El Salvador Perspectives

Protests by inmates in El Salvador's prisons have created chaos in the penal system. Throughout this year there have been ongoing protests in La Esperanza prison (Mariona) and other prisons in the country. Prisoner protests have focused on restrictions on family visits and transfers of prisoners from one prison to another. An article from Crispaz in March 2005 describes some of the prisoners' demands. Salvadoran prisons are overcrowded and tense. During August 2004, 31 prisoners in La Esperanza were massacred in rioting involving a clash between rival gangs. The government's "Firm Hand" anti-gang policies have filled the prisons past capacity. Some current prison conditions were described in this January 2005 post . In the most recent round of protests, for the past month prisoners have refused to go to appear at court hearings. Hundreds of hearings have had to be postponed because prisoners do not shown up. These protests include hunger strikes. La P...

Ana Vilma de Escobar, vice president of El Salvador, has been visiting South Carolina on a trade mission. She answered questions put to her by a South Carolina paper : QUESTION: What are the greatest growth opportunities for El Salvador? ANSWER: The biggest challenge we have in El Salvador now is economic growth. We have succeeded in stabilizing the country politically. QUESTION: What areas of the economy do you expect to expand, and what are you hoping to find in your visits here? ANSWER: We have identified strategic sectors. The first one is logistics and distribution. ... Textiles is also one of the most important sectors. We presently have 90,000 jobs in that. We’re seeking investments in textile mills to produce the fabric that we’re currently importing. We’re importing about 90 percent of the fabric we use in the region, so there’s a big opportunity there. QUESTION: This is 25 years since the death of Archbishop Oscar Romero and more than a decade since the civil war ended. How ...

There is more news about the fears raised by the recent activity at the Ilamatepec volcano. Diario CoLatino reports that the community of Cantón Palo Campana, located at the foot of the volcano, has evacuated. The community is being supported by a variety of church and non-governmental organizations who are provding food and shelter to the fleeing residents. This is the second community to pick up and leave the area around the volcano. Approximately two weeks ago, the community of Finca San Blas also evacuated. The government refuses to provide support to thse voluntary evacuees. The government asserts that the danger level does not justify evacuation and that it need not provide support to people who voluntarily decide to leave.

In a recently published investigation , La Prensa Grafica reports that the Salvadoran government has done little to prepare to evacuate the 12,700 people who live beside the Ilamatepec (Santa Ana) volcano: 15 days ago, the authorities of the National Service for Earth Studies (SNET) talked for the first time that the volcano had the conditions for suffering an eruption. To this date, however, a plan of evacuation, that includes routes, systems of communication and means of transportation, is little more than ideas. For example, there are not inventories of evacuation vehicles, some of the escape roads are impassable, and the population doesn't know what would be the most expeditious escape route. When asked about evacuation plans, a government official told La Prensa that authorities were putting the final touches on a plan and that completion would be easy. When asked to see the list of evacuation vehicles, he produced a list of 14 pick ups. According to La Prensa, that would ...

In his El Salvador blog , Chuck Stewart reports that the Anglican churches in El Salvador will dedicate all of the Sunday offerings in September to relief efforts for Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in the US: Bishop Martin Barahona of El Salvador and Archbishop of the Anglican Church of the Region of Central America (IARCA), said, "We wish to let the Episcopal Church know of our sadness, accompaniment, and our solidarity. We share your pain. We pray that God will give people the strength to surmount the current difficulties. We are particularly saddened by what happened in New Orleans." He added that Salvadorans are ready to come to the United States to help with relief efforts in Spanish-speaking communities. Dios les bendiga a la gente de El Salvador.

After more than 300 posts to this blog, it was time to change its design. I hope you like the new look. There will probably be some other smaller changes in the coming weeks when I get time to make them. Let me know what you think.

El Salvador continues under an "orange alert" as a weather system, indirectly caused by Hurricane Rita continues to drop rain in the country. Much of the flooding has been in low-lying areas of San Salvador. The problems stem from an inadequate system to carry away rain water, and trash which clogs drains in the streets. As a result, some streets become surging rivers. Mudslides have killed three people in the country in the past few days. 490 persons were evacuated from homes in areas at highest risk. The most effected areas are San Salvador and La Libertad. La Prensa has a detailed explanation of the causes of flooding in low-lying neighborhoods of San Salvador at this page . You can see a gallery of photos of the current flooding at this link .