El Salvador Perspectives

A group of scientists have been looking at the intersection of economics, ecology, and emigration as it impacts the forest cover (or lack thereof) in El Salvador: A study in the September issue of BioScience presents novel findings on how globalization, land policy changes, and monies sent to family members by emigrants have transformed agriculture and stimulated woodland resurgence in El Salvador. The study, by Susanna B. Hecht and Sassan S. Saatchi, employed socioeconomic data, land-use surveys, and satellite imagery to monitor changes in woody cover in El Salvador since peace accords were signed in 1992. Most analyses of forest cover in Central America have focused on the loss of old-growth forests. In drawing attention to the regrowth of woodland in a country that was extensively deforested during the 1970s, Hecht and Saatchi call for a renewed examination of social and economic influences on agricultural practices and of the implications for forest extent. New-growth forests, ofte...

I admit it. I really like Pollo Campero chicken. So this is good news. August 30, 2007 // Franchising.com // DALLAS – Pollo Campero has successfully opened two of its newest restaurants in Albany Park, Ill. and Hempstead, N.Y. Residents of both cities have eagerly awaited the Latin-inspired fried chicken concept and this July Pollo Campero answered their grumbling stomachs. Both restaurants broke more records than many of the latest Pollo Campero openings. Hempstead served more than 15,000 people in the first week as well as 1511 chickens, 180 pounds of beans, 172 pounds of plantains and 1420 units of tostones. Albany Park served nearly 4,000 pounds of chicken, 165 pounds of beans, 349 pounds of plantains, and 76 pounds of tostones while customers came back the first month to eat an overwhelming amount of chicken – 31,830 pounds to be precise! ... Pollo Campero initiated its U.S. expansion in 2002 after selling three million "to go" orders through various Central American ...

The Miami Herald has an article today about the burden El Salvador faces as thousands arrive in the country after being deported by the US: The overwhelming number of repatriations involve ... ''criminal aliens,'' who completed their sentence in U.S. jails for offenses that range from drugs to murder, as well as undocumented adult migrants caught in the United States. Improved cooperation between U.S. and Salvadoran authorities is in large part responsible for the hike in deportations, officials on both sides say. ''We have been working with El Salvador to speed up the deportation process so people aren't languishing in [U.S.] detention centers,'' said Rebecca Thompson, a spokeswoman at the U.S. Embassy in San Salvador. Salvadoran authorities say some of the deportees could have bright futures, especially in the construction and tourism industries. ''My administration is trying to find a way for the noncriminals to find a job,'' sai...

In El Salvador and the rest of Central America, dealing with garbage is a major environmental problem, as this 2000 article describes: Today’s garbage "treatment" in almost all of Central America’s cities and towns can be compared to sweeping up garbage at home, then hiding it under the bed when no one is looking, as though this resolved the problem. Increasingly rapid and disorganized urban expansion, overcrowding, industrial growth and changing consumption patterns mean that each of us constantly produces more garbage that must be "swept up." Throwing this garbage "away" may seem the fastest, easiest way to get rid of it, but that only piles it up somewhere else, and spreads the contamination in the process. Dumping garbage in vacant fields or ravines or alongside roads and highways contaminates the air with toxic gases, foul odors and ash, and forms focal points for diseases carried by flies, mosquitoes, cockroaches and rats. Toxic substances filter in...

Over the past few years, I have pointed readers of the blog to various television shows about the gang Mara Salvatrucha, MS-13. I have highlighted such programs as 18 With a Bullet , The World's Most Dangerous Gang , Hijos de la Guerra , and Ross Kemp on Gangs . This week, NPR's program On The Media broadcast a segment critiquing such coverage of the gang and the portrayal of Mara Salvatrucha as "the World's Most Dangerous Gang." The basic argument of researcher Kevin Pranis is that the coverage is overblown because the gang is neither as dangerous nor as organized as the mass media would have people believe. He also asserts that the coverage is actually counter-productive because it has had the impact of glamorizing the Mara Salvatrucha brand and actually making it more attractive to certain youths. I had some reactions as I listened to that segment on the radio. First, since I don't think many mareros read my blog, I am not too concerned that my blo...

Storm systems spawned by the passage of Hurricane Dean to the north of El Salvador have dumped great quantities of rain on El Salvador this week. Although El Salvador was suffering from something of a drought earlier this year, the rains have now arrived with force. La Prensa Grafica has devoted a special section of its web site to the rainy season which includes news, video, weather forecasts, and current infrared satellite views of the weather over Central America. This week's rains have hit the eastern part of the country the hardest. Flooding in La Unión has impacted more than 3000 persons. You can see a photo gallery of the floods' impact at this link . The eastern part of the country remains under yellow and orange alerts for further rain and flooding.

Archaeologists from the University of Colorado recently made findings at the village of Ceren archaeological site in El Salvador that the ancient Mayas cultivated manioc (also known as cassava): A University of Colorado at Boulder team excavating an ancient Maya village in El Salvador buried by a volcanic eruption 1,400 years ago has discovered an ancient field of manioc, the first evidence for cultivation of the calorie-rich tuber in the New World. The manioc field was discovered under roughly 10 feet of ash, said CU-Boulder anthropology Professor Payson Sheets, who has been directing the excavation of the ancient village of Ceren since its discovery in 1978. Considered the best-preserved ancient village in Latin America, Ceren's buildings, artifacts and landscape were frozen in time by the sudden eruption of the nearby Loma Caldera volcano about 600 A.D., providing a unique window on the everyday lives of prehistoric Mayan farmers. The discovery marks the first time manioc cu...