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<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><b><font size=4
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:15.0pt;font-weight:bold'>U.S.
Ambassador and ARENA promote role of private sector in ensuring public safely<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-weight:bold'>CISPES
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-weight:bold'>March
20, 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-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 CISPES informes en español*</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span lang=ES-SV style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Also in this update:<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span
style='mso-list:Ignore'>-<font size=1 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>
</span></font></span></span></font><![endif]><b><span style='font-weight:bold'><a
href="#_Food_security_damaged">Food security damaged by CAFTA</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-left:.5in;text-indent:-.25in;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1'><![if !supportLists]><font
size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><span
style='mso-list:Ignore'>-<font size=1 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font:7.0pt "Times New Roman"'>
</span></font></span></span></font><![endif]><b><span style='font-weight:bold'><a
href="#_ARENA_chooses_Presidential">ARENA chooses presidential candidate</a><o:p></o:p></span></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;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'>Recent comments by Charles Glazer, U.S. Ambassador to <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place>, regarding the state of
public safety in the country have exposed the ARENA party’s security
policies as “a failure,” according to FMLN party legislative deputy
Benito Lara. Lara is a member of he Legislative Assembly’s Security
Commission. In recent weeks, Glazer has publicly stated that high levels of
insecurity and crime in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">El
Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place> are scaring away foreign
investment, and that private security companies could play a larger role in
cracking down on crime.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>The governing ARENA party supported Glazer’s call for the private
sector to provide public security. Without referring to his party’s
history of failed public security policies, ARENA deputy Ernesto Angulo
affirmed the importance of collaboration between private companies and the
National Civilian Police, stating “we all know there are many private
security officers that have contracts with businesses, but there is no system
for them to collaborate with the police.” <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>For FMLN deputy Walter Duran, these declarations are worrisome.
According to Duran, many members of ARENA “are owners of these private
agencies, [who are] asking that they be legally allowed to carry out police
duties, which is very dangerous for the rule of law and respect for human
rights.” <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Alongside the FMLN, various social organizations have denounced the
proposal to involve private companies in public security. The real problem,
they insist, is that the criminal justice system is inefficient and arbitrary.
Community leader Mario Chávez said his biggest preoccupation is that <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place>’s
attorney general “responds to the interests of the Executive and specifically
the ARENA party.” Chávez’s son, Omar Chávez, disappeared three
years ago and the family has yet to receive a response from judicial
authorities about the case. Social organizations and the FMLN party continue to
demand that this case, along with others such as January 2008 assassination of
Mayor Wilber Funes and Zulma Rivera in the town of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">Alegría</st1:City></st1:place>, be investigated.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>The current controversy began several weeks ago when U.S. Ambassador
Glazer spoke at a meeting of the American Chamber of Commerce of El Salvador. “As
the businessman and investor that I am, I want to emphasize that the crisis of
public security in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">El
Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place> is also an economic crisis, as it
puts a brake on foreign investment,” Glazer stated. The Ambassador also
recognized the failures of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">El
Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place>’s criminal justice system,
citing six consecutive years of U.S. State Department Human Rights Reports,
which found that judicial inefficiency and corruption were impeding the
country’s development. Though he pointed out that some judges were honest
and efficient, Glazer categorized the judicial system as “arbitrary,
unpredictable and very slow.”<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Salvadoran president Antonio Saca gave a limited response to Ambassador
Glazer’s tough criticisms, stating that there have been advances in the
reduction of homicides and extortions. Meanwhile, Francisco Rovira, newly
appointed director of the National Civilian Police, downplayed the importance
of Glazer’s remarks, saying he is “aware of the level of the
problem that exists, but the word ‘crisis’ is very extreme.”
Rovira’s comments did not include steps for improving the security
situation.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=right style='text-align:right'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<h3><a name="_Food_security_damaged"></a><b><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Food security damaged by
CAFTA<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h3>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;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'>March 2008 marked the second anniversary of the implementation of the
Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), and to mark the occasion social
organizations have been carrying out various activities to highlight the
negative effects of the accord, specifically in the agricultural sector. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Rafael Alegría, representative of <i><span style='font-style:italic'>Via
Campesina</span></i><b><span style='font-weight:bold'> </span></b>of <st1:place
w:st="on">Central America</st1:place>, declared, “it is not possible to
talk about exporting when the country is importing basic grains to meet the
demand of the citizens.” Alegría went on to explain that <st1:country-region
w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region> is not prepared to meet the demands
of free trade with a market as powerful as that of the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">United States</st1:country-region></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'> <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Representatives of various agricultural sectors have argued that, under
CAFTA, they are losing their productive sovereignty, and that <st1:country-region
w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region> is being flooded by basic grains
– including corn and rice - imported from the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">United States</st1:country-region></st1:place>. These imports are sold
at prices lower than those that Salvadoran producers are able to offer, thus
driving those producers out of business. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>Additionally, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">El
Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place>’s trade deficit has increased
since the inception of CAFTA. In promoting the accord to the Salvadoran people,
President Saca claimed that CAFTA would enable the country to export more of
its products. However, official statistics demonstrate that the trade deficit
increased by 18.5% in CAFTA’s second year.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>According to Mateo Rendón, leader of the National Agricultural Board,
“in the countryside we are in big trouble. They said we were going to
export our products, and this basically hasn’t happened.” Rendón
added that, on the contrary, production of basic grains has diminished.
“At this point they are importing 40,000 tons of white corn and 70,000
tons of rice per year.” In the process of wiping out local production,
these imports are allowing the creation of a grain monopoly for a small group
of wealthy financiers and importers in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place>. Citing alarming statistics
that confirm the displacement of local producers, Rendón stated that “20
years ago close to 600,000 <i><span style='font-style:italic'>manzanas</span></i>
[858,000 hectares] of corn were cultivated; today we don’t even reach
300,000 [429,000 hectares].<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>The increasing food insecurity that the population finds itself in,
along with the loss of productive sovereignty, demonstrates that the promises
made by the ARENA government about CAFTA were false. The only
agriculture-related sector that has benefited from CAFTA seems to be a small
group of agro-industries such as Diana, a brand of snack foods owned by Hugo
Barrera, the former Minister of the Environment who resigned when he was
accused of a number of high-profile violations of <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place>’s Environmental
Law.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>The organizations taking part in the activities marking CAFTA’s
second anniversary point out that the four promises made by the government in
relation to the accord have all proven false. There has not been an increase in
employment, nor more foreign investment. Similarly, consumer prices have not
fallen, nor have exports increased.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<h3><a name="_ARENA_chooses_Presidential"></a><b><font size=4
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>ARENA
chooses presidential candidate<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h3>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>After a long, drawn-out, confrontational process, the right-wing ARENA
party finally chose its presidential candidate last week. The winner was
Rodrigo Avila, former head of the National Civilian Police (PNC), who left the
institutional in turmoil when he stepped down to vie for the ARENA candidacy in
February. <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Avila</st1:City></st1:place>
has been blamed for the worsening conduct of the PNC in recent years, and given
his police background he is seen by many as the “law and order”
candidate. Current vice-president Ana Vilma de Escobar immediately challenged
the process and accused a relative of President Tony Saca, among others, of
working to manipulate the internal process in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">Avila</st1:City></st1:place>’s favor. One of the first major
polls to be published following the announcement shows FMLN candidate Mauricio
Funes with a 44% to 23% advantage over <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Avila</st1:place></st1:City>
(<a
href="http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/view/30196/journalist_leads_presidential_race_in_el_salvador">see
from CID-Gallup polling data here</a>.)<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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