Your Excellency:
It is with deep concern that I received the news that Path to Peace Foundation has awarded its prestigious prize to Salvadoran President Elías Antonio Saca. During Mr. Saca's administration El Salvador has experienced alarming social, political and economical instability, which has greatly eroded the achievements gained in the 1992 Peace Accords.
El Salvador remains the most dangerous country in Latin America, with a murder rate of 61 people per 100,000 inhabitants. Colombia, a country at war, reports a rate of 38 murders per 100,000 inhabitants. Even though the Police attribute most of the murders to gang violence, the Legal Department of the Archbishop in San Salvador reports that of the cases investigated by that office in 2007, 69% fit the profile of social "cleansing" and death-squad-style crimes. What it is more troubling is the level of impunity with which these crimes are committed. A study done by the UNDP-El Salvador, using a sample of 20% of the total homicides committed in 2005, found that only 4% of cases were prosecuted while 96% remained unsolved.
The most representative case of impunity is the failure by the Salvadoran State to comply with the recommendations made by the Organization of American States to conduct an extensive judicial investigation in order to punish the murderers of Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero. It is important to remember that the Truth Commission created by the United Nations to investigate war crimes found that the late Roberto D'Aubuisson was the intellectual author of Archbishop Romero's murder. Mr. D'Aubuisson was the founder of President Saca's ruling ARENA party (Alianza Republicana Nacionalista). Every year since he took office President Saca has sent two contingents of Salvadoran troops to Iraq, despite opposition from the general Salvadoran population and the Catholic Church. El Salvador is the only Latin American country that still has troops in Iraq.
Perhaps fearing repercussions from this support of the US "War against Terror," in 2006 the Salvadoran Legislative Assembly approved the Special Law against Acts of Terrorism. This Law was used last year against a group of peaceful protesters who rallied against water privatization. These 13 activists, captured and accused of terrorism, became an alarming example of modern state repression in El Salvador. The "Suchitoto case" triggered a wave of national and international solidarity not seen since the Peace Accords were signed in 1992. Thanks to the local and international pressure, all charges were dropped against the political prisoners in April. However, six days later one of the activists was murdered in circumstances that suggest political motivation.
President Saca's administration has not only increased social polarization and instability, but his economic policies have also aggravated the economic situation of most Salvadorans. El Salvador has been declared a country facing a food emergency, according to the UN Food and Agricultural Organization. The UN World Food Program recently stated that the average Salvadoran family living in the countryside is consuming just 60% of the calories that it did in May 2006. Given the political, social and economic crisis, Salvadorans are being forced to migrate. According to former US Ambassador to El Salvador Douglas Barclay an average of 270,000 Salvadoran are leaving the country to the US every year. Currently, about a third of the population lives overseas and remittances are the largest source of the country's foreign exchange, according to the Salvadoran Central Reserve Bank.
Path to Peace Foundation lists the creation of a Poverty Map as one of President Saca's achievements. The Poverty Map 2004, a database of household surveys is definitely an important first step to address and eradicate poverty. However, this project, financed by the World Bank and the InterAmerican Development Bank, was a national project planned independently of the Saca administration. In any case it would have been more meaningful to recognize the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences (FLACSO) and the Social Investment Fund for Local Development (FISDL) for creating this statistical and geographical database.
An aspect that is particularly worrisome is the context in which this award is given. Currently, President Saca is at his lowest popularity of his entire presidential term. According to a survey by the Public Opinion University Institute (IUDOP) of the Jesuit Central American University, 52% of the population thinks that President Saca did not keep his campaign promises and 80% thinks that the economic situation has worsened during his administration. This view, also expressed in other surveys, represent deep trouble to the ruling ARENA party, since the country is only 6 months away from Mayoral and Legislative elections and 8 months away from Presidential elections. The same survey indicates that the opposition party has a higher probability of winning the presidency. In this context the Path to Peace Award risks being used as an instrument to improve President Saca's image. Even worse, it can be used for electoral campaign purposes. Since the prize has already been announced, I can only express my deep sadness that this prize was awarded to someone who has brought more violence to El Salvador. I respectfully ask the Foundation to monitor carefully whether the award is misused for political purposes in the Presidential campaign.
Respectfully, YOUR NAME
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