El Salvador Pack
1. cforl logo / El Salvador is one of the four countries in Commitment for Life’s new region of Central America2.
EL Salvadoran art / The main issues
3. Central America / Central America, slim piece of land between North and South Americas. It borders the Caribbean Sea to the east and the Pacific to the west. Spanish is the official language, although some indigenous languages are also spoken. Christian Aid’s Central America region includes Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua as well as El Salvador.
4. ES Map / El Salvador is the Size of Wales. Spanish is the official language, although some indigenous languages are also spoken
5. Statistics / Population 6.2 million. “El Salvador is the most densely populated country in Central America. 60% of people live in towns.
In 2010 El Salvador ranked twelfth among Latin American countries[8] in terms of the Human Development Index- Jeni Klugman (2010). “Human Development Report 2010” (Report). Palgrave Macmillan. P.152. Retrieved 18 October 2013.
Life expectancy is 72 years
Literacy rate is 84%
On average 10 homicides a day. In 2014 between January and May there were 530 femicides.
30% of Salvadorians live outside the country
The textile industry is the largest exporter, 35% of total exports. It brings in foreign investment of 425 million dollars in last 2 decades.
6. Issues / • Natural Disasters
• Climate change
• Civil War
• Oscar Romero and church
• Violence
1. Gangs
2. Security
3. Gender and Femicide
• Dependence on US
7. Natural Disasters
View from hotel in Morozan, Northern El Salvador / They have 2 seasons a year:
Hot- November to May
Rainy - June to October
88% of the territory and 90% of the people suffer droughts, flooding and mud slides from hurricanes and tropical storms and these seriously impact the economy. In the Central Mountains they have tremors and earthquakes and volcanic eruptions (It sits on a fault line)
There used to be storms every 10 years. Since 2011, there have been 4 hurricanes. Hurricane Mitch in 1998, Hurricane Stan in 2005 Hurricane Ida in 2009, and Tropical Depression 12E in 2011.
8. / Climate Change
The average temperature in El Salvador has increased by 1.80°C, and yet the country emits just 0.02% of global carbon emissions
On this thin strip of land between the Atlantic and the Pacific they are vulnerable. Over the last 46 years the rainy season has changed, even the behaviour of birds has changed. Rain is less frequent, but more intense. The San Popo ant that was seen everywhere in May is now scarce. In the cities, they are finding that there are more hot days and nights.
All this creates conditions for transmittable diseases such as dengue and cholera to flourish.
Despite the fact that they are not responsible for the rise in greenhouse gases they are amongst the 10 countries most affected. That is why they demand climate justice and international agreements.
Water is a huge problem. Today 90% of the water is contaminated. Water comes from Guatemala and Honduras. Both have metallic mining which pollute the rivers. All this make them vulnerable to disaster.
Director of UNES, a CA partner said to us. “Environmental work might sound ‘pretty’ and ‘nice’ but for us it about the basics of life.
9. Civil War - Massacre Memorial / Civil War 1980-92
100,000 died, mostly the innocent.
There were three causes of the war:-
1. Social inequality
2. Genocide
3. Government power
The first stage was protests and rallies and in response the government became violent. Then it became genocide and repression. People took up arms, the army bombed villages and children were killed. Instead of suppressing them it made people more determined to fight. US trained squads were used. Their programme was called ‘scorched earth.’
This image shows a memorial to the 1980s Massacre at El Mozote. El Mozote, the place of the biggest massacre in Central America, December 11th, 1981, where whole families were killed. Only one person survived, Rufina Amaya Marquez. She told her story, which was not believed until bodies were exhumed.
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/09/world/americas/09amaya.html?_r=1&(article written on the death of Rufina in 2007)
People of incredible resilience and tenacity but with recent memory of the Civil War still vivid and returning guerrillas with amputations and scars a constant reminder.
Sanchez Ceren, of the ruling Frente Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) is the new President and the first President to be a former guerrilla. El Salvador is a democratic republic, where the President is both head of state and head of government. This is a government trying to make changes.
10. Oscar Romero
And Church / Oscar Romero’s legacy
95% Christian – Roman Catholic traditionally, but with an increasing number of evangelical churches being established
Romero (on the left with the black clerical shirt) was murdered by the US-backed government army in 1980 as he was taking Mass. He was just one of the thousands massacred in the 1970s and 1980s. By speaking out for the poor, he was seen as challenging the interests of the rich, and therefore against the right wing government’s ideals.
Romero is not a figure of the past in El Salvador, but a living saint, quoted everywhere, and even in letters to civil authorities. He has authority to speak, for the church and for the people.
This image shows Romero and a priest called Rogelio Ponced. He knew Oscar Romero and is still in pastoral care in the church in St Sebastian in Perquin. He was known as Father Tomato as he fed the children during the civil war.
Violence
11. Gangs / Youth violence is experienced through gangs or marras. The 'E18’ and ‘Mara Salvatrucha (MS13) which are named after the streets in Los Angeles where they were started.
Young people seek comfort, which is often not available at home, or from the rest of society, by joining gangs. All young people are automatically seen as delinquents regardless of their involvement, or lack of, with gangs. Gang violence began in El Salvador in 1994 and has become an increasing issue since then, with an estimated 60,000 young people involved. The older people are naturally very fearful for the future.
12. YP / After the civil war, many young men formed into violent gangs. A major contributing factor to this was that the conflict had militarised society; children and young people had grown up with fighting and violence, and replicated it once the civil war had ended. Combined with this, an economic downturn characterised by rising unemployment and a lack of opportunity for young people helped to create a culture of disenchantment and made gang membership an appealing option. Churches and organisations, such as CA partner FESPAD, who are promoting rehabilitation, are often labelled as supporting criminals. This image is of a youth group supported by Christian Aid’s partner ISD (INICIATIVA SOCAL PARA LA DEMOCRACIA)
13 Security- gate / Security around homes, not walking on streets after a certain time even in international hotel areas are all issues to be considered. Life is lived behind barbed wire and gates. This is the door into a Christian Aid partner’s offices which is locked once staff are in.
14. Gender and Femicide / Machismo society. 530 femicides from January to May 2014
The machismo culture in Salvadorian society ensures that solidarity, sincerity and respect are not experienced by all. Machismo describes the sense of power or the right to dominate held by men, and is encouraged to young boys (and subservience to girls). This exaggerated sense of manliness often leaves women voiceless, with their role in the home as little more than baby-making machines. Although change is beginning to happen (mostly in the middle and upper classes) it is far harder in rural society. This image shows staff from ISD who are trained to help young people break down the gender bias of their society.
15. Dependence of US:- Shopping mall / Power imbalance with North America. Free trade agreements are supporting monopolies and megaprojects, affecting the purchasing power of the majority, and leading to greater exclusion and increasing levels of poverty.
1.8 million El Salvadorans live in the US.
In recent years, the lack of jobs and the country’s fledgling economy have forced Salvadoran migrants to make the journey to the U.S. alongside other Central American and Mexican migrants. Others move to the Caribbean or Europe.
This mall is in San Merino, an area dominated by families who receive money from families working in the US.
16. web site
Cforl - El Salvador pack 2014