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<p class=MsoPlainText 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'>Thousands march in Salvadoran Mayday, to celebrate victory
and demand change<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>CISPES
update<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>May
4, 2009<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><img
width=384 height=316 id="_x0000_i1025" src="cid:image002.jpg@01C9CCD1.F4809B30"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><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>
<p class=MsoPlainText><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>
<ul style='margin-top:0in' type=disc>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><a
href="#_Pacific_Rim_Mining">Pacific Rim Mining to sue El Salvador in CAFTA
arbitration court</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></li>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><a
href="#_Attorney_General’s_term">Attorney General’s term ends
with Assembly divided over successor; Adjunct defies Constitution in
assuming office without legislative approval</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></li>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><a
href="#_Social_organizations_demand">Social organizations demand reforms
to Supreme Electoral Tribunal</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></li>
<li class=MsoNormal style='mso-list:l1 level1 lfo3'><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><a
href="#_Assembly_bans_same-sex">Assembly bans same-sex marriage, adoption
rights; LGBT organizations present counter-proposal to further civil
rights</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></li>
</ul>
<p class=MsoPlainText><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>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>On Friday, May 1st,
thousands of workers, <i><span style='font-style:italic'>campesinos</span></i>,
union activists, students, and social organizations marched in <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">San Salvador</st1:place></st1:City> to commemorate<font color=navy><span
style='color:navy'> </span></font>International Day Workers’. The
marchers brought with them a spirit of hope as they celebrated the FMLN victory
in the March 15 presidential elections and also demands that president-elect
Mauricio Funes complete his campaign promises and provide ample space for
workers and members of the social movement in the new government that will take
office on June 1st. One of the principle demands put forth by speakers,
banners, and posters in the march is the creation of the Social and Economic
Coordination Forum. The creation of such a forum, which would provide a
space for workers and members of the social movement to participate in drafting
government policies alongside government official and the private sector, was
stipulated. “President-elect Mauricio Funes must remember that it
was the people that brought him to power,” said Wilfredo Romero, Secretary
of the Water Workers Union (SETA). “Which is why we expect a
greater commitment from him, and for him to choose capable
functionaries,” he added.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><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>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Funes, who spoke along
with Vice-President-elect Salvador Sanchez Cerén and various leaders of social
and popular organizations at the end of the march in the Plaza Cívica,
reiterated his commitment to govern for the workers and the most vulnerable
sectors of society. In a meeting he had with union leaders two days
before the march, Funes stated that “I want to end this history in which
there is a permanent confrontation between the government and the social
movement…whom have not had a possibility of influencing public policies
[in the past].” He added, “The social movement has something
to say and the government is obligated to listen.” View <a
href="http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=563&Itemid=89">Pictures
of Friday’s march HERE</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<h1><a name="_Pacific_Rim_Mining"></a><b><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Pacific Rim Mining to
sue <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place>
in CAFTA arbitration court<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<p class=MsoPlainText><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>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Canadian mining company
Pacific Rim, acting through a U.S-based subsidiary, announced this week that it
will sue the Salvadoran government over the government's refusal to issue
mining permits for the El Dorado silver and gold mine in the department of
Cabañas. The case will be heard by a special international arbitration court
established by the 2006 U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><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>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Pacific Rim Mining has
yet to announce the amount it plans to sue for, but it claims to have already
invested over $75 million in exploration for the mining project. CAFTA laws
allow companies to sue governments not only for lost investments, but also for
lost anticipated revenues that could have resulted from those
investments. Legal analysts estimate that <st1:place w:st="on">Pacific Rim</st1:place>
could potentially seek hundreds of millions of dollars from the Salvadoran
government.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><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>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Metals mining in
general, and the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">El Dorado</st1:City></st1:place>
mine specifically, has been fiercely opposed by Salvadoran civil society,
including the Catholic Church. Key civic organizations maintain that the
environmentally-responsible mining techniques (called “Green
Mining”) that Pacific Rim claims to practice are a farce, and that a
silver and gold mine at El Dorado would result in cyanide contamination of
drinking water. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><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>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>The <st1:City w:st="on">El
Dorado</st1:City> site is located in the basin of the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">Lempa</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">River</st1:PlaceType></st1:place>,
the country's most important source of water. The Lempa provides invaluable
irrigation water for much of <st1:country-region w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region>'s
agricultural industry, as well as drinking water for over half of the
population of the greater <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">San Salvador</st1:City></st1:place>
metropolitan area.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><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>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Please stay tuned to the
CISPES website for updates on this situation and actions you can take: <a
href="http://www.cispes.org/">www.cispes.org</a>. And for more
information on the Pacific Rim Mining case, please read <a
href="http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=496&Itemid=28">this
previous CISPES update</a>. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<h1><a name="_Attorney_General’s_term"></a><b><font size=4
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Attorney
General’s term ends with Assembly divided over successor; Adjunct defies
Constitution in assuming office without legislative approval<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<p class=MsoPlainText><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>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>On April 19, Salvadoran
Attorney General Félix Garrid Safie's term in office ended before the
Legislative Assembly had voted to elect his successor, opening the door for Adjunct
Attorney General Ástor Escalante to assume the top position in defiance of <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place>'s
constitution.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><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>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>The Salvadoran
Constitution stipulates that the election of the Attorney General requires the
votes of 56 out of 84 Legislative deputies. In a narrowly divided Assembly, and
without a compromise candidate having emerged, the right-wing and left-wing
parties have been in a stalemate over the confirmation of the nation's top law
enforcement official. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><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>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Escalante's attempt to
take on the functions of Attorney General have created a furor in Salvadoran
political and legal circles. “Escalante doesn’t have constitutional
permission, and no person can substitute himself for the exiting Attorney
General in this manner,” declared Supreme Court Magistrate Marcel Orestes
Posada. “In these moments, the Office of the Attorney General of the
Republic is headless, and everything that Escalante does will be null, as he is
not a legal functionary.”<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><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>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Various judges
throughout the country have suspended cases until an Attorney General is
chosen, noting that criminal charges cannot legally be introduced in the
absence of an Attorney General.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>The Legislative Assembly
has been debating the names of potential Attorneys General since several weeks
before the end of Safie’s term, but no consensus has been reached.
The right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) rejected the ten names
presented by the legislative subcommittee responsible for the matter, and is
now backing Escalante to continue as the new Attorney General.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><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>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>The leftist deputies,
led by the FMLN, have rejected this possibility, arguing that Escalante’s
demonstrated allegiance to the ARENA party violates the constitutional
requirement that Attorneys General be non-partisan. Eliseo Ortíz of the Institute
for Legal Studies of El Salvador (IEJES) echoed the FMLN's concerns about
Escalante, saying “Previous Attorneys General have maintained a role of
guaranteeing impunity for white-collar criminals and organized crime, and this
would be precisely the role of Mr. Escalante – that [the Office of the
Attorney General] continue this practice.” Ortíz went on to call
ARENA’s support for Escalante a deliberate attempt to keep the Attorney
General's office vacant, a move intended to “cover their backs in terms
of all that [crimes] they have committed.”<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><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>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>In an analysis of the
FMLN’s presidential victory on March 15 written shortly after the
election, economist Agosto Villalona predicted a series of conflicts over
appointments to government offices, including the Attorney General, due to lack
of consensus between legislative factions. “It is necessary to take into
account that what has been won [by the FMLN in the elections] is simply the
Executive Branch, and the Right maintains its dominance in other branches and
institutions of the State,” stated Villalona.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><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>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Villalona went on to
predict that the Right’s strategy over the next five years would be one
of sabotaging the FMLN government, particularly through legislative tactics
that would create a situation of ungovernability.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<h1><a name="_Social_organizations_demand"></a><b><font size=4
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Social
organizations demand reforms to Supreme Electoral Tribunal<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<p class=MsoPlainText><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>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Last week, the Social
Initiative for Democracy (ISD) and the Foundation for the Study of the
Application of Law (FESPAD), two Salvadoran non-governmental organizations,
presented a proposal to the Legislative Assembly to pass a constitutional
reform to make the electoral process more fair and transparent. The proposal
calls for changes to be made to the make-up of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal
(TSE). Currently, the TSE is composed of five magistrates – three
magistrates represent the three political parties that received the most votes
in the most recent election, and two magistrates are proposed by the Supreme
Court of Justice (CSJ) and approved by a two-thirds vote in the Legislative
Assembly.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><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>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>According to Ramon
Villalta, the executive director of ISD, during the past elections in January
and March of this year, “it was spoken of a TSE acting and failing to act
at the convenience of the political parties, marginalizing the interests of the
population, a climate of electoral violence was experienced, a lack of
transparency in the process and of arbitrary decisions, where the electoral
system was seen seriously debilitated to the point of not completing its
principal role.”<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><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>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>The executive director
of FESPAD Silvia Guillén said the proposed constitutional reform would separate
the jurisdictional and administrative functions that the TSE currently
possesses. It would create a National Electoral Board that would carry
out the administration of the electoral process so the TSE would only be
charged with jurisdictional functions. “It is also necessary that the
magistrates of the TSE be elected, no longer proposed by political parties but
by the CSJ, the National Judicial Board, and legally inscribed
Universities,” said Guillén. The proposed reform would make this change
and then require all magistrates to be approved by a two-thirds majority in the
assembly.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><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>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>The FMLN, which won both
the presidency and the most legislative seats in the 2009 elections, promoted
an electoral reform of this type in its campaign platform. In addition to
instances of foreigners voting, electoral violence, vote buying, and other
types of fraud, national and international election observers denounced the partisan
composition of the TSE and its failure to fulfill its role as neutral arbiter
of the electoral process.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><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>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>In a report by the
International Observation Mission of the Salvadoran Foundation for Local
Development and Democracy (FUNDASPAD), it was found that, at all levels of
electoral administration—from the TSE to the Municipal Electoral Boards
to the Voting Tables, conflicts were consistently resolved in favor of the
governing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA).<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><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="_Assembly_bans_same-sex"></a><b><font size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:13.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Assembly bans same-sex
marriage, adoption rights; LGBT organizations present counter-proposal to
further civil rights<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<p class=MsoPlainText><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>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>(Excerpted from <a
href="http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/maggie-von-vogt/2009/04/el-salvador-bans-same-sex-marriage-and-lgbt-adoption-rights-last-mi">reporting
by Alexandria Soleil and Maggie Von Vogt in San Salvador</a>.)<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><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>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>After weeks of public
debate and protest, <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">El
Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place>’s Legislative Assembly on
Thursday approved an amendment to the constitution that bans marriage and
adoption rights for same-sex couples. The amendment was passed in the final
hours of the outgoing 2006-2009 Legislative Assembly, which ended April 30th.
Newly-elected Legislative Deputies took office on May 1st.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>“Marriage is only
for men and women, born that way. It remains consecrated in our country that
this is not possible for same-sex couples,” announced Legislative Deputy
Rodolfo Parker (Christian Democrat Party), the major proponent of the
amendment.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>In the period of time
leading up to this ratification, the amendment lacked 4 votes to pass. Those
votes needed to come from deputies of the leftist FMLN. On Monday, April 27,
the party announced that it would not support the amendment because of concerns
that it was discriminatory. The wording of the amendment was subsequently
negotiated to include the phrase, “The State shall foment marriage, but
the lack of it will not effect the enjoyment of the rights established by
law,” after which it attained the number of votes needed to pass.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Politicians had
experienced pressure from The Church to ratify the amendment. Various Catholic
and Evangelical leaders publicly targeted the FMLN for not supporting the
amendment, particularly <st1:City w:st="on">San Salvador</st1:City>’s
Archbishop, José Luis Escobar <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:State w:st="on">Alas.</st1:State></st1:place>
On April 20th, Alas presented the Assembly with 300,000 signatures in support
of the reform and made various public statements urging the FMLN to cast the
necessary votes for it to pass.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Lesbian, gay, bisexual
and transgender (LGBT) activists – who have focused their work on providing
education, services, and human rights accompaniment to LGBT Salvadorans –
immediately mobilized in response. “Here the Church has taken a position
that does not respect that <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">El
Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place> is a secular state. It has wanted
to dominate and get involved in situations that are not its duty. We have
maintained that, if the reform passes, El Salvador loses…in terms that,
first, we are a secular state, and second that the Catholic Church does not
represent 100% of the citizens, in religion, nor in quantity,” said
William Hernandez, Executive Director of the organization Associación Entre
Amigos (Between Friends), at an April 28th press conference.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoPlainText><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>Hernandez and Entre
Amigos are part of The Alliance for LGBT Diversity, a network of lesbian, gay,
bisexual, and transgender individuals and organizations. The <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City
w:st="on">Alliance</st1:City></st1:place> has organized a variety of protests,
press conferences and vigils, and have written a counter amendment proposing
the expansion of Article 3 of the nation’s constitution to include
sexuality, gender identity, and disability in the non-discrimination clause.
“We are not asking for marriage, only equality” is the resounding
message the <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">Alliance</st1:City></st1:place>
has put forth. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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