12 ARENA Legislative Asembly Members Break from Party

ARENA, the conservative party which ruled El Salvador for twenty years before its defeat in presidential elections in March 2009, has an internal rebellion on its hands. As described in El Faro, twelve of ARENA’s 32 deputies in the National Assembly have declared themselves independent of the party leadership. They are demanding 2 seats on […]

Salvadoran Government to honor priests killed by army in 1989

Source: The Associated Press El Salvador’s president says the country will award its highest honor to six Jesuit priests murdered by the army in 1989. President Mauricio Funes says the National Order of Jose Matias Delgado awards are a “public act of atonement” for mistakes by past governments. They will be presented on Nov. 16 […]

Propsed US Trade Act of 2009 May Lead to Change in Provisions of CAFTA

Source: Voices on the Border Congressman Michael Michaud (D-ME) and 106 other members of Congress recently introduced the TRADE (Trade Reform, Accountability, Development and Employment) Act of 2009, which calls for a reevaluation of international trade agreements.  The bill would in part require existing and future trade agreements to include a ban on investor-state dispute […]

President Obama’s Credibility on the line in Honduras

Source: The Guardian and Upside Down World Last Friday an agreement was reached between the de facto regime in Honduras, which took power in a military coup on 28 June, and the elected president Manuel Zelaya, for the restoration of democracy there. US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, in announcing what she called an historic […]

October Anti-Mining Tour

La Mesa Nacional Frente a la Minería en El Salvador Speaks Out in the U.S. and Canada USESSC is very proud to be present in Washington, D.C., collaborating to host events in Philadelphia, and helping to facilitate a tour in Eastern Canada following the presentation of the Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award to the La Mesa […]

October Midwest Speaking Tour

El Salvador: Hope, Change and Human Rights A Speaking tour of Salvadoran Community Leader Rosa Centeno   USESSC is excited to announce our 2009 Midwest speaking tour featuring Rosa Centeno, president of the Association of the Communities for the Development of El Salvador (CRIPDES).   El Salvador is changing. For the first time in history, a […]

Come to the Sister Cities 2009 National Gathering: Oct 10 and 11 in Chicago

We in Sister Cities, hope you will come to Chicago for the annual National Gathering on Columbus Day weekend next month, October 10th and 11th. With our network scattered across the country, this is the one time each year that we all have the chance to gather together in person. We look forward with great […]

September 2009 El Salvador News Update

CRIPDES Participates in First Economic and Social Council Representatives from El Salvador’s social movement, business sector and officials from Mauricio Funes’s government participated in the inauguration of El Salvador’s first Economic and Social Council (CES) on September 4th. The idea of the Economic and Social Council was a part of the 1992 Peace Accords that […]

Over 100 International Organizations Demand Investigation : July 24, 2009

San Salvador, El Salvador. One hundred and eight international organizations sent a letter to the Interim Attorney General, Ástor Escalante Savaria, this Friday (July 24, 2009), demanding an exhaustive investigation into the kidnapping and brutal assassination of activist Gustavo Marcelo Rivera Moreno. In the letter the organizations categorically rejected the declarations that the district attorney […]

Journalists and Priest recieve threats due to their advocacy: July 29, 2009

The situation for political and social leaders in the Department of Cabanas has worsened since Marcelo Rivera’s disappearance and murder in early July. The week of July 27th, 2009, three to four journalists from Radio Victoria, a local radio station that was reporting on Rivera’s disappearance, received intensifying death threats. On July 28th, Father Luis […]