Chalatenango Territories Free of Mining and 2014 Sister Cities Anti-Mining Delegation

On Friday, town hall representatives from the communities surrounding San Jose Las Flores in Chalatenango met to discuss a new project that will be unfolding over the course of the next seven months called Chalatenango, Territories Free of Mining.  Sister Cities will be hosting an anti-mining delegation that will coincide with this project, bringing delegates […]

El Salvador 2014 Presidential Elections Preliminary Results and Analysis

Sister Cities did not have a delegation for these elections, but Catie observed as part of the SHARE delegation at the International Fair Grounds, the largest voting center in the country, Estela was part of a vote receiving table in her neighborhood, and Cori observed with her parents Michael Ring and Maria Elena Martinez as […]

U.S. – El Salvador Sister Cities 2014 Election Observation Delegation

By Vic Hinterlang Austin-Guajoyo Committee Following up on our trip last May to Guajoyo, Austin’s Salvadoran Sister City, (See Austin-Guajoyo Sister City Project, May 31, 2014), Jennifer Long and I decided to return to El Salvador as International Observers of the February 2nd Presidential Election. Three parties, the FMLN, which currently holds the presidency in the […]

Sanchez Ceren will prevent mining in the Trifinio region

Due the risk of contaminating key bodies of water shared by the three countries Translated from:  http://elecciones2014.elsalvador.com/articulo/sanchez-ceren-evitara-mineria-trifinio-976   Vice President Salvador Sanchez Ceren was emphatic in his statement that he will advocate for the suspension of all mining activity in the Trifinio Reserve area, alluding to the Cerro Blanco mining project located in Asuncion Mita, […]

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Dispatch from Round 1 Election Day

By Rachel Wyon, Cambridge-San Jose La Flores Committee   As part of the Sister Cities Election Observation Delegation, I was in El Salvador from January 28-February 5. Election Day on February 2nd was a spectacular day.  Twenty-two years after the signing of the Peace Accords – a short generation ago – and the FMLN and […]

Second Round of Voting and How to Keep Up To Date

With less than a week to go until the second round of voting, there is a sense of calm throughout El Salvador that would be unprecedented in elections past.  Although Sister Cities is not bringing electoral observers for this second round, several other solidarity organizations will, and the Sister Cities staff and network supporters will […]

FMLN candidate Sanchez Ceren commits not to exploit metal mining

February 23, 2014 Cristian Melendez, LA PRENSA GRAFICA   Environmental movement presented a set of proposals to the FMLN candidate asking for greater commitment on the issues. The Movement of Victims Affected Climate Change and Corporations (MOVIAC) delivered a proposal to the presidential candidate of the FMLN, Salvador Sanchez Ceren, yesterday in San Isidro, Cabañas. […]

Adam Olson, right, in his International Observer vest and hat, along with other members of the delegation.

El Salvador: A new democratic norm?

Published by the Oxfam America blog Written by Adam Olson, a Sister Cities Elections Observation Delegate A second-round presidential election will be held in El Salvador on March 9th. As the people of El Salvador went to voting centers on February 2nd to elect the country’s fifth post-war president, I was there, grateful to watch history […]

Party vigilantes and voting table members look on as the vote count takes place in Cinquera, Cabañas.

Reflection on the El Salvador Presidential Elections

By Sister Cities Volunteer and Elections Observer Cori Ring   The weeks leading up to the first round of elections here were intense, full of last minute campaigning and fresh waves of fear spurred by the spiking crime and murder rate in the new year. To hear ARENA tell it, the crime wave was just […]

Kids Delegation visits Teosinte, Chalatenango

“They welcomed us with open arms. It made me see how lucky we really are, and gives me a better understanding of the culture of other places.” – Rafi, age 13   “It was amazing how we made friends so quickly. Everything was so different but I loved it. It’ll make me less likely to take […]