Thursday January 8, 2009
This morning we had the opportunity to visit the Legislative Palace of El Salvador, which would be comparable to our House of Representative. In El Salvador the representatives are called Deputies. There are several political parties in El Salvador, but the two primary parties are the ARENA Party and the FMLN. This would be compared to the Republican and Democratic Parties in the United States except that these two parties were actually shooting at each other up until 1992.
The ARENA party began in 1984 and has held the presidency since 1989. It was quite interesting to see the difference between the upscale and nicely decorated offices of the ARENA Party and the much more modest decor of the FMLN. Another thing that I noted was the difference between the security procedures of the US Embassy as compared to the Legislative Palace. The only real security that we passed through at the Legislative Palace was to quickly open our bags and then to pass through a metal detector. At the Embassy we didn’t even take bags in due to the difficulty of getting them through security.
The ARENA Party Deputy who met with us seemed very much interested in simply staying on script and sharing the Party line with us. He spent a great deal of time talking about how their party was young, and how they have made such dramatic improvements in El Salvador. One fact about the ARENA Party that is difficult to get past is that the founder of the Party has been linked to the assassination of Monsignor Romero, and the first ARENA President, Alfredo Cristiani, was linked to the assassination of the 6 Jesuit Priests. It must be very difficult having to deal politically with people who were linked with such atrocities against the people. On the other hand there are a great number of people in El Salvador who think of these people as heroes. It is never as simple and uncomplicated as we would like for it to be.
The FMLN Deputy was most gracious and kind. I believe that I am beginning to get a consensus opinion that this country is in great need of health care, education, infrastructure, roads, water, electricity and security. I can see why the FMLN is popular with the people, but my challenges with the party are a little more ideological. They seem convinced that the only way to help the people is for the government to do it. The were upset when the banks were privatized, personally I think that privatization of banks is a good thing, and it worries me that right here in our own country, the government now has bought stakes in the banks with our tax dollars. They are also dead set against the privatization of the water system, and when I look at our water system as compared to theirs I have to wonder why it wouldn’t be a good idea for them as well. Before I get jumped on by my colleagues over these issues however, I am not so naive as to not understand that these people have a right to be fearful of companies that say that they want to help, but instead come in and rape the natural resources and steal from the people. On the other hand the United States way of holding the business responsible seems to work well for us and with some modification should work well for them. The problem is, who do you trust, and I personally don’t trust the government to solve ANY problems. (I think that I am alone in my view on that one with our group as well)
This afternoon we traveled to a beautiful park in central San Salvador which had a memorial to those who were killed or missing during the years of the armed conflict. 79,000 people in all were killed, there was not even enough room on the wall for all of the names. The wall itself was similar in nature to our Vietnam Memorial. One point of interest is that our guide, Cesar’s father is named on the wall. The fascinating and surreal aspect of this memorial and park is that all around there are families picnicking, children playing and young lovers, well, doing what young lovers do. The wounds for some will never heal, for others it is a time to move forward.
Our evening was concluded with our own private concert by Guillermo Cuellar who was the composer of the Salvadoran Popular Mass. Cuellar was also a composer who wrote songs and worked alongside Monsignor Romero. After Romero’s assassination he was forced to flee the country for his life. During his exile, he continued to write music and lift up the oppression of his people. His music was heartfelt and quite beautiful, we were truly blessed. After the concert we were given an opportunity to buy his CD, but since money was running low, I was concerned that I might not be able to afford what he was offering. However, his daughter who was functioning as his manager for the evening offered 1 CD, 1 Cassette tape and a book for $15.00. I thought that I couldn’t pass that deal up.
I finished the evening with a call home to Karen. I knew that I had a signal although it was a roaming signal, but I was hesitant to try calling. One member of our group said that the international code for the United States was 001 so I dialed 001 and Karen’s number and it worked and sounded better than some of the times I have called from across town. So far I think that I may be the only one who has reached home by phone. I have to give Verizon credit, well at least until I get the bill.
This morning we had the opportunity to visit the Legislative Palace of El Salvador, which would be comparable to our House of Representative. In El Salvador the representatives are called Deputies. There are several political parties in El Salvador, but the two primary parties are the ARENA Party and the FMLN. This would be compared to the Republican and Democratic Parties in the United States except that these two parties were actually shooting at each other up until 1992.
The ARENA party began in 1984 and has held the presidency since 1989. It was quite interesting to see the difference between the upscale and nicely decorated offices of the ARENA Party and the much more modest decor of the FMLN. Another thing that I noted was the difference between the security procedures of the US Embassy as compared to the Legislative Palace. The only real security that we passed through at the Legislative Palace was to quickly open our bags and then to pass through a metal detector. At the Embassy we didn’t even take bags in due to the difficulty of getting them through security.
The ARENA Party Deputy who met with us seemed very much interested in simply staying on script and sharing the Party line with us. He spent a great deal of time talking about how their party was young, and how they have made such dramatic improvements in El Salvador. One fact about the ARENA Party that is difficult to get past is that the founder of the Party has been linked to the assassination of Monsignor Romero, and the first ARENA President, Alfredo Cristiani, was linked to the assassination of the 6 Jesuit Priests. It must be very difficult having to deal politically with people who were linked with such atrocities against the people. On the other hand there are a great number of people in El Salvador who think of these people as heroes. It is never as simple and uncomplicated as we would like for it to be.
The FMLN Deputy was most gracious and kind. I believe that I am beginning to get a consensus opinion that this country is in great need of health care, education, infrastructure, roads, water, electricity and security. I can see why the FMLN is popular with the people, but my challenges with the party are a little more ideological. They seem convinced that the only way to help the people is for the government to do it. The were upset when the banks were privatized, personally I think that privatization of banks is a good thing, and it worries me that right here in our own country, the government now has bought stakes in the banks with our tax dollars. They are also dead set against the privatization of the water system, and when I look at our water system as compared to theirs I have to wonder why it wouldn’t be a good idea for them as well. Before I get jumped on by my colleagues over these issues however, I am not so naive as to not understand that these people have a right to be fearful of companies that say that they want to help, but instead come in and rape the natural resources and steal from the people. On the other hand the United States way of holding the business responsible seems to work well for us and with some modification should work well for them. The problem is, who do you trust, and I personally don’t trust the government to solve ANY problems. (I think that I am alone in my view on that one with our group as well)
This afternoon we traveled to a beautiful park in central San Salvador which had a memorial to those who were killed or missing during the years of the armed conflict. 79,000 people in all were killed, there was not even enough room on the wall for all of the names. The wall itself was similar in nature to our Vietnam Memorial. One point of interest is that our guide, Cesar’s father is named on the wall. The fascinating and surreal aspect of this memorial and park is that all around there are families picnicking, children playing and young lovers, well, doing what young lovers do. The wounds for some will never heal, for others it is a time to move forward.
Our evening was concluded with our own private concert by Guillermo Cuellar who was the composer of the Salvadoran Popular Mass. Cuellar was also a composer who wrote songs and worked alongside Monsignor Romero. After Romero’s assassination he was forced to flee the country for his life. During his exile, he continued to write music and lift up the oppression of his people. His music was heartfelt and quite beautiful, we were truly blessed. After the concert we were given an opportunity to buy his CD, but since money was running low, I was concerned that I might not be able to afford what he was offering. However, his daughter who was functioning as his manager for the evening offered 1 CD, 1 Cassette tape and a book for $15.00. I thought that I couldn’t pass that deal up.
I finished the evening with a call home to Karen. I knew that I had a signal although it was a roaming signal, but I was hesitant to try calling. One member of our group said that the international code for the United States was 001 so I dialed 001 and Karen’s number and it worked and sounded better than some of the times I have called from across town. So far I think that I may be the only one who has reached home by phone. I have to give Verizon credit, well at least until I get the bill.
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