[Cispes-Alert] One week until Presidential Elections in El Salvador--we need your help!

Sat Mar 7 15:18:23 EST 2009

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Dear Friends in Struggle,

With only a week before the Presidential elections in El Salvador, CISPES is
turning up the heat! After a flurry of lobbying and grassroots Congressional
pressure by people like you, U.S. officials are speaking out in favor of
U.S. neutrality in El Salvador’s March 15 elections, exactly the kind of
statements we need to prevent U.S. intervention in the days to come. We will
be posting all the latest news to the 2009 Elections Blog
<http://cispes.org/09electionsblog/> —have you bookmarked it yet? 

<http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7651698449566841354&ei=-bKySZydGIG
yqAKBnpiFCw&hl=en>
<http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7651698449566841354&ei=-bKySZydGIG
yqAKBnpiFCw&hl=en>
<http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7651698449566841354&ei=-bKySZydGIG
yqAKBnpiFCw&hl=en>
<http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7651698449566841354&ei=-bKySZydGIG
yqAKBnpiFCw&hl=en> On Thursday, March 5, Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) held a
press
<http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7651698449566841354&ei=-bKySZydGIG
yqAKBnpiFCw&hl=en>  conference on Capitol Hill to announce a Congressional
letter to President Obama asking him to declare his respect for El
Salvador’s sovereign democratic process and assure the people of El Salvador
that he will maintain a positive relationship with their government
regardless of the outcome. Check
<http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7651698449566841354&ei=-bKySZydGIG
yqAKBnpiFCw&hl=en>  out a video of Rep. Grijalva’s statement calling for a
new era in foreign policy towards Latin America and read the international
media <http://cispes.org/09electionsblog/?p=248>  coverage.

The 33 members of the House of Representatives and 1 Senator who signed the
letter rejected past U.S. intervention and committed to “honoring and
respecting the will of the Salvadoran people when they go to the polls on
March 15.” Read a complete version of the letter and find out if your
<http://cispes.org/09electionsblog/?p=256>  Representative signed on!

Nearly one hundred North American solidarity organizations, churches, and
unions also made the call to President Obama in an Open Letter published in
the <http://cispes.org/09electionsblog/?p=274>  Salvadoran newspapers,
stating their commitment to organize against any form of U.S. intervention. 

A group of 70 delegates from across the U.S. is headed to El Salvador right
now to observe the elections on March 15, to report on the results
independently, and to stand with the Salvadoran people during this historic
possibility for change. 

Those of us here in the U.S. have a very important role to play. It costs
about $8,000 for CISPES to coordinate a delegation this size. Will
<http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=296>  you
give $100 today to make it happen?

These public statements of U.S. neutrality, the commitment of thousands to
take action to defend Salvadoran sovereignty, and the presence of vigilant
international observers will serve as a powerful “vaccine” against
last-ditch attempts by the right-wing to thwart the will of the Salvadoran
people to elect a new government. 

Text Box: What do I need to be ready for?
We don’t know exactly what will happen in El Salvador in the days that
remain before the elections, on Election Day and on the days that follow.
Together with our allies we are preparing for several scenarios:
1. International Observers are detained at the airport (this happened in
2004) and not allowed to enter the country 2. There are incidents of
electoral violence or political assassinations 3. There is massive fraud at
the polls or the Supreme Electoral Tribunal refuses to release the results
of the elections in the case of an FMLN victory
Please sign up to be part of our Emergency Response Network and we will keep
you up to date.
But a vaccine is a preventative measure. We also need to be ready to
respond. The right-wing is desperate, dangerous and it is hard to imagine
them respecting the will of the Salvadoran people now after trampling it for
nearly 20 years. Are you ready to take action?

We need you to stay vigilant, to check the website, to check your email and
when called upon, to take action. If you aren’t part of our Emergency
Response Network, please <http://www.cispes.org/>  sign up today! (Enter
your email address under Join Today!)

We hope the 2009 <http://cispes.org/09electionsblog/>  Elections blog will
be a valuable resource for journalists and solidarity activists and we will
be updating it as often as possible, in both Spanish and English.

Artist and long-time ally of the Salvadoran people, Adam Kufeld, has a new
on-line <http://www.elsalvadorelections2009.org/>  photo project to document
the campaigns!

We also need your financial support to keep this work going, now and for the
challenges and victories to come. Please
<http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=296>  give
as generously as you can so that we can seize this historic moment, which
Blandino Nerio, FMLN mayor of Mejicanos described as the “realization of the
democratic revolution in El Salvador.” Si se puede!

En solidaridad,

Alexis Stoumbelis

CISPES National Office

P.S. We got so many signers on the Congressional letter because hundreds of
individuals like you made a phone call. Imagine what we could do if all of
those individuals sent
<http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=296>  in a
contribution of $100 today? 

If you no longer wish to receive our emails, you may unsubscibe
<http://lists.people-link.net/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/cispes-ern>  here

© 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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