Sister Cities
Sister Cities’ Year In Review: December 2008
December, 2008
It has been an exciting year for the U.S.-El Salvador Sister Cities (USESSC) Network in our work of accompanying the rural communities of CRIPDES and the Salvadoran social movement, and organizing on a local level in the United States. Here are some of our favorite moments:
We welcomed with relief and vindication the news of terrorist charges being definitively dropped against the SUCHITOTO 13, individuals charged with terrorism for the simple act of attending a peaceful protest against water privatization in July of 07. Uniting around the cry that “we are citizens, we aren’t terrorists,” thousands of people protested this unconscionable charge. Sister Cities mobilized Congressional, media, material, and grassroots support for the Citizens Not Terrorists Campaign, including coverage in The Nation and Free Speech Radio News, a Congressional letter published in the Salvadoran press, a ten-member Human Rights Investigation Team visit to El Salvador, and Legal Defense funds of over $6,000 in 2008 alone. We continued this support and mobilization when the youngest of the political prisoners, Hector Ventura, was murdered in an apparently political killing just three weeks after his release. With political violence still disturbingly present in El Salvador, Sister Cities founded an URGENT ACTION NETWORK to respond to human rights violations, in November 2008.
To read more about our work this year on GOLD MINING and FREE AND FAIR ELECTIONS, see the most recent articles here on our website.
During the 2008 year, USESSC coordinated eight DELEGATIONS to El Salvador, totaling 68 participants. We also organized two separate SPEAKING TOURS of Salvadoran social movement leaders to the United States, where we reached thousands through public presentations and radio broadcasts.
Local USESSC committees have helped promote sustainable economic alternatives by commercializing FAIR TRADE products from a number of sistered communities. These products include embroidery and crochet items, coffee, jewelry, and more. By promoting these products, committees are supporting an economic model that strengthens community life and local economies. In turn, sale of community products in the United States offers an opportunity for education about the realities of trade policies, immigration, and community development.
None of this work would have been possible without the strength of CRIPDES organizing, the generosity of our donors, and the hard work of local committees’ committed volunteers. Thank you for giving generously in 2008, and thank you, in advance, for all you will contribute in 2009! To donate now to Sister Cities’ funding drive, click here !
