[Cispes-update] Suit Against ex-president Cristiani for involvement in Jesuit massacre; Presidential campaign officially begins in El Salvador

CISPES National Office cispes at cispes.org
Wed Nov 19 16:08:00 EST 2008


Spanish Human Rights Organization Files Suit Against ex-president Cristiani
and 14 others for involvement in Jesuit massacre of 1989

 

Also in this update:

*        Presidential campaign officially <>  begins

*        Dirty <>  campaign and violence against the FMLN

*        Salvadoran <>  Healthcare Workers Strike

 

As Salvadorans prepared to commemorate the 19th anniversary of the Jesuit
massacre, a major development related to the perpetrators of that crime
occurred. The Association for Human Rights in Spain (APDHE) with the support
of the San Francisco-based organization Center for Justice and
Accountability (CJA) has filed a criminal complaint with the Spanish High
Court against former president of El Salvador Alfredo Cristiani Berkard and
14 former members of El Salvador’s armed forces for the murder of 6 Jesuit
priests, their housekeeper, and her daughter on November 16 of 1989 by the
US-trained and equipped Atlacatl Battalion. The complaint will now go before
the Spanish High Court who will decide whether to press charges against and
seek the extradition of Cristiani and the 14 former military officials and
soldiers for trial.  The APDHE and CJA confirm that there is sufficient
proof including eye-witness accounts and government documents to prove the
guilt of those charged.

 

Regarding the charges against Cristiani, current president of El Salvador
Tony Saca of the ARENA party said, “Definitively, president Cristiani had
absolutely nothing to do with this,” and added, “we are with him and support
him, and we will support him until the last moment because he is an historic
man for our country.”

 

The 1991 trials and convictions in El Salvador of two military officers for
the massacre of the Jesuits was followed up by a 1993 Amnesty Law—granting
amnesty to crimes committed during the Civil War—and the officers’ release.
The Spanish criminal complaint brings hope that justice will be brought to
the victims of the murders, massacres, and human-rights abuses committed by
the US-backed and US-funded Salvadoran military and death squads.  It also
brings hope that a renewed effort to do away with the Amnesty Law could
bring justice to the countless victims of crimes and human rights abuses
here in El Salvador.


 


Presidential campaign officially begins


 

November 14, 2008 marked the official beginning of El Salvador’s
presidential campaigns, formally inaugurating the various political parties’
ability to ask the people of El Salvador for their vote.  The FMLN launched
their campaign with a national “mega-caravan” that left San Salvador
Saturday morning with presidential candidate Mauricio Funes and
vice-presidential candidate Salvador Sánchez Cerén.

 

The caravan traveled across the country – from San Salvador to Santa Ana to
La Union - drawing huge crowds waving FMLN flags and chanting, “¡Vamos por
el cambio!  ¡Vamos a la Victoria! ¡Funes, Funes!”  Funes declared, “We’re
going to defeat the Right in the Western region, 20 years of poverty and
exclusion will be defeated next year,” to a sea of red cheering him on at a
stop in Ahuachapán.

 


Dirty campaign and violence against the FMLN


 

Though the campaign just now officially started on November 14, a smear
campaign against the FMLN by the Venezuela-based Fuerza Solidaria—allies of
ARENA—has been underway for several weeks.  Television spots, pamphlets, and
posters all attempt to link the FMLN and Funes to Venezuelan president Hugo
Chavez and claim that an FMLN presidency would be the end to friendly
relations between El Salvador and the United States.  The FMLN has filed a
complaint against ARENA and the Fuerza Solidaria before the Supreme
Electoral Tribunal (TSE) for the use of images of President Chavez as well
as for accusing and defaming Funes in violation of the Salvadoran Electoral
Code.  

 

In response to ARENA’s claims that Fuerza Solidaria is an independent
organization not related to them, FMLN spokesperson Sigfrido Reyes called
Fuerza Solidaria a “ghost organization.”  Jaime Ricardo Handal, who
represents Fuerza Solidaria in El Salvador, is an ARENA militant and former
candidate for the municipality in San Salvador.  The FMLN is requesting the
TSE to use its authority to put an end to this dirty campaign which,
according to Reyes, “offends the public morale and violates the rights of
the people.”

 

ARENA has also filed an official complaint against the FMLN before the TSE
for an incident of electoral violence.  ARENA makes these charges against
the FMLN despite multiple incidences of campaign violence perpetrated by
members of their campaign.  In early September of this year, supporters of
ARENA’s San Salvador mayoral candidate Norman Quijano, violently attacked
FMLN party employees leaving several wounded.  Quijano confirmed the next
day that many of his campaign activists are armed and should be considered
dangerous.  Earlier this month, over 100 Quijano campaigners entered the
Montserrat Market in San Salvador and became hostile and violent with people
not interested in joining the campaign.  The ARENA members broke and
destroyed kitchen utensils belonging to Doña Antonio Calderón, a 71-year-old
woman who sells food in the market. More violence is expected as ARENA
becomes desperate before polls giving a clear advantage to the FMLN.

 


Salvadoran Healthcare Workers Strike


 

Members of the Trade Union of Healthcare Workers of El Salvador (SIGEESAL)
stopped all outpatient appointments and surgeries at Benjamin Bloom
Children’s Hospital and Rosales Hospital on Monday, November 10 and during
the morning of Tuesday, November 11, referring urgent matters to the
emergency room and other hospitals. The demands of SIGEESAL include: a
budget adjustment to provide enough funds to finish the year; an additional
$7.9 million in funds to purchase sufficient medicine and food, as well as
repair the dryers for bed linens and hospital clothes, at the 30 public
hospitals; a $300 bonus for 26,000 employees; and an end to repression
against unions, specifically against a group of employees at the Psychiatric
Hospital who were penalized for organizing.

 

Bloom and Rosales Hospitals, along with the other 28 public hospitals in the
country, currently face shortages of food for patients, bed linens and
hospital gowns, basic medicines, equipment, and anti-microbial soap for
surgeons.  “We are asking for a space for dialog with the Minister of
Health.  For him to demonstrate his good will and speak with us,” explained
Evelyn Aguilero, SIGEESAL spokesperson at Bloom Hospital.  Members of
SIGEESAL ended the strike at 2 PM on Tuesday, November 11, when Minister of
Health Guillermo Maza agreed to several of the demands and opened a
permanent space of negotiation to discuss the others.

 

The strike and its wins demonstrate the strength of the Healthcare Worker’s
Movement in El Salvador and their commitment to make healthcare a human
right for all.  They have also led the struggle against privatization of
public healthcare.  The current situation at the public hospitals is a stark
example of the current ARENA government’s neglect towards social programs
benefiting the poor majority of El Salvador.

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