Report by Delegation to El Salvador Calls into Question U.S. Government Role

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Report by Delegation to El Salvador Calls into Question US Government’s Role
in Human Rights Abuses and Political Intervention

 


October 8, 2009


 

Contact: Burke Stansbury – 202-521-2510 ext. 205 or burke at cispes.org 

Download report at www.cispes.org/2008delegationreport (Spanish version
coming soon)

 

A recently returned delegation to El Salvador has published a report on
human rights abuses, the potential for fraud and intervention in the 2009
Salvadoran elections, and the role that the US government has played in the
cited injustices.  The delegation was organized by the Committee in
Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES) and was made up of 17 US
citizens and residents.  The introduction to the report explains its
intended purpose of “offer[ing] elected officials, the media, and concerned
citizens a description of the deterioration of human rights in El
Salvador
[and] the potential impediments to true democracy faced by the
Salvadoran people as they approach a crucial election period in their
country.”

 

Callie Arnold, a delegate from Seattle, stated “We feel that US citizens and
residents should be aware of and concerned by the injustices carried out in
El Salvador — particularly the many that our government has a hand in — and
we hope this report will get people talking, increase media coverage, and
encourage elected officials to take action.”  The Human Rights section of
the report cites evidence that the existence of the International Law
Enforcement Academy (ILEA) — a police training institution in San Salvador
that is funded and administered by the US — has coincided with “an increase
in repression, including arrest and torture of citizens involved in peaceful
protests.”

 

The section of the report entitled “2009 Elections and the Electoral
Process” further calls into question the role of the US government in the
Central American country.  It cites instances leading up to the 2004
presidential elections in El Salvador in which the US “interfered with the
ability of Salvadorans to choose their preferred candidate.”  It goes on to
discuss “similar patterns of US political involvement in the period leading
up to the 2009 elections.”

 

Andrew Kafel, a delegate from New York, says, “The current state of the
economy in El Salvador is dire.  The Central American Free Trade Agreement
has devastated the country and the 2009 elections offer Salvadorans an
opportunity to bring about democratic change that will better the state of
their country.  This is why it is so important that they be allowed to
freely choose their next government.”  On January 18, 2009, El Salvador will
hold municipal and legislative elections; on March 15 presidential elections
will take place.  The leftist Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front
(FMLN) holds a significant lead in presidential polls over the ruling
right-wing Republican National Alliance (ARENA).  Kafel went on, “It is
clear the people of El Salvador want change and we believe it is of utmost
importance that the US stay out of their elections and allow for
self-determination.”

 

The report also describes a meeting with US Ambassador to El Salvador
Charles Glazer as “a highly rhetorical and hostile propaganda exercise with
the delegates.”  Rosa Lozano, a delegate from Washington D.C., stated, “The
Ambassador’s behavior and demeanor was troubling, but it was especially
surprising that when directly asked about US involvement in the 2004
elections, he admitted that the US had intervened.  That is why it is so
important that this report be published and for US citizens and residents to
pressure our government not to repeat this intervention in 2009.”

 

The complete report can be downloaded at www.cispes.org/2008delegationreport
or obtained by contacting CISPES’ National Office in Washington DC at
202-521-2510.  For more information go to www.cispes.org
<http://www.cispes.org/> . 


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© 2008 CISPES - The Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador
CISPES National Office | ph. 202-521-2510 | 1525 Newton St. NW, Wash. DC
20010| cispes at cispes.org

 

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