El Salvador Perspectives

My post on US president Obama's visit to El Salvador on Tuesday pretty much reflected the coverage in Salvadoran and US mass media: Smiling schoolchildren waving US and Salvadoran flags. Two presidents elected on platforms of hope and change giving a press conference. A somber Obama visiting the tomb of Oscar Romero. A state dinner (where the pupusa was featured ). This portrayal of the visit earned me a complimentary email from a contact at the US Embassy. But not everyone was happy to see Barack Obama on Salvadoran soil. Protesters in the streets of San Salvador and in cyberspace raised their voices against a variety of aspects of US policy impacting this tiny country in Central America. The video below  from the SHARE Foundation shows some of the protests which were centered around the Plaza Salvador del Mundo. As the statue of the Divine Savior of the World looked on, a potpourri of civil society groups marched, demonstrated, and voiced their anger: A regula...

March 24 is the 31st anniversary of the assassination of Oscar Romero. The visit on Tuesday to Romero's tomb by the president of the most powerful nation on earth, shows the enduring power of the message and example set by Romero, the voice of the voiceless. To reflect on that message, a great way is to visit the Super Martyrio blog maintained by our blogging friend Polycarpio. The blog is dedicated to exploring Romero and his legacy and to "the inside track on the beatification cause of archbishop Romero of El Salvador." Polycarpio has just published a series of posts on the last 40 days of Romero's life, and seven sermons the archbishop preached during that time. From the introduction to the series: On Valentine’s Day 1980, Óscar Romero began a ‘Quaresima’ of Love, embarking on the last forty days of his life, an incredible period in which he crowned his pilgrimage upon the earth with martyrdom, following Jesus down the Lenten path on a route that inc...

Video of Obama's arrival. Shortly after noon today, March 22, US president Barack Obama arrived in El Salvador for a state visit.   Public offices and many schools were closed, as the country welcomed Obama.   Following an arrival ceremony at the airport where he was greeted by the foreign minister and the mayor of San Salvador, Obama was flown to the Salvadoran presidential residence for meetings with president Mauricio Funes.   Obama is accompanied on this trip by his wife Michelle and his daughters. Following their meetings, the two leaders gave a joint press conference.  The full text of the two presidents' press conference is  available here .  There was a discussion of various development support which the US will be providing El Salvador, as well as security and combating drug-trafficking. One of the important topics for El Salvador was US migration policy.  In statements in El Salvador,  Obama stated , “I thought that President ...

If you have access to the Hulu video streaming site, you can now watch the entire documentary Return to El Salvador .   I recommend the documentary strongly, and it's great to see Jamie Moffett 's film available in this way.  You can watch the documentary on the  Hulu site here.

My friend Jose Artiga, executive director of the SHARE Foundation, asked me to share this open letter to the editor, timed to coincide with president Obama's visit to El Salvador. Dear Editor, This March, US President Barack Obama will visit Chile, Brazil and El Salvador as part of a major initiative to renew and strengthen ties between our countries. This visit to El Salvador coincides with the 31st anniversary of the assassination of Monsignor Oscar Romero, the archbishop who fought against great odds on behalf of the oppressed. President Obama’s visit to El Salvador is historic; marking the first time a U.S. President will meet with President Mauricio Funes of the FMLN in El Salvador after the twelve year Civil War and nearly two decades of right wing rule. This visit represents a new chapter in US-Salvadoran relations and raises hope and expectations for a constructive working partnership. According to the US Census, today, 1.7 million Salvadorans live in the United S...

There's a chink in the culture of impunity in El Salvador this week. More than a decade too late, there are finally convictions in the rape and murder of little Katya Miranda. She is the 9 year old girl, killed in 1999 by her grandfather and workers at the family's beachfront property. The grandfather, Carlos Miranda, was politically well-connected with sons who were high officials in the police and army. His first trial ended in an acquittal, which most viewed as a symbol that those with power could still get away with anything in El Salvador. A campaign led by the Human Rights Institute at the University of Central America, and taken up by Salvadoran bloggers and civil society organizations, demanded justice, and finally in 2009 Miranda and seven others were arrested . Our friends at the Voices from El Salvador blog summarize this week's convictions: Twelve years after nine-year old Katya Miranda was kidnapped, raped and murdered, a Salvadoran court finally ...

One of the greatest organizations in El Salvador is the Comandos de Salvamento and their brave emergency medical service volunteers. Earlier this week, the Comandos mourned the death of one of their leaders, Eduardo Rivera Mayén. From the Comandos website : Dozens of EMS volunteers from Comandos de Salvamento were accompanied by members of the Red and Green Cross, the National Fire Dept, family members, friends, delegates from political parties and representatives from Civil Protection to say their last goodbyes to friend and colleague Eduardo Rivera Mayén. Commonly called, "Mayen" by close friends was the main Comandos de Salvamento spokesman for the Salvadoran press. During mass disasters, civil war firefights, street protests, mass casualty incidents, or violent crime, Mayen was always there, calm and professional under extreme circumstances to offer concrete information to Salvadoran journalists and comforting words to families of those affected. Mayen was transport...