Salvadorans looks for mining ban

Edgardo Ayala provides an update on Rural Communities Push El Salvador Towards Ban on Mining for IPS.

In this Central American country of 6.2 million, there were 18 gold and silver mines in 2004, some of them operated by local and foreign companies under concessions.

Since 2008 no new concessions have been granted, but 74 requests are still pending.

The mining industry accounts for 0.8 percent of El Salvador’s GDP, according to the report “Metals, mining, and sustainable development in Central America” published by Oxfam in 2008.

But business sectors represented by the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), which governed the country from 1989 to 2009, argue that a suspension of mining activity would send out a negative signal to foreign investors.

El Salvador has had an effective ban on mining for the last six or seven years but environmentalists are hoping that a more permanent ban, however unlikely, might come out of the next congress. ARENA is right. A ban would send out a negative signal to foreign investors. However, a ban still might be a worthwhile policy.

Ejecuciones Extrajudiciales en Centroamerica

What looks like an interesting video about extrajudicial executions in Guatemala with a focus on the murders at Pavon Prison.

Guatemala's former police chief, Erwin Sperisen, is currently on trial in Switzerland for his role in the extrajudicial executions that took place at El Pavon in 2006..

And there are concerns that death squads have reemerged in El Salvador. They might be involved in the social cleansing of suspected gang members.

David Stoll on US involvement in Guatemala's civil war

In David Stoll's book review that I mentioned yesterday, I also wanted to draw attention to something else that David wrote about US involvement in Guatemala during that country's civil war (yes because it echoes my understanding of the situation).

Guatemala’s internal armed conflict began in the early 1960s, reached its crescendo in the early 1980s and dragged on until a formal peace agreement was signed in 1996. Like many ordinary Latin Americans across those decades, Guatemalans could choose between two unappealing alternatives: U.S.-supported dictatorships or admirers of the Cuban Revolution. In Guatemala the guerrillas justified their struggle by pointing to the US government’s overthrow of a democratically elected government in 1954. The first guerrilla organizers were dissident army officers, appalled by their country’s subservience to U.S. interests, and then university intellectuals, shut out of electoral politics by state repression of the left. These mainly urban revolutionaries had little success communicating with Guatemala’s indigenous peasants until the late 1970s, when entire villages suddenly began to join them.

Ironically, by the time Guatemala’s guerrilla organizations were approaching their apogee, the U.S. government had cut off public military assistance to the Guatemalan army. With the Carter administration embracing human rights, U.S. diplomats could not help but acknowledge the army’s barbaric behavior against opponents. The Central Intelligence Agency continued to work with army officers, and Israeli and Argentine advisers may have served as proxies, but the U.S. role in the Guatemalan bloodshed of the 1980s was small compared to its role in El Salvador and Nicaragua.

Unfortunately for indigenous peasants living in contested areas, the army’s minimal reliance on U.S. military aid also freed it from the conditions attached to that aid. And so the Guatemalan army carried out what may have been the most brutal counterinsurgency campaign in Latin America. Hundreds of villages were destroyed, tens of thousands of noncombatants were killed, and hundreds of thousands more were driven off their land. This was accompanied by a ferocious campaign of disappearances and repression in the capital.

As I've argued before, US military / economic support for the Guatemalan government and military is often overstated. The US House of Representatives and Jimmy Carter fought to promote human rights in Guatemala and elsewhere in the 1970s. The Guatemalan government fought back against those conditions. President Reagan tried to resume all sorts of aid to Guatemala without any noticeable improvement in how the Guatemalan military was carrying out the war. Fortunately, the US Congress fought back against Reagan's efforts. They weren't totally successful but Reagan got less than he wanted.

US involvement in Guatemala's civil war is pretty ugly, just not as ugly as some people seem to misremember.

Day of the disappeared in El Salvador (and U2 sings in Spanish)

Approximately, 8,000 Salvadorans were disappeared during the civil war, including roughly 1,000 children that Pro-Busqueda has documented. One of those disappeared children, Alfredo Funes, was reunited with his family earlier this week thirty-three years after he was taken during a military encounter in Usulután. Pro-Busqueda has now reunited over 200 stolen children with their biological families.

While the Salvadoran courts continue to grapple with the applicability of the 1993 amnesty, there are other ways in which the Salvadoran state can pursue matters of transnational justice. President Funes has apologized for the massacre at El Mozote and provided the families of the Jesuit martyrs with the country's highest civilian honor. The Wall of Historic Memory can be visited in San Salvador.

One more act the Salvadoran government can carry out to recognize the victims of the armed conflict is to recognize the disappeared. Salvadoran human rights activists have petitioned the government to establish a day to commemorate "Forced Disappearance" to coincide with the United Nations' "International Day of the Disappeared" on August 30. The petition goes to the Salvadoran Congress today.

David Stoll's review of Julie Lopez' Bishop Gerardi: Death in God's Neighborhood

David Stoll has a recent book review of Julie Lopez' Bishop Gerardi: Death in God's Neighborhood. He favorably compares her investigation with those of the not so favorable Francisco Goldman and the pretty favorable Maite Rico and Bertrand de la Grange.

In Guatemala, the nagging question of ‘Who killed the bishop’ has become a mirror—or perhaps a political Rorschach test—for how one defines the challenge of law and order. Frank Goldman looks in the mirror and sees the “art of political murder.” In that case, Msgr. Gerardi was the victim of a superbly efficient army killing machine—and in that case Guatemala has not changed much from the darkest days of the 1980s.

For Maite Rico and Bertrand de la Grange, the mirror shows that Gerardi succumbed to a particular army faction’s skill in exploiting the private lives of Catholic clerics. This faction then fooled the human rights movement into withdrawing its support from a relatively responsible administration, one that was more or less committed to the peace accords, and implicitly giving its support to an administration that wrecked the peace accords.

For Julie López, finally, the assassination of Msgr. Gerardi is an x-ray into the bottomless intrigue of Guatemalan political life. But not an x-ray that tells us who killed him. Or why.

Not surprisingly, it is López who lives in Guatemala.

I was fascinated by Francisco Goldman's The Art of Political Murder: Who Killed the Bishop? and still have a hard time no thinking that it was members of the Guatemalan military who orchestrated the Bishop's murder in order to punish him for the Catholic Church's human rights report and to prevent investigations from going any further.

Like many events in Guatemala, however, the true story of what happened that night in April 1998 remains murky. The evidence that the father-son Lima tandem carried out the murder is not as compelling as the evidence that they were implicated in the cover-up. We might never know what happened or why.

You can read Julie's description of her book here in this post from August 2013.

70% of Salvadorans supported peace accords in Feb 1992

With all the news about the FARC's 50th anniversary and this weekend's election in Colombia, I tried to look back at some polling concerning the Peace Accords in El Salvador in 1992. The Peace Accords were not put to a vote in El Salvador in 1992 although the strong showing by the government's representatives in negotiating with the FMLN, ARENA, in the 1991 legislative elections did bode well for the peace process.

Even though the accords were an elite pact between the FMLN and the Salvadoran government, they were quite popular in El Salvador (from what I can tell).

As you can somewhat see in the photo above, 70 percent of respondents had a positive evaluation of the peace accords in February 1992 (Jose Miguel Cruz, The Peace Accords Ten Years Later: A Citizens' Perspective). Two years later, support for the accords was still very high with 66 percent approval. According to Cruz, Salvadorans were looking for the accords to solve a number of problems, not just end the war, at this point in time. They hoped that the accords would usher in an era of prosperity (okay, maybe not that glowing) that would also lead to increased economic well-being, a strengthening of democracy, and a reduction in crime/insecurity.

When the accords did not bring the revolutionary transformation that Salvadorans had hoped, approval of the accords dropped significantly.

By January 1995, only 33 percent had a positive opinion of the peace accords. We are talking less than a year after the "elections of the century." Jose Miguel argues that over the next several years, Salvadorans reassessed what they believed the accords accomplished. As more and more Salvadorans focused on the accords' successful termination of the war, public support for the accords increased to where 80 percent had a positive opinion around the ten year anniversary of the accords in December 2001. They no longer focused on the accords' failure to bring economic and political prosperity.

I'll have a lit bit more later.

Central America news round-up

On Thursday, former President Alfonso Portillo was sentenced to nearly six years in prison and to repay the $2.5 million that he allegedly received in bribes from Taiwan plus a $500,000 fine. Guatemala authorities are seeking to confiscate approximately 3 or 4 million Euros from Portillo's bank accounts in Luxembourg, France and Switzerland.

James Rodríguez of MiMundo.org has a photo essay of Friday's forced eviction around El Tamblor gold mine in Guatemala.

After two years and two months of peacefully blocking the entrance to U.S.-based Kappes, Cassiday & Associates (KCA) El Tambor gold mine, local residents of San Jose del Golfo and San Pedro Ayampuc were violently evicted by Guatemalan Police forces in order to introduce heavy machinery inside the industrial site. Led by the local women, members of the La Puya resistance prayed and sang until they were faced with tear gas. Numerous locals were injured and detained.

Alberto Arce has a story on Soccer helps some young Hondurans escape the gangs for the Miami Herald.

Last June, Luisito proposed a youth soccer program, telling parents, "training and practice have to defeat vice, and the violence of the gangs."

Days later, about 40 boys and girls turned out to sign up.

Luisito tells the kids soccer will keep them out of trouble, and they say that is what they want.

"A boy who becomes a gangster ends up killing," Maynor says. "Violence is the bad road, something that leads to your own death."

Luisito and the kids are careful when speaking of the gangs, and do not talk about them by name.

 Finally, El Salvador has experienced a very bloody few days. Tim has a good round-up of the events.

Twenty-nine people were murdered in El Salvador yesterday according to authorities in all regions of the country.  The murders included an attack on an intercity bus yesterday which left 6 dead.   The country's Attorney General Luis Martinez blamed the surge in murderous violence on a plan by the Barrio 18 gang.   He asserted that this was part of a plan to pressure the incoming government which takes office on June 1. The National Civilian Police declared an emergency and canceled all leave for its personnel.  The PNC reported that it had received threats that there would be a wave of attacks in the coming days. 

The death toll is reaching pre-truce levels.  A "tregua" or truce between El Salvador's leading gangs in March 2012 led to an immediate reduction in homicide rates of more than 50%.   But now  280 persons in El Salvador have been murdered during the month of May so far, an increase of 64% over May 2013.  The average number of murders per day in May exceeded 11.   More than 1300 have been killed this year.   93% of the victims were men. 

Much has been written about whether or not the truce has completely fractured and whether or not the government should negotiate with the gangs.  Various parties get blamed for the break down of the truce, and whether and how negotiations with gangs should be conducted is a matter of wide dispute.  Certainly this writer has no answers.  Incoming president Salvador Sánchez Cerén  will be expected to reverse things quickly, but there is little reason to think he will fare better than any of his predecessors.

And just a little north, Subcomandante Marcos is retiring as the public face of the Zapatista National Liberation Army in Mexico, or not.

‘2 steps forward, 1 step back’ in Guatemala

Ben Reeves looks at For justice in Guatemala, ‘2 steps forward, 1 step back’ with the Tico Times.

In Guatemala, the rule of law hangs in the balance following the ouster of human rights champion Claudia Paz y Paz from the post of attorney general. A right-leaning former Supreme Court justice, Thelma Esperanza Aldana Hernández, was named as Paz y Paz’s replacement, and may be about to roll back recent gains against corruption and human rights violations, analysts say.

“The circumstances of Paz y Paz’s removal and Aldana’s selection are irregular,” Angelina Godoy, director of the Center for Human Rights at the University of Washington, said.

Aldana took office on May 17.

Ben includes some quotes from me as well. Some of my others thoughts on the matter were mentioned in Wednesday's post.

It's possible that we will all be wrong and Aldana will do an exceptional job as attorney general. She does not have to focus on the same issues or organize the office in the same manner as Paz y Paz to be successful. Once we get over the troublesome removal of Paz y Paz and the tainted selection of Aldana, we'll be better able to evaluate her performance. She needs to get the office ready to carry out the pursuit of justice once CICIG packs its bags in September 2015.

Presidents don't/can't win reelection in Central America

Boz and others on Twitter are recognizing the dominant Latin American trend of incumbent presidents successfully being re-elected. The last time a Latin American president lost a reelection bit was the Dominican Republic's Hipolito Mejia 2004 bid.

It's true that incumbents have tremendous advantages over their competitors (usually money, state resources, access to the media, etc.) but I'm not really sure that it is a Latin American trend rather than a South American trend. In many ways, it doesn't make sense to include Central America in the conversation since the presidents can't succeed themselves anyway, at least constitutionally speaking Mr. Ortega.

In Guatemala, presidents are allowed one term in office and those occupying the vice presidency cannot run for the next election unless the quit very early on in the presidency. As a result, the incumbent party has never been reelected. In terms of parties, the party in the presidency has an uncanny knack to find a way to become irrelevant not too long after their term in office is up, if not sooner. President Perez Molina said last month (?) that he thought the country should consider lifting the ban on presidential re-election. There are plenty of other reforms to the political system that should be implemented before this one but we'll see what the General comes up with.

In El Salvador, president can serve two non-consecutive terms. However, the only president who ran for a second term, Tony Saca, did so unsuccessfully in 2014. Francisco Flores will not be running for another term. We heard rumors that Fredy Cristiani might entertain such thoughts. I can't say that I've heard any Calderon Sol rumors to that effect. And it was only last year that we heard some conspiracy that Saca and Mauricio Funes would alternate the presidency for twenty years.

In terms of parties, the PDC collapsed following several corruption allegations, the deteriorating health and eventual death of Duarte, the party's relationship with the US and its inability to win or end the war, and with the FMLN's reinsertion into formal politics as a political party. After twenty years of ARENA rule, Salvadorans are embarking on a second five-year term for the FMLN.

The 2014 elections in Costa Rica put a nail in the coffin of the country's two-party system. While Oscar Arias won a second-term twenty years after having been elected the first time, it's not clear that any of the tainted former presidents are going to be returning to office any time soon. In terms of parties, neither the PUSC not the PLN won more than two consecutive terms.

The Liberal and National parties have alternated power in Honduras for quite some time. Some electoral changes, the 2009 coup against Zelaya, and the resistance's transformation into Libre have forever altered the country's party system. The Liberals have done well for the last three-plus decades but the party system

Nicaragua somewhat fits the incumbents never lose meme except for that all important loss for Ortega and the Sandinistas in 1990. The 2000 electoral reforms and the consolidation of state control behind Ortega means that Daniel might be in office for awhile.

Finally, Panama was all in the news earlier this month as every election story started off by mentioning that no incumbent party has held on to the presidency since the 1989 US invasion.

In Central America, most incumbents cannot run for reelection but even when we focus on political parties, incumbent parties tend not to perform very well when it comes to winning two consecutive terms.

You saved me from a most uncomfortable question

I spoke with Ben Reeves (@bpreeves) earlier today about the situation in Guatemala after Thelma Esperanza Aldana Hernández was sworn in as the new attorney general. For me, I was disappointed in the selection process that resulted in Aldana becoming the new attorney general. I'm not upset that Claudia Paz y Paz is not going to be the next AG. I am disappointed that the process to end her term and the process to name her replacement demonstrated how little progress has occurred in Guatemala following nearly ten (twenty?) years of international scrutiny.

The selection committee did not include Paz y Paz on the six names forwarded to the president to save him from passing her over. Everyone is upset at the nominating committee right now for leaving the candidate with the second highest vote total off the final list. But that means they did their job.

President Perez Molina is not answering why he selected Aldana over Paz y Paz. Game over.

Perez Molina wasn't going to select Paz y Paz anyway and now he didn't even have to justify why he passed her over to everyone.

I'd say that Paz y Paz, two CICIG commissioners and maybe even the US Ambassador have now been forced out by Guatemala's powerful. Yasmin Barrios is hanging on by a thread.

However, people have difference motivations for wanting them removed. For some, they didn't want the international community there in the first place. The Guatemalan Congress fought CICIG until they felt they had no choice. Those involved in organized crime were totally against institutional reforms that would weaken their power over the justice system. For others, like those connected to the military's counterinsurgency project, they were more angry with the possibility that any of them could be brought before the courts to stand trial for human rights violations.

I don't want to lump the nationalists, organized crime, and the counter-insurgents together even though there is a lot of overlap.

#Guatemala is in a state of "two steps forward, one step back," in terms of justice and the rule of law, according to @CentAmPolMike
— Benjamin Reeves (@bpreeves) May 21, 2014

Even though cliche, I am hoping that it is two steps forward and one step back, not two steps forward, three steps back. We are likely to see an end to prosecutions of individuals linked to human rights violations, whether de jure or de facto, but it is unclear whether we will see the same backsliding in other areas of the law. Given Aldana's alleged links to shady characters in Guatemala (isn't that everybody), we are also about what the future holds.

Out with the Chinchilla, in with the Solis

Christine Wade has a post on With Solis, Costa Ricans Signal Readiness for Change for the World Politics Review. Luis Guillermo Solis inherits a Costa Rica desperate for change following a mixed four-year term for Laura Chincilla and, more or less, long-term political and economic stagnation.

Here's a glimpse.

Solis, a former university professor, must now translate that mandate into concrete results, and soon. Above all, he must promote transparency and bolster public confidence in government. On his first day in office, Solis ordered the pruning of bushes in front of the Casa Presidencial. It was a symbolic gesture intended to signify the administration’s commitment to transparency. He also required his Cabinet members to sign a code of ethics prior to being sworn into office.

But these symbolic acts must be accompanied by efficacy in dealing with some of the country’s very serious challenges, including a crumbling infrastructure, high energy costs, a deteriorating public health system—referred to as the caja—high unemployment and a teacher’s strike. The most immediate problem, however, is the fiscal deficit. Solis must succeed where Chinchilla failed, which could be difficult given the composition of the legislature. Beyond keeping Costa Rica’s credit rating at a respectable level, Solis will need to attack the deficit in order to keep his campaign promises to address inequality and extreme poverty. 

Not so safe to wear those Maple Leaf patches now

montrealsimon.blogspot.com

When I was backpacking through Central America about fifteen years ago, I always ran into Canadians wearing Maple Leaf patches on their backpacks. The worst thing you could do was assume that they were from the United States. Not so much in Central America today.

Vice has an interview with Rachel Smalls, a Canadian woman with the Mining Injustice Solidarity Network, about what is going on in Guatemala.

Do you think there is a general ignorance amongst Canadians about what is actually happening at Canadian mining sites across the world?

Yes, it’s very telling that most Canadians don’t know that over 70 percent of the mines across the world are owned by Canadian companies, that should be a bragging point and something that Canadians are proud of, however I think it’s kept a secret for a reason because I think the more you look into these companies and you look into their projects, the more you realize it’s giving Canada a terrible reputation in many places around the world. There are many places where I would suggest people not put a Canadian flag on their backpack. Rural Guatemala is definitely one of them.

No need to just pick on the Canadians - I don't think that the nationality of the mining company is the main explanation for how they operate in a country.

You can also read Silvel Elias and Geisselle Sanchez's take on how consultations between the Guatemalan government and indigenous communities occur over various natural resource development projects in Americas Quarterly.

HIV on the rise in Guatemala

David Mercer reports for Al Jazeera on the spread of HIV in Guatemala, particularly along the northern border with Mexico.

Portillo and Flores probably not only Central American heads of state to have received kickbacks from Taiwan

Boz and I spoke with Jan-Albert Hootsen for his recent story on China and Taiwan’s Secret Battle for Central America.

Flores is one of a number of Central American officials and former heads of state who have recently been accused of getting kickbacks from Taiwan roughly a decade ago. Analysts say the money is part of a silent diplomatic tug-of-war between the island and mainland China over Central America, where both countries are fighting over natural resources and Taiwan’s status as an independent country.

China and Taiwan have been playing out their differences in Central America for quite awhile. During the Cold War, military officers from the region (at least Guatemala) traveled to Taiwan for training. It seems as if guerrillas traveled to communist China but it's not exactly clear what the received from them other than a nice tour. Taiwan gave its support for the region's peace processes in the 1990s with economic assistance. They've been going at it ever since.

But analysts say the battle for Central America is far from over. Some think China is now throwing enormous sums of money into Central America to eventually buy loyalty away from Taiwan without actually violating the truce. And in the long run, there’s no way the island neighbor can compete with its larger and wealthier neighbor.

That could spell major trouble for the island if the current truce with China fails. Which is why even though the Portillo and Flores bribes allegedly happened roughly decade ago, some analysts think Taiwan may still be playing dirty. As Mike Allison, a professor of political science at the University of Scranton, says: “[Portillo and Flores] are probably not the only heads of state in Central America to have received kickbacks from Taiwan or simply pocketed donations meant for their citizens.”

There have been several scandals involving misappropriated money from Taiwan, including Costa Rica and several Caribbean countries, over the last decade-plus. I'm not sure that the competition has increased. I'm more comfortable saying that it has just been going on under the radar.

Not so fast on Oscar Romero's beatification

Reports over the weekend emerged from the Salvadoran Catholic Church indicating that slain Archbishop Oscar Romero's beatification cause was entering its final stages. However, the Vatican's spokesman says that he has no new information to share.  

One report said that the Salvadoran church was expected to make a major announcement on Sunday (May 18) about the progress of Romero’s cause; Auxiliary Bishop Gregorio Rosa Chavez of San Salvador has predicted “very good news.”

But the Vatican’s chief spokesman, the Rev. Federico Lombardi, said Thursday he had seen nothing to indicate that Francis had advanced Romero’s file.

“I don’t have anything to declare, but it’s not up to me,” Lombardi said in an interview.

March 24, 2015 will mark the 35th anniversary of Romero's assassination at the hands of death squad leader Roberto D'Aubuisson's henchmen - a perfect date to commemorate Romero's life and death.

So you think you know the man who inspired Oscar Romero?

The following is a guest post from Thomas M. Kelly, Professor of Systematic Theology at Creighton University. He is the author of  When the Gospel Grows Feet: Rutilio Grande, S.J. and the Church of El Salvador, An Ecclesiology in Context (Liturgical Press, 2013).

One of the better known figures in Latin America Catholicism is Archbishop Oscar Romero. Many know of his unlikely election as Archbishop, his courageous leadership over the three years he held that position, and the injustice of his swift and brutal execution at the hands of right-wing murderers in El Salvador. What has been almost completely missed by most that have read and studied Archbishop Romero is the theological and pastoral influence of Rutilio Grande, S.J. While the book When the Gospel Grows Feet largely treats of the life, ministry and death of Rutilio Grande, S.J., it also fills in some gaps in who influenced Archbishop Romero and how.

I would like to begin this brief reflection on the relationship of Fr. Grande and Archbishop Romero with a quote from Theresa Whitfield’s groundbreaking volume on the UCA martyrs, Paying the Price.

Rutilio Grande’s death was to prove a defining event for the Jesuits of Central America and for the Salvadoran Church under the leadership of Monsignor Romero. For the Jesuits, the internal disputes that had so characterized the painful years since the meeting in December 1969 were silenced by a unity born of persecution. For his part, Monsignor Romero emerged from his past to lead a Church under siege, but a Church that was unified by what many began to speak of as “the miracle of Rutilio.”[i]

Much has rightfully been written on the life, ministry and death of Archbishop Oscar Romero. What has not been recognized in the English-speaking world, beyond a brief mention or a politicized sound bite, is the impact of the life, ministry and theology of Rutilio Grande, S.J. on Romero’s thought and ministry.[ii] I would argue that it is impossible to understand the ministry and sacrifice of Oscar Romero without the background of his close, personal friend whom he called “a brother.”[iii] This is evident from a brief look at the homily Romero gave at Rutilio’s funeral. In a way, this grounded the beginning of his time as Archbishop and speaks to the influence of Rutilio Grande.

The Homily for Rutilio

Romero introduced his homily at the funeral of Rutilio with two themes that played out during his time as Archbishop—both in his actions and his pastoral letters. The first theme, broadly considered was the Church and its proper relationship to the world. The second theme was the uniquely Christian contribution the Church could make to human development.[iv] In both cases, the term “liberation” was used. Both themes were framed by the question, “What does the Church provide in the universal struggle for liberation from so much misery?”[v] His response, in many ways, was a summary of the life and ministry of Rutilio, and Rutilio’s ministry was embodied in Paul VI’s Evangelii nuntiandi (EN). It is interesting to note that Rutilio’s article, “Aguilares: An Experience of Rural Parish Evangelization,”[vi] was written in March of 1975 about a mission that took place between 1973-75. Paul VI promulgated Evangelii nuntiandi in December of 1975. The almost identical approach to “Christian liberation” between Rutilio’s ministry lived out and Paul VI’s encyclical (in theory) is astonishing.

I will argue that Rutilio Grande, S.J. gave Romero a lived example of involving the Church in the work of liberation while also being perfectly consistent with the Gospel and “orthodox” in the eyes of Rome. Romero officially accepted that way of proceeding as leader of the Church of El Salvador at the funeral for his friend on March 14, 1977. I will demonstrate this by arguing how Rutilio anticipated, in writing almost nine months before Evangelii nuntiandi was promulgated, what he lived out in his mission to Aguilares from 1973-1975. He does this in four concrete and particular ways. First, he begins from the perspective that liberation can never be limited to the economic, political or social but must include the conversion of human hearts; second, the church cannot ignore the economic, political or social—but engaging those must begin with the Gospel; third, the starting point for engagement with the world mattered, and no human liberation could equal the Kingdom that only comes through God’s love; and fourth, violence cannot be used in the struggle for Christian liberation.

This September at the International Romero Conference at the University of Notre Dame, September 26-28 I will draw upon my research for When the Gospel Grows Feet and use original translations of Grande’s writings to make this case. I hope you can make it!

You can read more about the book at Tom at When the Gospel Grows Feet.

---

[i] Theresa Whitfield, Paying the Price: Ignacio Ellacuria and the Murdered Jesuits of El Salvador, (Temple University Press, 1994) 104.

[ii] There are exceptions to this:  They would include Douglas Marcouiller, S.J., “Archbishop with an Attitude: Oscar Romero’s Sentir con la Iglesia,” in Studies in the Spirituality of the Jesuits, 35/3, May 2003 as well as most of the material in Teresa Whitfield’s Paying the Price.  The most complete summary of Rutilio’s life and work in English is the first chapter of William O’Malley’s The Voice of Blood: Five Christian Martyrs of our Time, (Orbis Press, Maryknoll, NY, 1980) 3-63.  Nearly all the chapter on Rutilio is unreferenced by the “anonymous Salvadoran author of the life of Rutilio Grande” vii.  It was clearly written by someone with access to his homilies and letters.

[iii] Oscar Romero, “Homilia en la Misa Exequial del Padre Rutilio Grande,” (Homily in the Funeral Mass of Fr. Rutilio Grande) in Colección Homilías y Diario de Mons. Oscar Renulfo Romero, Second Edition (Imprenta Criterio, San Salvador, 2000), 1 (translation mine).

[iv] For the development of these themes in a variety of ways see Oscar Romero, Voice of the Voiceless: The Four Pastoral Letters and Other Statements, Trans. by Michael J. Walsh, (Orbis Books, Maryknoll, NY, 2004).

[v] Romero, “Homily at the Mass of Fr. Rutilio Grande,” 2.

[vi]This article was published in Búsqueda, Organ of the Pastoral Commission of El Salvador, Vol. III, No. 8, March, 1975, 21-45.

...things aren't as bad as they seem in Guatemala

Anita Isaacs has a terrific op-ed in the New York Times on New Bad Old Times for Guatemala?

Abandoned and isolated, Guatemala’s poor have been left to fend for themselves against the people who see any steps toward a fairer, more functional system as a threat to their fortunes and their legacies. Without a watchful eye from abroad, they have been able to revert to their old behavior, making sure the unjust structures that serve their needs stay in place, even at the expense of rising unrest, polarization and violence.

I was going to try and write a post this week arguing that things aren't as bad as they seem in Guatemala. I'm just not sure if I can do it.

And here are some other interesting stories out of Guatemala the last few days.

A year after genocide trial, has justice been done?

Guatemala’s outgoing attorney general sees progress on rights

New Attorney General Appointed in Guatemala

Guatemala seeks to stop lynchings

TV journalist accused of attacking police in Guatemala

Condenan a mujer que lanzó cal a vicepresidenta de Guatemala

A Coffee Crop Withers

Beer Fight: AB InBev vs. Guatemala's Brewing Dynasty

Guatemala has one of the lowest per capita beer consumption rates in the world outside of Muslim countries,” says Emma Peterson, a Latin American analyst at Euromonitor International. Instead they drink cheap rum or aguardiente, a moonshine-like beverage whose name means “burning water.”

Palm oil: Guatemala’s newest, biggest cash crop?

High price of electricity spurs protests and theft in Guatemala

Videos Chats by Dean Brackley, S.J., of the UCA in San Salvador

I'm sorry for the limited postings of late but I spent the weekend in Massachusetts celebrating Mother's Day and my father-in-law's birthday. I'm lucky. During my first year in graduate school, one of my professors asked where I would like to work when I completed my doctorate. I said that I was interested in working on the East Coast or the West Coast. She said that I was being too restrictive. Fortunately, there were a number of east and west coast universities hiring IR / Comparative political scientists with regional interests in Latin America when I was on the market in 2005.

I can't say that Scranton, Pennsylvania is close enough to the coast for me but it is within driving distance of my family in New York and New Jersey and my wife's family outside Boston. I don't get the impression that most faculty live within driving distance of family which is a really major drawback to our profession.

In the meantime and while I catch up on work (this is our last week of classes), I wanted to draw your attention to a number of short video clips made by Dean Brackley, S.J. of the UCA. Dean passed away in 2011. The video chats were recorded at the Universidad Centroamericana  (UCA)  in El Salvador (each approx. 12 min.) and were produced by Marie Karam, University of Scranton Bridges to El Salvador.

Please note:  Link here provides easy access to this video series on youtube:

1.  OVERALL INTRODUCTION

Universidad Centroamericana / UCA- El Salvador (9 min.); Unique aspects of this young Jesuit University explained including legacy of UCA martyrs killed in 1989

“Greetings from El Salvador and the community of the Universidad Centroamericana (UCA) your sister-university in the global Jesuit education network.  Thanks for friends at the University of Scranton these brief video messages provide an overview of the reality of El Salvador and summary accounts of two dramatic issues, Religion in El Salvador and Migration.  We hope that these snapshots can help our friends in the U.S. learn more about this reality, with characteristics, in some ways, so typical of most countries in the world.  We also hope in this way to strengthen even more the ties that bind us in the work to build a more human world.”

2.  COUNTRY OVERVIEW:  EL SALVADOR

“This video provides an overview of the social, economic, political and cultural reality of the Central American country of El Salvador, which is in many ways “average and “typical” among poor countries. On the other hand, the country is characterized by extraordinary injustice, as well as the extraordinary faith, hope and generosity of many inspiring people.”

3.  RELIGION:  EL SALVADOR

“This video provides a summary description of the religious drama of El Salvador, a country where everyone believes in God, but where ideas of God and faith clash dramatically.  El Salvador is justly famous for the many heroic Christians who spoke out in defense of the poor and who even paid with their lives for their commitment.”

4.  MIGRATION:  EL SALVADOR TO U.S.

“This video summarizes the extraordinary drama of migration from El Salvador to the United States.  It explains why people leave and how very many are being deported back.”

We all miss Dean.

Guatemala raise taxes and increase social spending?

From Reuters

Guatemala is considering the possibility of earning taxes from the sale of opium poppies to help fund drug prevention programmes and other social spending, the country's interior minister said on Wednesday.

The Central American state is looking at ways to legalize poppy and marijuana production, part of a broader shift in attitudes across Latin America away from the huge financial and social costs of the U.S.-backed war on drugs.

"That is one idea that has been raised," said Mauricio Lopez Bonilla, a retired lieutenant colonel who served with Guatemala's special forces, when asked if the government would tax the sale of poppies if it opted to allow their cultivation for medical purposes.

"That option would mean raising taxes, fundamental resources for prevention, resources that could be used by the Guatemalan state for social development," he told Reuters in an interview.

I'm sorry but I can't take this seriously. If there is one thing that Guatemala is committed to above all else, it is not raising taxes. If push comes to shove, however, they might be open to raising taxes on consumers and poor people.

And, I guess I would have to add that the second thing that the Guatemalan government is against is increasing spending on social development. I'm open to some serious drug reform but it's just unbelievable that Lopez Bonilla is going around touting the potential of raising more tax revenue and spending it on social development.

I'm sure there are other important takes on Lopez Bonilla's comments but his statements just seem so out of touch with Guatemala.

News around El Salvador

The Center for Democracy in the Americas released its always informative monthly newsletter on El Salvador. The April report includes details on President-elect Salvador Sanchez Ceren regional and international tour following his March victory.

Jamie Stark has a story on the Salvadoran media's use of drones to cover media events. I first read about drones in El Salvador during the elections but it looks like they are becoming more widespread. In some ways, these drones just carry out jobs that many of us in the US are used to seeing covered by helicopters - aerial shots of traffic jams, fires, and outdoor events. On the other hand, like anything, they have the potential for abuse.

According to UNICEF, 6,300 minors were killed in El Salvador between 2005 and 2013. Of the 984 children and adolescents killed between 2012 and 2013, 82% were males between 15 and 19.

Patricia Guadalupe has a write-up on what Salvadoran journalists Carlos Martínez and José Luis Sanz are hoping to accomplish in their book on “Crónicas negras: Desde una región que no cuenta” (Dark Stories: From a Region That Doesn’t Count).

The book tells 18 stories of how regional governments have embraced the culture of violence as a way of life. And gang violence and the gang culture is just a part of the problem.

“Different types of violence continue to be the method of political dialogue in Central America,” Sanz said. “And many turn a blind eye to it, such as domestic violence, violence against children, against women. We can talk about gang violence forever, but until we deal with the other types of violence, Central America will continue to express itself with violence.”

Working to reduce gang violence and/or violence associated with drug trafficking will help, but the problems really go deeper to all levels of society.

A Salvadoran judge issued an arrest warrant for former President Francisco Flores of ARENA. His whereabouts are unknown but there are rumors that he might be seeking asylum in Panama. Should the attorney general's office and the FMLN "simply" pursue corruption charges against former government officials? Perhaps they can find agreement with individuals and groups on the right that pursuing postwar crimes and strengthening the country's judicial institutions would benefit a majority of the Salvadoran people. Any serious attempt to investigate and prosecute individuals for wartime crimes might disrupt such an effort and set back efforts at holding people accountable for wartime and postwar crimes. I'm not sure this is the case yet but obviously I am thinking about what has transpired in neighboring Guatemala.

We have a winner in Panama

Arnulfo Franco

Vice President Juan Carlos Varela won yesterday's presidential elections in Panama with 39 percent of the votes. President Ricardo Martinelli's preferred successor, Jose Domingo Arias, who ran with Martinelli's wife as his vice presidential candidate took home 32 percent. Finally, Juan Carlos Navarro, a former mayor of the capital, followed a close third with 28 percent.

Panama continues its post-Noriega tradition in throwing out the incumbent party although, unlike Guatemala, the former governing party does not necessarily disappear.

Boz has his always enjoyable post-election takes with Five Points on Varela. President Martinelli and soon-to-be president Varela trades jabs against each other yesterday with Martinelli saying "May God help us" and Varela offering his "Whoever wants to do business should grab their things and go to the private sector."

Greg also has a look at Panama's Election and notes that 

The basics of post-invasion Panamanian presidential politics have held. The incumbent party loses while power is shared within a small oligarchy (we are seeing a switch from big supermarket money to big rum money). Poverty and inequality are serious problems but economic growth is solid (very high recently) and the left has difficulty getting much of a foothold. Illicit money will keep flowing in to be laundered and corruption won't go anywhere in particular even while all the parties point fingers at each other and simultaneously skim what they can. Presidents get greedy and want another consecutive term but are rebuffed.

The Economist has many of the same points that Boz and Greg have - another election, another incumbent party candidate defeated; a relatively surprising victory for Varela, strong growth but ongoing problems with poverty and inequality; personality differences among the candidates but lack of programmatic differences.

There was a lot of party switching in the last congress and Varela is going to hope that continues into the next legislative term. His party, the Panameñista Party, will only control 11 out of 71 seats. There's likely to be some bumps ahead for the new president once the canal expansion, the Metro, and a number of other initiatives that have been driving economic growth are completed. The canal expansion should see nice returns but it is unclear how economically sound the Metro will be. Martinelli has weakened the country's political institutions these last five years, especially the Supreme Court. Corruption investigations into President Martinelli in Panama and abroad will likely continue as well.

Fortunately, Varela seems to have things in perspective. One of his first priorities as president will be to re-establish ties with Venezuela (!).

Bananas, seeds and gold courses in Central America

So how is international pressure impacting the Guatemalan banana industry? Fresh Fruit Portal has a pretty balanced (accurate?) overview of the situation in Guatemala.

With pressure from bodies such as the International Labor Organization (ILO), Guatemala’s attorney general has given greater attention to Sitrabi’s cases.

Russell said much of the investigative interest has stemmed from fear of an ILO-led commission of inquiry that could bring greater grievances to light.

On a recent visit to the attorney general’s office, Russell said representatives were quick to highlight their progress on cases emphasized by the ILO.

“For as long as that pressure is there, we think that’s a potential engine for influencing change. Unfortunately it’s still on the table. It will be discussed by the ILO governing body in November. It’s a hanging threat that the government there is aware of,” Russell said.

“They realize if there were a commission of inquiry, a lot of things would be uncovered that they are currently managing to keep hidden. This might have a knock on effect to their free trade relationships with the States and the EU.”

In particular, Guatemala’s union situation has been flagged under the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR).

Under pressure from the ILO, the validity of the U.S. free trade agreement with Guatemala was put into doubt in 2008. The labor body has questioned Guatemala’s perceived lack of labor policy enforcement, which could violate certain articles of CAFTA-DR.

In its first labor claim using a free trade agreement, the U.S. challenged Guatemalan practices in 2011 by requesting a panel to improve enforcement.

 There's nothing wrong with creating jobs in Central America, Clay Aiken.

No love for Monsanto here - looking for a solution to El Salvador's seed program's lack of compliance with CAFTA-DR and even national laws.

Perhaps the MAG’s seed distribution program violates the Central American Free Trade Agreement, but that does not make it a bad program. It is just another reason why CAFTA and free trade are bad policies. 

And really, does anyone really think that it is a good idea to spend needed development assistance on luxury condos and golf courses in El Salvador?

Gearing up for Sunday's election in Panama

The World Politics Review conducted an interview with Orlando Perez about this weekend's elections in Panama.

WPR: What are the major domestic issues at stake in Panama's presidential election?

Orlando J. Pérez: The electoral campaign has been framed around the dynamic of continuity versus change. The government has touted social spending, infrastructure investments and economic growth. The government candidate, Jose Domingo Arias, has campaigned on continuing and expanding President Ricardo Martinelli’s populist policies. The government has spent a significant amount of money on publicity promoting its infrastructure projects, such as a new urban subway system. And it has sought to scare voters about the potential of the opposition reducing—or ending—social programs. 

The opposition has focused on corruption and the president's authoritarian style. Martinelli has been embroiled in several corruption cases involving kickbacks from foreign companies investing in Panama. Politically, Martinelli has sought to dominate the judicial and legislative branches by packing the courts and luring opposition legislators to his coalition with the promise of government investment in their districts. 

Panama's constitution prohibits immediate presidential re-election. However, the nomination of the first lady, Marta Linares de Martinelli, as the vice presidential candidate on the government party's ticket has been seen as a clear sign of the president's desire to remain influential after the elections. Given the likelihood of a very close election, a key question is the extent to which the independence of the Electoral Tribunal will be respected and the outcome accepted by all candidates.

Go read the entire interview (if you are blocked, go though a social media link). You can also read Orlando's guest post on this site from September 2013 when he spoke about many of the ways that Panama has changed over the last two decades.