Salvadorans head to the polls once again

Salvadorans return to the ballot box tomorrow for the third time in four years to select members from ten different political parties for the legislature, mayoral posts, and PARLACEN. As usual, the FMLN and ARENA stand apart from the country's other political parties. And, for the most part, polls have put the FMLN comfortably ahead of ARENA.

Given the difficulty of polling in El Salvador and the fact that nearly forty percent of likely voters have no preference at this point, it's a little difficult to project what the FMLN's advantage will actually look like, if they have one, when the final votes are tallied and the seats distributed. Either way, it does not look like any political party will have a majority in the next legislature, meaning that the FMLN will have to once again negotiate with those they perhaps would prefer not to.

In the election for San Salvador, the FMLN’s Nayib Bukele looks like the comfortable favorite against ARENA’s Edwin Zamora. It used to be said that San Salvador mayor was the stepping stone to the presidency (Jose Napoleon Duarte and Armando Calderon Sol), but in recent years the shine has fallen off so that one can barely say with a straight face that it is even a stepping stone to becoming a presidential candidate (Hector Silva, Norman Quijano).

To no one's surprise, violence and the economy are the top two concerns of Salvadoran voters. Unfortunately, there seems to have been a recent spike in violence this month, or at least the last few days, with homicides reaching twenty per day.

Lawyers are disappearing in Mexico and Central America

Karla Zabludovsky has a terrific story on Mexican Lawyers Are Disappearing, Leaving Nothing But Fear And Questions Behind for Buzzfeed.

DURANGO, Mexico — When Claudio Hugo Gallardo disappeared in 2013, his sons scoured the local hospital, prison, and morgue frantically. They combed through video footage recovered from Gallardo’s last known location and even inquired with the cartels whether their operatives had picked up the well-known lawyer.

But before Gallardo’s family could find him, they stopped looking.

“It’s for our own peace. We don’t want threats,” said Claudio Gallardo, one of the attorney’s sons. The family has floated several theories, including the involvement of government officials, cartel thugs, and a combination of both, but prefer to be discreet about their findings, citing orders by local authorities to stop prodding.

Gallardo is one of more than 60 lawyers killed or disappeared here during a spate of crimes against litigators that began in 2008, according to members of Durango’s Benito Juárez Bar Association. Some of the bodies that have been recovered carried messages from criminal groups saying the litigator should not have been defending certain clients, said Celina López Carrera, who is in charge of the state’s public prosecutors.

The Durango attorney general’s office opened a specialized unit to investigate crimes against lawyers in 2010. The unit’s head, Orieta Valles, said none of the 14 cases assigned to it have been solved.

Unfortunately, the murder of lawyers is not confined to Durango, Mexico. From a March 2013 Insight Crime article

More than 50 lawyers were murdered in Honduras between 2010 and 2012, according to a government report, with almost total impunity for their killers.

In the first three years of President Porfirio Lobo's rule 53 lawyers were murdered, yet only two people have been convicted in the cases, according to a report submitted to the Honduran Congress by the country's National Human Rights Commission.

The lawyers, 43 of whom were men, worked not only in criminal law, but also in areas such as commercial and family law, reported La Tribuna. Some worked as public prosecutors, while some provided legal advice to unions and campesino social movements.

The majority were killed inside their vehicles, often in front of their family, friends, colleagues or clients. Of the 53 murders, 49 were carried out with a firearm.

Other reports estimate 68 deaths in Honduras over the three year period.

Meanwhile at least ten lawyers were killed in Guatemala in 2013.

Honestly, I don't remember coming across articles indicating that lawyers were being targeted in El Salvador.

While the press and courts are pressured in all three countries of the Northern Triangle, the extent of the violence is just so much greater in Guatemala and Honduras than it is in El Salvador.

It's hard to build a democratic rule of law when those tasked with carrying out such an important function are targeted by members of the state as well as gangs and organized crime.

University of Scranton recognizes Sr. Peggy with Arrupe Award

Today, the University of Scranton recognized Margaret Ann O'Neill, S.C. with its Pedro Arrupe, S.J., Award for "Distinguished Contributions to Ignatian Mission and Ministry." Margaret Ann O'Neill, S.C. is better known as Sr. Peggy. She is a familiar face to those who have traveled to El Salvador over the last three decades or who have recently attended the Ignatian Family Teach-In in Washington, D.C.

I recommended Sr. Peggy for the award probably two years ago but I can't say that there is a direct connection between my recommendation and her having received the award today.

Sister O’Neill has lived in El Salvador for 25 years, most recently serving as director of Centro Arte para la Paz (Art Center for Peace), Suchitoto, El Salvador, a regional educational cultural center promoting peace through dance, art, and theological reflection. Programs offered through the Center include workshops and seminars, as well as a museum, art gallery and library. She began serving in the Dioceses of San Salvador in 1986, assisting refugees and accompanying them during the civil war that was raging in that country at that time. She first worked in Calle Real, alongside Jesuit Refuge Service Volunteers, a group founded by Father Pedro Arrupe.

A highly respected long-time peace activist, Sister O’Neill has received many honors and awards including the 2008 Peacemaker Award of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace and the 2008 Ciudadana Ilustre Award, which recognized her work on behalf of social and cultural development in Suchitoto.

A theology professor, Sister O’Neill served as assistant professor at Augsburg College’s Center for Global Education in El Salvador and at Santa Clara University’s Casa de la Solidaridad in El Salvador. Previously, she also served as an associate professor of Iona College.

Sister O’Neill earned her bachelor’s degree from St. Elizabeth College, her master’s degree from Marquette University and her Ed.D. from New York University.

Congrats Sr. Peggy!