[CISPES-Update] Funes and Obama: Historic First Meeting at the White House

[CISPES National Office]

Funes and Obama: Historic First Meeting at the White House


 


 





 


CISPES <http://www.cispes.org/>  Update


March 11, 2010

 

Included in this update:


 


*	Funes <>  Administration Unveils New Security Plans 
*	U.S. Clamors for Influence <>  in Salvadoran Security Policies
*	President Lula Visits <>  El Salvador

 

On Monday, March 8 President Mauricio Funes met for the first time with his
U.S. counterpart in Washington, DC.  The two heads of state spoke behind
closed doors for an hour before making a joint
<http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-obama-and-pres
ident-funes-el-salvador-after-meeting>  public statement from the White
House.  Their discussion focused primarily on immigration policy, regional
security and El Salvador’s economy. This meeting was seen as an important
step in rejecting the notion publicized by the Salvadoran right-wing that
Funes – the first president of the leftist party Farabundo Martí Front for
National Liberation (FMLN) – would be unable to maintain good diplomatic
relations with the U.S., thereby jeopardizing the lives of the Salvadorans
living in the U.S. and the millions of dollars of remittances sent to
support family members in El Salvador. 

 

Immigration has been the highest foreign policy priority of President Funes,
given the 2 million plus Salvadorans who reside in the U.S.  In his remarks
Funes outlined the relationship that El Salvador’s economy has to the U.S.
immigration issue, stating that El Salvador “needs to generate work
opportunities in order to be able to keep people back in El Salvador. And as
they have better job generation, and people have better health and
education, people will be able to remain in countries and have a better
life.”  The Salvadoran president also made a specific request for Obama to
extend the Temporary Protected Status (TPS) by an additional 15 months,
currently due to expire in September 2010.  TPS has provided temporary legal
residency to over 200,000 Salvadorans living in the U.S.; it has also
consistently been used by prior U.S. administrations as a political tool to
boost the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) party during
electoral campaigns in El Salvador.    

 

On the topic of security in Central America, the two presidents concurred
that poverty, marginalization, and social exclusion are the root causes of
regional drug trafficking and organized crime. Obama remarked that, “The
security challenges obviously are connected to the economic challenges
within the region and we want to be supportive not only in addressing the
symptoms that we see in terms of crime, but also the root causes.”  Although
these comments represent a break from previous U.S. and Salvadoran
presidents who often addressed regional crime without contextualizing the
issue as entrenched within economic realities, no changes were discussed
with respect to the repressive policing strategies and policies currently
employed by the U.S. in Central America.  

 


Funes Administration Unveils New Security Plans 


 

In late February, President Funes and the Minister of Public Security Manuel
Melgar revealed new policies and initiatives to address the country’s high
levels of violence and crime, the legacy of widespread poverty and
institutional impunity fostered by decades of right-wing party governance.
At the close of 2009, El Salvador led the hemisphere in homicides per capita
and the alarming trend has continued into 2010. Among the new security
policies are a number of changes designed to strengthen the National
Civilian Police (PNC), a notoriously under-equipped body, severely lacking
the capacity and training to investigate crimes effectively.  As of March
15, 66% of the PNC will be housed in barracks provided by the Armed Forces
where agents will receive meals and transportation to their assignments –
important employment benefits that will decrease officers’ susceptibility to
corruption.  Additionally, basic police resources like patrol cars, radios,
bullet-proof vests, firearms, and computers are to be purchased for the PNC,
along with more training in forensic investigative techniques for agents.

 

The “Zero Corruption” plan will strengthen the investigative capacity of the
PNC’s independent Inspector General – the institution charged with
prosecuting high and low-ranking police officials for corruption – which has
been recently revitalized by newly-appointed director Zaira Navas.  The
government also plans to implement the successful model used to convert the
Distrito Italia neighborhood in Tonacatepeque municipality from one of the
most violent areas to a homicide-free zone for the past three months.  The
initiative takes a holistic approach to crime and violence reduction,
incorporating neighborhood clean-ups and social programs such as sports
activities for youth, with a heightened law enforcement presence in the
community.    

 

Violence and crime are deeply political issues in El Salvador; it is the
country’s poor communities that bear the brunt of high murder, assault, and
extortion rates.  In recognition of this reality, the Funes Administration’s
new security policies are designed to complement the government’s social
investment projects, such as the “House for All” and the student uniform
programs.  El Salvador’s Human Rights Ombudsman, the country’s Catholic
Archbishop, and numerous foreign diplomats have lauded the new security
initiatives.  To date, the government has procured $28.4 million of the $80
million required to implement the new plans.

 


U.S. Clamors for Influence in Salvadoran Security Policies


 

Several of El Salvador’s new security initiatives received swift offers of
aid from the United States government, augmenting its already large security
and military influence and presence in El Salvador.  Following the
Legislative Assembly decision to create a Call Monitoring Center for
court-ordered phone taps to investigate murder, extortion, and kidnapping
cases, the U.S. offered $1 million for the center’s construction, equipment,
and personnel training.  In late February, the National Council on Public
Security (CNSP) announced plans to install Municipal Violence Observatories
that will be operated by local governments in municipalities with the
highest crime rates.  These observatories will provide detailed statistics
on crimes committed within the municipalities and be used by both the
Ministry of Security and the municipal government to implement prevention
programs and other security policies, as well as adjust existing ones.  The
U.S. government announced that it would also assist in equipping these new
observatories.

 

The Salvadoran State’s stretched financial situation, coupled with the
population’s insistent demands for relief from crime and violence, require
the government to look to foreign contributors to fund its security
programs. The U.S. government maintains its historical interest and
involvement in regional security policy, readily funding initiatives
pertaining to intelligence gathering and crime repression – such as the new
Call Monitoring Center, the municipal observatories – as opposed to crime
prevention programs.  El Salvador is also part of the Mérida Initiative, a
$1.6 billion U.S. anti-drug initiative to combat narcotrafficking throughout
Mexico and Central America.

 

In addition to being the principal foreign contributor of security aid to
the country, the U.S. maintains its own array of U.S. military and law
enforcement outposts in El Salvador: a U.S. military base near the Comalapa
Airport, offices of both the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug
Enforcement Agency, and the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA), a
U.S.-funded facility to train police from El Salvador and other Latin
American countries.  

 


President Lula Visits El Salvador


 

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva made an official visit to El
Salvador on February 26, 2010.  The purpose of the visit was to sign
conventions between Brazil and El Salvador in areas including public health,
public transport, agriculture, and technology.  Some of the El
Salvador-Brazil cooperation projects include Brazilian technical support for
the Ministry of Agriculture to reactivate this previously neglected sector;
aid and expertise to the Ministry of Health to improve the country’s blood
banking system; and assistance and credit in overhauling the country’s
public transport system.  Brazil is offering $500 million in credit to El
Salvador of which over $300 million will be used to renew the country’s
dilapidated bus fleet, with the remaining funding destined to social
programs.

 

During the campaign, Funes cited Lula and Obama as the principal models for
his presidency.  Given the country’s economic dependence on the U.S. for
imports, exports, technical assistance, and aid, El Salvador’s increased
cooperation with other regional partners has been a priority of the new
administration.  Since taking office, the new government has opened
relationships with Cuba, Vietnam, and China, opening up El Salvador’s
international relations in marked contrast to the ideologically constrained
diplomacy of past Salvadoran presidents.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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