February 2, 2021
*******
Gloria Rogel del Cid & Juan de Dioz Tejada
remembered
Below: CISPES communique, February 1, 2021
This State-linked repression was carried out by yet another military-backed, autocratic regime with full economic, military and political relations with the US and Canada. Like the Honduran and Guatemalan regimes, the El Salvador government is considered a “democratic allie” in the Canadian-led ‘Lima group’ that supports US efforts to overthrow the democratic government of Venezuela.
North American censorship
Politicians and media in US and Canada still will not, for the most part, report on or discuss openly why tens of thousands of people are forced to flee violence, corruption and oppression caused by US and Canadian-backed regimes in El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala, year after year.
*******
On the evening of January 31, gunmen opened fire on a group of supporters of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN). The group, traveling in a pickup truck covered with FMLN signs, was returning from a day of campaigning for the upcoming February 28 mayoral and legislative elections in San Salvador.
Gloria Rogel del Cid and Juan de Dioz Tejada, veterans of the armed conflict [in the 1970s, 80s, 90s, that pitted the Salvador people against brutal US-backed military regimes], died and at least two more injured.
Rather than condemning the attacks, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele quickly took to Twitter to insult and attack the FMLN, insinuating that the assault was planned by the party against their own people to gain public sympathy ahead of the elections.
During a press conference on Sunday, FMLN Secretary General Óscar Ortiz called on Attorney General Raul Melara and head of the National Civilian Police to conduct a transparent and thorough investigation. Meanwhile, the Political Commission of the Legislative Assembly called on “the international community to keep its eyes on El Salvador, also calling on the United Nations to “monitor peace and other rights.”
“Discourse of hate”
The president’s response was a reflection of what FMLN leaders describe as a “discourse of hate” perpetrated by President Bukele, who, since deploying the National Civilian Police and the Armed Forces to surround and enter the Legislative Assembly last February in an attempt to strongarm legislators into approving additional security funds, has publicly and repeatedly incited violence against members of the Legislative Assembly and his political opponents, from urging the public to exercise their “constitutional right to popular insurrection” to stating during a meeting at the Inter-American Development Bank that people in El Salvador were justified in their supposed desire to “burn all politicians alive.”
Bukele and representatives of his Nuevas Ideas party, which will compete in the February 28 elections for the first time, have also made unsubstantiated accusations that officials from the Supreme Electoral Tribunal are conspiring to commit fraud against them. As an indication of the types of action Bukele foments among his base, Nuevas Ideas members have gone far as to lock election officials inside their headquarters over disputed candidate qualifications.
Statement from Samantha Pineda, Program Director at the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES):
“It is heartbreaking and terrifying to see a return to this type of overt political violence in El Salvador, which had largely ended after the Peace Accords were signed in 1992, but it’s not necessarily a surprise. Social movements and international solidarity organizations have been warning that behind the president’s discourse of hate is a Machiavellian strategy to legitimize violent state repression and the consolidation of power.
“In December, President Bukele visited El Mozote, the site of one of the largest massacres in Latin America to date, to call the Peace Accords a ‘farce.’ In truth, his goals are to destroy many of the most important achievements of the accords, like democratic elections, political freedoms and limits on the role of the military in society.
“The similarities between the strategies used by Bukele and those used by Trump to incite violence and undermine democratic institutions are chilling. But time and time again, the organized movements in El Salvador - unions, students, feminists, campesines, FMLN members - are taking to the streets, to social media and to the press to make clear that they see exactly what Bukele is trying to do and will resist any attempt to return to authoritarian rule.”
More information
Alexis Stoumbelis
[email protected], +1 202-521-2510 ext. 205
Why do 10s of thousands of Hondurans & Guatemalans [& Salvadorans] flee into exile year after year?
The U.S. and Canadian governments, the World Bank and global businesses and investors (mining, hydro-electric dams, African palm, sugarcane, bananas, garment “sweatshop” factors, tourism, etc.) maintain profitable relations with anti-democratic and corrupt, repressive and racist governments in Honduras and Guatemala [& El Salvador], contributing to and benefitting from exploitation and repression, environmental harms and human rights violations, corruption and impunity.
“Shithole countries: U.S., Canada & international community help produce forced migrancy from Honduras & Guatemala”
by Grahame Russell, October 2019, https://mailchi.mp/rightsaction/shithole-countries
Rights Action (U.S. & Canada)
Since 1995, Rights Action funds human rights, environment and territory defense struggles in Guatemala and Honduras; funds victims of repression and human rights violations, health harms and natural disasters; works to hold accountable the U.S. and Canadian governments, multi-national companies, investors and banks (World Bank, etc.) that help cause and profit from repression and human rights violations, environmental harms and forced evictions, corruption and impunity in Honduras and Guatemala.
Act – Stir up the pot – Chip away
Keep sending copies of Rights Action information (and that of other solidarity groups/ NGOs) to family, friends, your networks, politicians and media, asking ‘Why do our governments, companies and investment firms benefit from and turn a blind eye to poverty, repression and violence, environmental and health harms that caused the forced migrancy / refugee crisis in Guatemala and Honduras?’
Other solidarity/ NGO groups in U.S. and Canada
Tax-Deductible Donations (Canada & U.S.)
To support land, human rights and environmental defender groups in Honduras and Guatemala, make check to "Rights Action" and mail to:
- U.S.: Box 50887, Washington DC, 20091-0887
- Canada: (Box 552) 351 Queen St. E, Toronto ON, M5A-1T8
|
|
