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<p class=style3 align=right style='text-align:right'><b><font size=2
color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:black'>April 2008</span></font></b><font face=Arial><span
style='font-family:Arial'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=style3 align=center style='text-align:center'><strong><b><font
size=5 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:Arial'>CISPES
Spring Appeal: Stand Strong With Us!</span></font></b></strong><font
face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Dear Friend,<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>For the first time since the 1980’s, we’ve
been singled out for attack by the Department of “Justice.”<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=2
face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Take a moment
to <strong><b><font face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial'>support
CISPES </span></font></b></strong>in the face of renewed threats to the
solidarity movement! <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>* <a href="https://chavez.mayfirst.org/cispes/">Donate
to help sustain our work in face of this attack</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>* Get your organization to sign the <a
href="http://www.lasolidarity.org/index.shtml">Latin American Solidarity
Coalition letter in defense of CISPES</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>* Participate in our <a
href="http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=363&Itemid=51">Fact
Finding Delegation to El Salvador in June 2008</a> or invite a friend to
join<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>* Attend <a
href="http://www.hotsalsa.org/index.php?cid=1000900">an event in DC on
April 29th to learn more </a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>* Take part in our Days of Action in May<a
href="http://cispes.org/index.php?option=com_contact&catid=59&Itemid=3">
(contact your local committee) </a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>In January CISPES received a letter from their National
Security Division saying that they suspected us of being an “agent of
a foreign principal” and wanted us to register under the
“Foreign Agents Registration Act.”<br>
<br>
Their justification? They claimed that the FMLN had hired CISPES to do
public relations and fundraising support for their presidential campaign in
the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region>.
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Our response was clear: [<i><span style='font-style:
italic'>see sidebar for more information</span></i>]<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>• CISPES solidarity with the FMLN began in 1980
and continues today. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>• It is based on a shared vision of a more just
world; there is no financial or contractual agreement. We have a solidarity
relationship—what we have in common is a commitment to building a
cross border movement that will unite the poor and working people of the US
and El Salvador in our struggle for social justice. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>• Therefore we will not register with the <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region>
government, but rather assert that we will continue our support for the
Salvadoran struggle for social justice as part of our democratic right to
free speech. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>• Finally, our response to any attempt by the <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region>
government to infringe on those rights will not be to retreat one inch but
rather to build the strongest, broadest resistance movement we can. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Many of you remember, I’m sure, that CISPES was
the object of the most extensive internal security
“investigation” of the Reagan presidency. <br>
<br>
<strong><b><font face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial'>And did you
know that the CISPES infiltration of the 1980’s all began in 1981
with an attempt to get CISPES to register under the same Foreign Agents
Registration Act?!</span></font></b></strong> Back then, their campaign of
surveillance, harassment, and intimidation of CISPES lasted for years. Like
other FBI COINTELPRO campaigns, this operation had a sinister
purpose—to intimidate and silence movements that fight for
people’s empowerment in the face of repression.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><strong><b><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>LEARN
MORE! </span></font></b></strong><font size=2 face=Arial><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>* read the latest <a
href="http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=385&Itemid=60">El
Salvador Watch Newsletter </a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>* read the <a
href="http://cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=356&Itemid=27">CISPES
press release and public statement </a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>* check out the <a
href="http://www.fsrn.org/content/us-government-re-targets-committee-solidarity-with-people-el-salvador/1565">Free
Speech Radio News piece on CISPES </a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>* Read an <a
href="http://cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=355&Itemid=75">article
about the history of FBI investigation of CISPES</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Leading solidarity activists and organizations agree
that this threat is very real and it stems from what we’ve been
talking about for some time now—<st1:country-region w:st="on">El
Salvador</st1:country-region> is joining the left turn in <st1:place
w:st="on">Latin America</st1:place>, and Bush and ARENA are terrified. That’s
why the Latin America Solidarity Coalition is circulating this letter of
protest to the Department of Justice. Your organization can sign it at <a
href="www.lasolidarity.org%20">www.lasolidarity.org </a><br>
<br>
Bush and the right-wing Salvadoran ARENA party want to stop CISPES from
playing a key role in providing effective solidarity. We understand that
this threat is meant to frighten us into changing the nature of our
work—to make us think twice about standing with the FMLN as a leading
opponent of <st1:country-region w:st="on">US</st1:country-region>
domination in <st1:place w:st="on">Latin America</st1:place>. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>While we take the government’s threat very
seriously, we have no intention of backing down. In the 1980’s we
took the offensive against the FBI and we will not be intimidated this time
either. That’s why we continue to organize! <strong><b><font
face=Arial><span style='font-family:Arial'>In early May our local
committees will be taking actions locally in relation to the Department of
Justice letter, and we are planning a Fact Finding Delegation to <st1:country-region
w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region> this summer to document <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region>
intervention and human rights violations. </span></font></b></strong><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>We hope you will stand strong with us and with the
Salvadoran people—show Bush and his agents that you will not be
intimidated! <a href="https://chavez.mayfirst.org/cispes/">Please make a
generous gift to support our work today!</a><br>
<br>
In solidarity,<br>
<br>
<br>
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=2 color=black face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'>Burke Stansbury, Executive Director<br>
<br>
P.S. We may be calling on you to defend our right to organize and take
action in our campaigns. Look out for more action alerts about <st1:country-region
w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">US</st1:place></st1:country-region> support
for the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) and potential State
Department intervention in the Salvadoran elections - coming soon!<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p><font size=1 color=black face=Verdana><span style='font-size:9.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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</span></font><span class=style21><font size=2 color=white><span
style='font-size:10.0pt'>© 2008 CISPES - The Committee in Solidarity with
the People of <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">El
Salvador</st1:place></st1:country-region></span></font></span><font
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