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<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><font size=5
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:16.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";
font-weight:bold'>Salvadoran bakers hold national protest in response to rising
cost of flour<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";
font-weight:bold'>CISPES News Update<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";
font-weight:bold'>March 3, 2008<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><i><font size=2
face="Times New Roman"><span lang=ES-SV style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:
"Times New Roman";font-style:italic'><a
href="http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=35&Itemid=28&lang=es"
title="blocked::http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=blogcategory&id=35&Itemid=28&lang=es">*vaya
aquí para informes de CISPES en español*</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><font
face="Times New Roman"><span lang=ES-SV style='font-family:"Times New Roman";
font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font face="Times New Roman"><span lang=ES-SV
style='font-family:"Times New Roman";font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";font-weight:bold;
font-style:italic'>Also in this update:<o:p></o:p></span></font></i></b></p>
<h1><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman"'><a href="#_National_Civilian_Police">National
Civilian Police attack school</a></span></font></b><font face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-family:"Times New Roman"'> <i><span style='font-style:italic'>(check
out <a
href="http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=351&Itemid=89">videos
here</a>)<o:p></o:p></span></i></span></font></h1>
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src="cid:image003.jpg@01C87D4A.47FC5430" align=right hspace=12 v:shapes="_x0000_s1026"><![endif]><b><font
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman";font-weight:
bold'><a href="#_Presidential_candidate_Mauricio">Presidential candidate
Mauricio Funes denounces political intimidation, harassment</a></span></font></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-family:
"Times New Roman";font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>On February 20 more than three thousand
Salvadoran bakers participated in a march to protest the high cost of flour and
other commodities used by their sector. The marchers demanded that the
government step in to alleviate the crisis by means of a subsidy. Thousands of
Salvadoran families remain unable to put bread on the table, in part due to the
rising cost of flour, which bakers are then forced to pass along to their
customers. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font color=red face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-family:"Times New Roman";color:red'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Heriberto Hernández, vice-president of an
independent bakers’ organization, declared that “it is a lie that
we can compete with the transnational companies, and for this reason we are
motivated to be in the streets exerting pressure.” Hernández based his
organization’s demand of a government subsidy on the precedent set in
December 2007 when the Legislative Assembly approved a specific subsidy to
offset rising fuel costs in the transportation sector. The bakers seek a
similar subsidy to ensure that bread is affordable in the country.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>According to official statistics, the
prices of flour, butter and yeast have doubled in the past year. According to <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place>’s
Minster of the Economy, Yolanda de Gavidia, the skyrocketing costs for bakers
are the result of high prices for wheat on the international market. In her
statement, de Gavidia did not mention the broader economic crisis facing the
country.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>In support of the bakers’ demands,
legislators representing the FMLN opposition party put forward a law providing
for a wheat subsidy in the Legislative Assembly on February 21. The right wing
bloc in the Assembly promptly defeated the proposal, recommending instead that
a “more technical study” be carried out, according to Francisco
Merino, deputy from the PCN party. FMLN deputy Gerson Martínez stated that the
proposal seeks “to defend the bread on the table of the Salvadoran
family,” and that its approval should not be put off until a later date.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<h1><a name="_National_Civilian_Police"></a><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>National
Civilian Police attack school<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Times><o:p> </o:p></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>On February 15, 25 officers of the
National Civilian Police (PNC), accompanied by students from the national
police academy, violently entered the Humberto Romero Alvergue Education
Complex, where they physically assaulted students and a man who they sought to
arrest, who is the father of children attend the school. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>The man resisted his arrest after the PNC
officers could not produce a warrant, and as a result was assaulted by the
officers. Several students who came to the man’s aid were also attacked,
and 7 were seriously injured. This most recent incidence of police aggression
was captured on film by student witnesses; <a
href="http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=351&Itemid=89">you
can see a video on the CISPES website by clicking here.</a><font color="#3366ff"><span
style='color:#3366FF'><o:p></o:p></span></font></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>In a statement that was later echoed by
the Vice-Minister of Public Safety and the Director of the PNC, Minister of
Education Darlyn Meza dismissed the police brutality against the students as
“one bad experience that cannot impugn the work done collectively with
the police in the area of crime prevention.” The officials apologized and
expressed their “consternation” over the event without mentioning
the ever-worsening record of the PNC. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>According to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place>’s Human Rights
Ombudsman, Óscar Luna, the National Civilian Police is the country’s
principal agent of human rights abuses. Luna denounced the violence against the
students, which he described as “unnecessary and disproportionate.”
Despite its cursory apology, the PNC has yet to seek any disciplinary measures
against the officers involved in the attack.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<h1><a name="_Presidential_candidate_Mauricio"></a><b><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Presidential
candidate Mauricio Funes denounces political intimidation, harassment<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-family:
"Times New Roman";font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>During his February 22 visit to the <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:PlaceType w:st="on">municipality</st1:PlaceType> of <st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Tonacatepeque</st1:PlaceName></st1:place>, FMLN presidential
candidate Mauricio Funes publicly denounced the political persecution that has
been aimed against him over of the last several months. Funes stated that he
has detected an increase in such activity in recent weeks. Specificaly, Funes
condemned the surveillance carried out by armed individuals stationed in
vehicles outside the house of a civic organization that supports his campaign
called “Friends of Mauricio.” According to Funes, “they must
be vehicles from the police or the State Intelligence Agency (OIE), or from
another parallel structure that is dedicated to monitoring, following and
intimidating [my campaign].” <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>In his statement, Funes insisted that he
does not worry for his physical wellbeing, explaining that the harassment to
which he is subjected is the result of the desperation of the governing ARENA
party, which still has not selected its candidate for the March 2009 election.
As a result, Funes stated, AREANA must “fall back on dirty campaigning
and intimidation.” <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Funes has yet to present a formal
accusation to the government, as he has neither documented proof of his
harassment nor confidence that the police and judicial systems would
investigate the situation. “Mr. Rodrigo Ávila [former director of the
PNC] expressed his inability to control the OIE… In the face of the OIE,
neither he no anyone else can do anything,” declared Funes. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Minister of Security René Figueroa
rejected Funes’ accusations, which also implicated Figueroa as the
creator of a structure where “old, retired generals and colonels are
working at the hand of this departmental director [Figueroa].” Figueroa,
without bothering to respond to the content of Funes’ claims, threatened
to consult with his lawyers as to the viability of bringing legal action
against Funes in retaliation for his accusations. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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