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<p class=style3 align=center style='text-align:center'><strong><b><font
size=5 color=red face=Garamond><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:
Garamond'>CISPES ACTION ALERT</span></font></b></strong><strong><b><font
face=Verdana><span style='font-family:Verdana'><o:p></o:p></span></font></b></strong></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=right style='text-align:right'><font size=2
face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>June 12,
2007</span></font><font size=2><span style='font-size:10.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><font size=4
face=Verdana><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:Verdana;font-weight:
bold'>Salvadoran Government Threatens to Jail Movement Leaders on Trumped
Up Terrorism Charges<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><i><font
size=4 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:Verdana;
font-weight:bold;font-style:italic'>Take Action to Stop <st1:country-region
w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region> Support for the Repression in <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:place></st1:country-region><o:p></o:p></span></font></i></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:Verdana'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>The Salvadoran National
Vendors Movement is facing increased political persecution from President
Saca’s government through the National Civil Police (PNC) and the
Ministry of Security. The vendors are being charged with
“terrorism” for their organizing and face decades of
imprisonment. On May 30 the Security Minister Rene Figueroa and the
director of the PNC arrested 11 people and announced a list of about 90
others they plan to arrest for supposed participation in a May 12 vendor
protest. Others on the “black list” that have not yet
been arrested include the Vendors’ Movement leaders Martin Montoya
and Sandra Henriquez.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>The repression against the
Vendors Movement has occurred since the organization was founded over a
year ago, but it has gotten significantly worse since May 12. On that
day, the police carried out a massive and violent confiscation of the vendors’
goods and arrested 14 people – 9 of whom they charged with
terrorism. With the May 12 and May 30 arrests, there are now 22
people in jail – some organized vendors and others unaffiliated
individuals, and most are facing charges of terrorism. This is the
first time that the new law will be used against the social movement. (for
more information go to <a href="www.cispes.org/alerts">www.cispes.org/alerts</a>)<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>When Security Minister
Figueroa announced their intentions of arresting “vandals and terrorists”
within the organized movement, people heard the threat echo the style of
Roberto D’Aubuisson, founder of the death-squads and ARENA
party. During the war he would go to the media and announce lists of
people involved in the struggle, many of whom would be found dead the next
day. The government’s terror tactics against the vendors’
movement and the social movement today is increasing and has temporarily
succeeded in curbing vendor organizing at the national level, given that
the priority of the movement now is to evade capture and arrest.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><font size=2 face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana'>Join the Salvadoran social movement and the FMLN in
calling for an end to these acts of political persecution against the
Vendors’ Movement leadership and its members by dropping the charges
of Anti-Terrorism and Anti-organized Crime laws! Join the
international call to stop the <st1:country-region w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region>’s
role in backing these tactics by working to shut down the <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s
support for the PNC through the ILEA!</span></font><font size=2
face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><u><font size=2 face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;font-weight:bold;font-style:
italic'><o:p><span style='text-decoration:none'> </span></o:p></span></font></u></i></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><i><u><font
size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;
font-weight:bold;font-style:italic'>Take Action!<o:p></o:p></span></font></u></i></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana'>1. <b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Fax and email President
Saca and Minister of Security Figueroa to demand that they drop the charges
of terrorism and stop the political persecution of the Vendors’
Movement leaders.</span></b> See below for sample letters and fax
numbers. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:4.0pt'><font size=2 face=Verdana><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>2. Contact your local
Congressional Representative’s office about the <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region>’s
role in backing this repression especially by closely collaborating with
the National Civilian Police (PNC) through the International Law
Enforcement Academy (ILEA).<b><span style='font-weight:bold'> </span></b>Rep.
Lynn Woolsey has committed to putting forward an amendment to CUT the
funding for the ILEA. <b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Please set up
a meeting <i><span style='font-style:italic'>THIS WEEK</span></i> with your
Rep’s local staff - and participate in the June 19 national ILEA
call-in day - 19 to ask your Representative to support the amendment to
close the ILEA. </span></b>Call the Capitol Hill switchboard at
202-224-3121 to get a hold of your Representative. <i><span
style='font-style:italic'>See below for talking points, and see
CISPES’s report on our visit to the ILEA this May, and other outreach
and lobby materials at <a href="http://www.cispes.org/ilea"
title="blocked::http://www.cispes.org/ilea">www.cispes.org/ilea</a>)<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></font></p>
<div style='border:none;border-bottom:solid windowtext 1.0pt;padding:0in 0in 1.0pt 0in'>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Mangal><span lang=ES style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Mangal'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Mangal><span lang=ES style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Mangal'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Verdana><span lang=ES
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>President Antonio Saca<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Verdana><span lang=ES-SV
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>Casa Presidencial<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Verdana><span lang=ES-SV
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>San Salvador, El Salvador<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana'>Fax: 011.503.243.9947<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;font-style:italic'>OR<o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana'>Minister of Security Rene Figueroa<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Verdana><span lang=ES
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>Fax: 011.503.2281.5959<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Verdana><span lang=ES
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'><a
href="mailto:Carlos.bonilla@seguridad.gob.sv">Carlos.bonilla@seguridad.gob.sv</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto'><font size=2 face=Verdana><span lang=ES-SV style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana'>12 de Junio, 2007<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto'><font size=2 face=Verdana><span lang=ES-SV style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana'>Sr. Presidente Saca y Sr. Ministro de Seguridad Rene
Figueroa</span></font><font size=2 face=Verdana><span lang=ES-SV
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto'><font size=2 face=Verdana><span lang=ES-SV style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana'>Conozco el caso de los vendedores encarcelados a
quienes su gobierno acusa de actos de terrorismo, y me causa gran
preocupacion. Los y las vendedoras de CD/DVD en El Salvador a duras
penas están sobreviviendo en el sector informal por no hallar trabajo
formal. Su organización y trabajo por mejorar sus condiciones de
trabajo NO es terrorismo. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:
auto'><font size=2 face=Verdana><span lang=ES-SV style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana'>En vez de estar buscando y creando verdaderas
soluciones ante tan cruel realidad de miles de personas, la violencia de la
Policia Nacional Civil y luego los arrestos el 12 y 30 de mayo – mas
las amenazas de arrestar a docenas de vendedores mas – demuestran que
la única “solución” que ofrece su gobierno es más y más
represión, incluyendo el decomiso violento de la única forma de
subsistencia para estas personas. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Verdana><span lang=ES-SV
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'>De nuevo, la protesta y el
luchar por sobrevivir no es terrorismo. Aun esas personas que no
forman parte del movimiento organizado de vendedores y quienes cometieron
actos de vandalismo NO son terroristas. Por lo tanto, le pido que
libere los vendedores inocentes arrestados el 12 y 30 de mayo, que retire
todos cargos de terrorismo y crimen organizado en contra de las personas
que fueron arrestadas, y que ya no siga amenazando con mas arrestos.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Verdana><span lang=ES
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana'>Atentamente,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana'>______________ (name)<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana'>______________ (city, state, country)</span></font><font
size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;font-style:italic'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;font-style:italic'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;font-style:italic'>Translation of letter:<o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;font-style:italic'>Dear President Saca (or
Minster of Security Rene Figueroa),<o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;font-style:italic'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;font-style:italic'>I have heard about the cases
of the jailed vendors who your government is charging with terrorism, and I
am deeply concerned about these cases. The CD/DVD vendors in <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:place></st1:country-region>
are people who have searched for formal employment but have only found the
informal sector as a place to find basic survival. Their organizing
to improve their work conditions is NOT terrorism.<o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;font-style:italic'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;font-style:italic'>Instead of looking for real
solutions to the harsh reality for tens of thousands of people, the police
violence on May 12 and the arrests of May 12 and May 30 – and the
threats to arrest dozens more – show that your government’s
only “solution” is more and more repression, including
violently confiscating people’s only means of sustenance.<o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;font-style:italic'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;font-style:italic'>Once again, protest and
struggling for survival is not terrorism. Even those individuals,
unaffiliated with the organized vendors’ movement, who committed acts
of vandalism are NOT terrorists. Therefore, I urge you to release the
innocent vendors and drop all charges of terrorism and organized crime
against all those who were apprehended on May 12 and May 30, and to drop
the threats of arrest against movement leaders..<o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;font-style:italic'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><i><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Verdana;font-style:italic'>Sincerely,<o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Verdana'><br
clear=all style='page-break-before:always'>
</span></font>
<p class=MsoFooter align=center style='margin-left:-9.0pt;text-align:center;
line-height:14.0pt'><font size=2 face=Verdana><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Verdana'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color="#666699" face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:#666699'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div style='border:none;border-top:double windowtext 2.25pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 0in'>
<p class=MsoFooter align=center style='margin-left:-9.0pt;text-align:center;
line-height:14.0pt'><font size=1 face="Palatino Linotype"><span
style='font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Palatino Linotype"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center;text-autospace:
none'><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-weight:bold'>ILEA Talking Points – more information at <a
href="http://www.cispes.org/ilea">www.cispes.org/ilea</a> </span></font></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-autospace:none'><b><font size=1
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:4.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black;font-weight:bold'>* Resurgence of death
squad-style threats and murders:</span></font></b><font color=black><span
style='color:black'> In early May 2007 the Archbishop’s Legal Aid and
Human Rights Defense Office (Tutela Legal) released a report implicating
the Salvadoran National Police (PNC) in eight death squad style
assassinations in 2006 alone. CISPES has published a list of recent
repression beginning with the July 2006 murder of the Manzanares couple,
the parents of long-time activist “Mariposa”. In many of these
cases, the evidence leads us to believe that the police and/or death squads
were involved in their disappearances; </span></font>meanwhile, the calls
of family members for investigation have fallen on deaf ears. The ILEA does
nothing to remedy the central problem of the high-up corruption and links
to death squads within the Salvadoran police.<font color=black><span
style='color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black;font-weight:bold'>* The Salvadoran
government is militarizing the police, which is a direct violation of the
Peace Accords.</span></font></b><font color=black><span style='color:black'>
The separation between police and military in <st1:country-region w:st="on">El
Salvador</st1:country-region> has declined dramatically since originally
established by Peace Accords in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place>. It is now common
to have groups of soldiers “patrolling” rural and urban
neighborhoods in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place>.
<st1:country-region w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region>’s
National Civilian Police (PNC) was created by the 1992 Peace Accords to do
the work of law enforcement in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place>. However, the PNC
has increasingly been used to violently repress protests in <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place>,
especially the protests against CAFTA, such as those led by market vendors
struggling under new-CAFTA imposed intellectual property laws. </span></font>The
addition of the military to these repressive policing tactics violates the
Peace Accords and the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region></st1:place>
government, through the ILEA, should not be collaborating so closely with a
police that violates the Peace Accords.<font color=black><span
style='color:black'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black;font-weight:bold'>* Salvadoran
Government using anti-terrorism law to target social movement organizing:</span></font></b><font
color=black><span style='color:black'> The Salvadoran right wing passed an
“anti-terrorism” law in September 2006, followed by an
“anti-organized crime” law later that year. The language in
these new laws is very vague, leaving them open to interpretation and a
wide variety of applications. The anti-terrorism law is similar to the
Patriot Act in that it threatens civil liberties supposedly protected by
the constitution of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">El
Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place>. The laws criminalize and
labels terrorist – with long jail sentences – protest tactics
commonly used by Salvadorans. The <st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region>
Ambassador to <st1:country-region w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region>
even expressed explicit support for this </span></font>law in a speech,
condoning the use of police force in protecting <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">US</st1:country-region></st1:place> trade interests.
Similarly, the stated purpose of the ILEA is also to protect <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region></st1:place>
interests and this is not the kind of training Salvadoran police need.<font
color=green><span style='color:green'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black;font-weight:bold'>* <st1:country-region
w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region> has become the satellite for <st1:country-region
w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region> military and police training in Latin
America, despite its poor human rights record:</span></font></b><font
color=black><span style='color:black'> <st1:country-region w:st="on">El
Salvador</st1:country-region> is already the second largest recipient of
military training in Central America, is the host of a <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region></st1:place> military base and an FBI
office. The ILEA has the capacity to train 1500 students per year, more
than the current Western Hemisphere Institute for Security and Cooperation,
also known as the SOA. Salvadorans fear a return to the sort of torture and
repression practices used by the graduates of that US-sponsored school in
the 1980s. Meanwhile, <st1:country-region w:st="on">U.S.</st1:country-region>
officials refuse to acknowledge the corruption, misconduct and human rights
violations committed by the PNC, and continue to support the Salvadoran
police, both through explicit statements and by sponsoring the ILEA in <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=4 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:13.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:black;font-weight:bold'>* ILEA has a lack of
oversight and transparency: </span></font></b><font color=black><span
style='color:black'>Congress has not been given sufficient information
about the ILEA and its activities, and human rights groups that have sought
to monitor it have been denied basic documentation, such as course
descriptions and names of students and instructors. Though backers of
the ILEA promise that only civilians would be trained there, in fact the
agreement leaves the possibility of military training open. Such lack of
transparency is especially alarming given that the ILEA would offer
immunity to all foreign officials involved in designing the curriculum and
teaching the courses. </span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
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face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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style='font-size:10.0pt'>© 2006 CISPES - The Committee in Solidarity with
the People of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">El
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