[cispes-ERN] ALERT: Support the Mobilization Against Water Privatization in El Salvador

[CISPES National Office]

C     I     S     P     E     S

ACTION ALERT

 

Take Action to Support the Mobilization Against Water Privatization in El
Salvador 

Join CISPES as We Publicly Defend the Right to Organize! 

(version en español abajo)

October 16, 2006

 

On Tuesday, October 17, thousands of people take to the streets of San
Salvador in the first major, national mobilization to protest the
government’s plans to privatize water.  This protest comes just weeks after
the Salvadoran right wing party ARENA forced passage of the draconian
“anti-terrorist” law in the National Assembly (more info at
<http://www.cispes.org/english/Updates_and_Analysis/index.html#anti-terr>
http://www.cispes.org/english/Updates_and_Analysis/index.html#anti-terr.)
The legislation leaves the definition of terrorism up to broad
interpretation, while specifically naming some common protest practices –
such as the occupation of public buildings – as terrorist acts punishable
with decades of imprisonment.

 

Political repression has been on the rise in El Salvador; over the past four
months a number people connected with opposition to the ARENA government
have been brutally murdered in the style of death squads, while the
Salvadoran Human Rights Office has denounced the existence of extermination
groups functioning within the National Civilian Police (PNC).  A student
protest in July resulted in deaths and the invasion of the autonomous
National University by the PNC.  Meanwhile, the government has done nothing
to investigate these crimes and violations of the 1992 Peace Accords.

 

The social movement in El Salvador is mobilizing despite the repression, and
despite the government’s attempts to equate protest with terrorism.  Last
week social movement organizations marched to denounce the “social crisis”
in El Salvador and to demand the repeal of the anti-terrorism law.  On
October 17 they are marching to send a strong message that the movement
against the imposition of CAFTA and other neoliberal policies – including
the privatization of such a basic necessity as water – will not be
intimidated into silence.  The march will be a major test of the
government’s intentions to utilize the anti-terrorist law.

 

One October 17, CISPES is publishing a paid ad in two Salvadoran newspapers
signed by over 40 U.S. and Canadian organizations.   In it, we demand that
President Saca respect human rights and the right to organize (view the open
letter to Saca here:
<http://www.cispes.org/english/Communiques_-_Action_Alerts/Oct17paid_ad.html
>
http://www.cispes.org/english/Communiques_-_Action_Alerts/Oct17paid_ad.html.
)  Join Salvadoran organizations in pressing for our demands!

 

TAKE ACTION!

 

1.                  Call the Salvadoran Embassy, or your local Salvadoran
Consular Officer, to demand that they protect the right to organize and
protest in El Salvador (see below for talking points) 

-          Salvadoran Ambassador Rene Leon at (202) 265-9672

-          Or, go to www.elsalvador.org/home.nsf/consularinfo and click on
the city nearest you for the name and phone number of the nearest Consular
Officer.

 

2.                  Donate directly to the Salvadoran union leading the
struggle to stop privatization of water.  Donate online at
https://secure.people-link.com/~cissecure/, or send a check marked to
CISPES, PO Box 8650, New York, NY 10001. Be sure to mark your donation as
“material aid”!

 

 

Talking Points

When you contact the Salvadoran Embassy or Consulate

 

- Investigate and put and end to the death squad-style threats and murders.

Beginning with the July murder of the Manzanares couple, the parents of
long-time activist “Mariposa”, threats and assaults on activists has been on
the increase. Death threats have been sent to SETA, the water workers’
union; two FMLN activists were murdered in Coatepeque; Rev. Antonio Romero
was murdered in September; and student activist and son of well known FMLN
activist Luis Edgardo Osorto Gomez was disappeared for 8 days. These
political attacks are reminiscent of intimidation tactics used in the 80s,
and we call for immediate investigation of this repression!    

  

- Reverse the militarization of the police, which is a direct violation of
the Peace Accords. The separation between police and military in El Salvador
has declined dramatically since originally established by Peace Accords in
El Salvador. It is now common to have groups of soldiers “patrolling” rural
and urban neighborhoods in El Salvador, something that current President
Saca has promoted. El Salvador’s National Civilian Police, or PNC, was
created by the 1992 Peace Accords to do the work of law enforcement in El
Salvador. However, the PNC has increasingly been used to violently repress
protests in El Salvador, especially the protests against the CAFTA free
trade agreement.

 

- Repeal the anti-terrorism law and halt government repression of protest.
This mobilization is one of the first major actions since the passing of
this law, and criminalizes various protest tactics. The language in the law
is also very vague, therefore incredibly open to interpretation and
application. The anti-terrorism law is similar to the Patriot Act in that it
threatens civil liberties supposedly protected by the constitution of El
Salvador. We call on the government of El Salvador to repeal this law and to
keep protest legal.  

 

- Close the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA). El Salvador is
already the second largest recipient of military training in Central
America, is the host of a U.S. military base at the Comalapa airport, and in
early 2005 an FBI office was opened in San Salvador. 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. More surveillance does
not make Salvadorans safer, it threatens daily life and the right to
protest!  

 

 

 

 

 

C     I     S     P     E     S

ALERTA

 

 

Actúa en apoyo de movilización contra la privatización del agua en El
Salvador

Únete a CISPES en la defensa del derecho a organizarse!

 

16 de octubre del 2006

 

En lo que será la primer movilización de mayor envergadura y de carácter
nacional en oposición a los planes del gobierno de privatizar el agua, miles
de personas saldrán a expresarse el martes 17 de octubre en las calles de
San Salvador. Esta manifestación viene justamente después que unas semanas
atrás el partido derechista ARENA forzó la aprobación de una ley draconiana
denominada “ley antiterrorista” en la Asamblea Legislativa de El Salvador.
(mayor información sobre el tema en el sitio web
http://www.cispes.org/english/Updates and Analisis/index.html#anti-terr.) La
ley deja la definición de “terrorismo” a una interpretación vaga mientras
que la misma especifica algunas prácticas comunes de protesta – tales como
la toma pacífica de inmuebles – como actos terroristas castigados con
décadas en prisión.

 

La represión política ha crecido en El Salvador de tal manera que en los
últimos cuatro meses han sido brutalmente asesinadas al estilo de los
escruadrones de la muerte un número de personas vinculadas a la oposición al
gobierno de ARENA. Mientras tanto, la Procuraduría General de los Derechos
Humanos ha denunciado la existencia de grupos de exterminio dentro de la
misma Policía Nacional Civil (PNC). Una protesta estudiantil el pasado mes
de julio terminó en varias muertes y la violación de la autonomía de la
Universidad de El Salvador (UES) por parte de la PNC. Asímismo, el gobierno
no ha hecho nada para investigar estos crímenes y violaciones de los
Acuerdos de Paz de 1992.

 

El movimiento social en El Salvador se está movilizando a pesar de la
represión y aún ante la intención del gobierno de igualar las protestas con
terrorismo. La semana pasada, organizaciones sociales marcharon para
denunciar la crisis social en El Salvador y para demandar la derogación de
la “ley antiterrorista”. El 17 de octubre, estas organizaciones estarán
marchando para enviar un fuerte mensaje al gobierno que el movimiento contra
la imposición del CAFTA y otras políticas neoliberales – que incluyen la
privatización de tan básica necesidad como lo es el agua – no será
intimidado ni silenciado. La marcha se espera sea una prueba mayor a las
intenciones del gobierno de utilizar la “ley antiterrorista”.

 

El 17 de octubre, CISPES publicará un campo pagado en dos periódicos
salvadoreños firmado por 40 organizaciones estadounidenses y canadienses. En
dicho espacio demandaremos que el Presidente Saca respete los derechos
humanos y el derecho del pueblo a organizarse. (ver la Carta Abierta a Saca
en este sitio web: http://www.cispes.org/english/Communiques
<http://www.cispes.org/english/Communiques%20-%20Action%20Alerts/Oct17paid%2
0ad.html>  - Action Alerts/Oct17paid ad.html)

 

¡Únete a las organizacioens salvadoreñas para expresar nuestras demandas!

 

¡ACTÚA YA!

 

1. Llama a la embajada salvadoreña o a la oficina consular salvadoreña más
cercana y demanda la protección del derecho del pueblo a organizarse y
protestar en El Salvador 

- Embajador salvadoreño René León - Tel (202) 265-9672

- O visita el sitio web www.elsalvador.org/home.nsf/consularinfo y presiona
en el nombre de la ciudad más cercana a tu lugar de residencia para
encontrar el número de teléfono de la oficina consular más cercana.

 

2. Dona directamente al sindicato que dirige la lucha por el alto a la
privatización del agua. Puedes también donar en la internet en el sitio
https://secure.people-link.com/~cissecure/, o envía un cheque marcado con la
frase “Ayuda material” a: CISPES, P.O. Box 8650, New York, NY 10001.

 

*Traducido por Reynaldo Contreras-Valle

 

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