golfo’s planned robbery of 3 tons of cocaine from a bus on the Salvadoran border. When the detained bus failed to hold any drugs, the group of 15 armed men killed passengers and abandoned the charred bus on the territory of a rival cartel in Zacapa.

The Golfo cartel was also linked to the assassination of the three PARLECEN leaders in 2006. The BMW that bought the gasoline to burn the Salvadoran legislators in their own vehicle belonged to the Golfo’s leader Jorge Mario ‘El Gordo’ Paredes. Other reports have found evidence of Los Zetas training camps in the isolated Guatemalan departments of Quiche, Alta Verapaz and Peten. Another drug related massacre led by Los Zetas leader Daniel ‘el Cachetes (cheeks)’ Pérez Rojas occured in Zacapa on March 25 of this year; 11 people were killed.