Author Archives: USESSC

A Quick Summary of the Approval of the Foreign Agents Law in El Salvador

Español Abajo On May 20, the Legislative Assembly approved the Foreign Agents Law with 56 votes. The law imposes a 30% tax on transactions originating from abroad, applicable to both natural and legal persons, whether national or foreign. Some key articles in the law include: According to the law, a Registry of Foreign Agents will […]

May, 2025: News updates from El Salvador.

Español abajo Here is our monthly blog with some relevant news from El Salvador. Residents of communities in Tecoluca denounce the pollution of rivers near the CECOT prison. Residents of the communities near the mega prison reported that, at dawn on Friday, April 25, they observed large streams of water with white foam, similar to […]

March, 2025: News updates from El Salvador.

March, 2025: News updates from El Salvador.  (Español Abajo) To read last month’s news update, click here.  Capture of Human Rights Defender, Fidel Zavala: On February 26th, human rights defender Fidel Zavala, alongside 20 other community leaders and organizers, was arrested in La Floresta. Zavala, spokesperson for the Unidad de Defensa de Derechos Humanos y […]

El Salvador’s Ongoing Battle Against Metallic Mining: From Historic Ban to Renewed Struggle

(Español Abajo) In 2017, El Salvador approved a law banning metallic mining after a long struggle alongside various communities, environmental organizations, social organizations, and international solidarity. Ultimately, history was made as El Salvador became the first country to prohibit the practice of mining. More information can be found in The Guardian. US-El Salvador Sister Cities, […]

Take a Look at Our 2024 Speaking Tour Experience!

(Español Abajo) This fall, Sister Cities organized the 2024 Speaking Tour across the Midwest from October 6th to 27th. The topic for the 2024 tour was “Our Shared Struggle: Shaping a more just future through grassroots solidarity organizing in El Salvador and the US.” During our tour, we visited 7 cities: Austin TX, Lawrence KS, […]

The Experience of a Delegate: Read, Remember, Resist!

Read, Remember, Resist! Prior to traveling to El Salvador this past summer with a compañera from Philadelphia and a team from Madison, Wisconsin, I read Jonathan Blitzer’s Everyone Who is Gone is Here: The United States, Central America, and the Making of a Crisis. Six years had lapsed since my last delegation and I felt […]

INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE VICTIMS OF ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES 2024

Celebration of the International day of the victims of enforced disappearances. (Español Abajo) In the context of the commemoration of the Month of Victims of Forced Disappearance, on August 30th, we supported the Human Rights Committee Pro Historical Memory of El Salvador, which called for a press conference and an ecumenical event to be held […]

40th Anniversary of CRIPDES

(Español abajo)   Last Saturday CRIPDES celebrated its 19th annual assembly, in which they celebrated 40 years of community work. The assembly was attended by the different members, representatives of the regional offices and special guests, including US- El Salvador Sister Cities. During the assembly, the work that has been done during the last year […]

HISTORICAL MEMORY LOST

(Español Abajo) The last weekend the Monseñor Romero wall paint that was in the international airport from El Salvador, the one who has the same same name International airport Monseñor Romero from El Salvador was destroyed and now there is just a blue wall with the phrase “Bienvenidos a la tierra del surf , los […]

MAY MEMBER MEETING/ REUNIÓN DE MIEMBROS DE MAYO

(Español abajo) On May 16, Sister Cities hosted its May Member Meeting, titled “Rivers of Resistance: Resource Conflict and Rural Organizing in the Americas.” It was a very special presentation by our very own staff member, Dr. Jacey Anderson, before she steps down from Sister Cities to work as a full-time historian.  Anderson’s research shares […]