Archive for May, 2011

MADRID — A Spanish judge on indicted 20 Salvadorans for the 1989 slaying of six Jesuit priests and two other people during the Central American country’s civil war.

Judge Eloy Velasco charged the 20 men, who served as military officials in El Salvador, with terrorist killings and crimes against humanity.

He issued international arrest warrants to Spanish police and Interpol for the 20 Salvadorans, who include former Salvadoran Defense Minister Rafael Humberto Larios and Rene Emilio Ponce, an army general and former defense minister who died May 2.

Read the complete article from the Huffington Post

SHARE is excited to announce the simplification of our name so it better reflects our work. Streamlining our name to SHARE El Salvador, both affirms the name that has carried us through the past 30 years and incorporates our new work with Salvadoran community into our name. By continuing to use the name La Fundación SHARE in El Salvador we are once again celebrating our history by keeping the name that has become a recognizable symbol of solidarity in so many Salvadoran communities. While we will be using the new name in most places, our legal name will continue to be The SHARE Foundation.

The new name is already visible on our website and we are beginning to use it in other areas as well. We hope you will be as excited about this change as we are.

Entre 2005 y 2008, la embajada de Estados Unidos en El Salvador trató de usar donativos y beneficios migratorios para incidir en las elecciones internas de El Salvador, y solicitó a Washington “cobertura política” para la estrategia de ARENA en 2009. El encargado de asuntos políticos Michael Butler incluso sugirió en 2007 que George W. Bush en persona convenciera a Saca de no poner a René Figueroa como candidato.

http://www.wikileaks.elfaro.net/es/201105/notas/4159/

Last fall, SHARE staff member Bethany Loberg interviewed members of the Mujeres Ganaderas Cooperative in the Bajo Lempa.  This article is the first in a series of profiles that we will be sharing with you.

Fidelina

One of the earliest members of the Mujeres Ganaderas, Fidelina has watched the cooperative grow from around 50 women in the early 1990s to 268 women today. Fidelina sees the cooperative as a real benefit to women, helping them learn, develop themselves, get along better, and make many friends. Trainings with Equpo Maíz have helped Fidelina and other participants learn about themselves, gender, and self-care. The purchase and sale of cattle has helped Fidelina economically to support her children’s studies and maintain her household. Before she joined the Mujeres Ganaderas, Fidelina spent all her time in the kitchen and the house, and didn’t have this opportunity to learn and grow. She passes all she learns on to her children.

Fidelina’s husband died young, leaving her to raise their six sons, the youngest of whom is now fourteen. Her six sons are very caring and supportive of her participation in the cooperative, especially since the cooperative has helped them over the years. Fidelina feels great trust in the cooperative; it has never failed them. Read More »

This spring, the Romero Coalition has offered a Monday evening class on Monsignor Oscar Romero, and the case of his murder. Topics have included Monseñor Romero: The Historical Context; the Assassination of Monseñor Romero; The Salvadoran Amnesty Law; and The Monseñor Romero Case in the Interamerican Human Rights Commission, among others. On Monday, May 16th, the class focused on Monseñor Romero and Impunity. Mirna Perla, a Salvadoran Supreme Court Magistrate and long time human rights activist gave a moving talk about Monseñor Romero and continuing waves of impunity in El Salvador and beyond. The following is an excerpt from her talk:

Monseñor Romero was a simple man with the vocation of a prophet and a martyr. I had the good fortune to know him from a very young age. He was our parish priest. My mom was a very religious woman, always praying, and followed his every word. Read More »

“Since the early 1990s, Radio Victoria has provided a voice for the residents of the northern hills of El Salvador. Founded in the aftermath of the nation’s bloody civil war, today Radio Victoria transmits daily local and international news and other programs to communities so poor they often lack telephone and mail services.

The journalists who run the station are mostly 16 to 24 year-olds who grew up in Honduran refugee camps and returned to the area with their families as the civil war raged around them. And now, someone wants them dead!

Threats left as voice message to members of the Radio Victoria continue:

Message left for Oscar: “extermination > look oscar we aren’t kidding shut up this radio or you also die you dog” Read More »

This article written by Hannah Stone, talks about femicide in El Salvador and mentions SHARE Counterpart ORMUSA.

A rise in brutal killings of women, known as “femicides,” in El Salvador can be blamed on various factors, from gender inequality to organized crime to a society hollowed out by gang culture, features common to many parts of Central America.

Non-governmental organization Salvadoran Women for Peace (Organizacion de Mujeres Salvadoreñas por la Paz – ORMUSA), which tracks violence against women, reported that, according to police statistics, there were 160 such murders committed in the country in the first three months of the year. This would put the country on track for a record 640 such killings in 2011 – higher than any year since the organization began to track the issue in 1999. Read More »

Change.org recently created an online petition that makes it easy to take action to demand an Investigation of Death Threats Against Radio Victoria Journalists in El Salvador (click here) and spread the word.

SIGN PETITION Change.org published the following article on Tuesday May, 10th

El Salvador: Protect Independent Radio from Death Threats

Since the early 1990s, Radio Victoria has provided a voice for the residents of the northern hills of El Salvador. Founded in the aftermath of the nation’s bloody civil war, today Radio Victoria transmits daily local and international news and other programs to communities so poor they o
ften lack telephone and mail services.
The journalists who run the station are mostly 16 to 24 year-olds who grew up in Hondruan refugee camps and returned to the area with their families as the civil war raged around them.
And now, someone wants them dead. Read More »

Action Alert! Support Radio Victoria

On May 3rd, World Press Freedom Day, Radio Victoria in Cabañas, once again denounced death threats against their workers.

During the early hours of Saturday April 30th a note was slipped under Radio Victoria´s front entrance naming 3 workers  and threatening their lives if they did not leave the Radio by Wednesday May 4th.

On May 2nd during the evening 2 radio journalists received text messages on their cell phones threatening them in different ways including saying that one of the workers´ 3 year old daughter would be the one to pay if they did not change the tone of the radio.

Read More »