Local DC Salvadoran community protests CAFTA implementation

Members of the local Salvadoran community along with their US allies gathered by the Salvadoran consulate on January 17, 2006 to protest the implementation of CAFTA and commemorate the 14^th anniversary of the Peace Accords.

Participants pledged to continue their solidarity with the people of El Salvador as CAFTA enters into force in the coming months. (Read more and see pictures of the protest)

How you can be in solidarity with our sisters and brothers as CAFTA is implemented in El Salvador

• Check out www.stopcafta.org to see how you and your community can plug into activities in January to oppose CAFTA.
• Also consider writing a short letter to the editor on CAFTA.

Faith Communities in Chalatenango march against mining

On January 13^th, 2006, more than 5,000 members of Christian Based Communities marched through the municipality of Chalatenango in the largest protest yet against the mining project proposed by two Canadian-based companies (for more details on this project see the December 15^th SHARE newsletter). Participants also protested two proposed Plan Puebla Panama projects (the large infrastructure project through Mesoamerica, including projects like the San Salvador beltway) that will also affect Chalatenango- the Cimarron Dam and a transnational highway project between Honduras and Northern El Salvador.

The Chalatenango Diocese supported this protest saying that these projects will benefit only the rich and that what Chalatenango really needed was more social programs. The message in the street also reflected this sentiment, expressing that mining would destroy the forests, contaminate the air and poison the Lempa River. Communities along the proposed transnational northern highway are also concerned that they will lose valuable natural areas and that many poor families will be displaced. Other people explained how dams will flood some communities and leave other communities along the Lempa River without water.

In 2006, SHARE will be supporting efforts for communities in Chalatenango to organize and educate themselves on these three environmental issues. Stay tuned to SHARE for more educational materials US side on these projects.

(This article draws from an article published in the Co Latino on January 14, 2006)

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SHARE Newsletter 1/19/2006

In this issue

• Local DC Salvadoran community protests CAFTA

• Oppose CAFTA implementation in your town by attending a demonstration (more details at www.stopcafta.org ) or write a short letter to the edito

• Faith communities in Chalatenango march against mining
  

 

¡Qué viva Mesoamérica!
¡Qué viva!

Between December 12-14 of last year, over 1,300 Mesoamericans journeyed to San Jose, Costa Rica for the VI Foro Mesamericano de los Pueblos (the 6th Mesoamerican Peoples' Forum). Delegations from every country of Mesoamerica (Mexico to Panamá) flooded the campus of the National University of Costa Rica for three days of planning meetings, cultural celebrations and protests against the ratification of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) in the Costa Rican National Assembly. The Foro intends to create a collective regional identity as "Mesoamericans" to encourage participants to work together to confront shared concerns. Concerns include international political and economic policy towards the region and domestic plans for growth and development.

The meetings centered on the construction of a Central American- wide network of civil society, social movements, and NGOs to communicate and collaborate on strategy to formulate alternatives to the current economic model typified by CAFTA. Participants representing youth, women, indigenous, campesin@s, churches, migrants, union members, environmental advocates and cultural groups gathered around questions that affect them all (i.e. evaluation of the CAFTA struggle, remilitarization in the region, economic alternatives to free trade, and creation of an effective communication mechanism for regional popular movements). Then working groups reported back on the groups' conversations and proposals for next steps.

I participated in the meetings of the women's table examining the CAFTA struggle. Women examined the way free trade disproportionately affects them, and fears that privatization of public services such as education, health care and water will exacerbate their families' current living conditions. Indigenous and rural women emphasized the dangers of the Plan Puebla Panama (PPP), a multibillion dollar infrastructure project, and urged partners to focus advocacy and education around it.

The most fascinating element of the meetings came when women brainstormed ways that they live out alternatives to neoliberalism daily: they spoke of their refusal to buy transgenic seeds and their determination to cultivate their land using traditional methods. They suggested boycotting Coke and instead serving local juices at parties and get-togethers. They combined a respect for tradition with an awareness of our moment in time, suggesting ways to create local markets and manage "solidarity economies" in the region through communication and joint planning with neighboring communities.

For SHARE, participation in the Foro helped to solidify our understandings of the plans of civil society across the region as CAFTA enters into force. It also suggested that we are on the right track when it comes to continued work to stop construction of the PPP projects, such as the beltway around San Salvador. When discussion of the struggle to stop the approval of CAFTA in the countries surfaced, the comments of the Central Americans were frequently identical to those in the US: "we lost the battle but not the war," "we won the public debate," "we learned through the struggle how important transborder unity is." We have a combination of immediate steps (i.e. plan a January protest action to be in solidarity with our Central American counterparts as CAFTA enters into force), medium-term plans (monitor the impact of CAFTA on the region to slow the implementation of the agreement) and long-term commitments (work together to articulate alternatives and create sustainable economic development).

The most critical reminder of the Foro for me is the recognition that historical memory is key: without remembering where we have been and what strategies we have employed, it will be impossible to find victory. All in all, we have our work cut out for ourselves: but it is collaborative work we can not complete without the other.

Participants anticipate that next year's Foro will take place in Panama, the only Central American country not yet to serve as host. Yet there are concerns about expenses (few agencies that would fund the Foro work in Panama) and distances (this year Guatemalans traveled over 30 hours by bus to get to San Jose-and Panama City is an additional day's travel).

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Affected Communities from Hurricane Stan and the Ilamatepec Volcano Eruption Commemorate the 5th anniversary of the 2001 earthquakes with forums and protests against the government's response to last fall's emergency.

January 13^th marked the 5^th anniversary of the first 2001 earthquake in El Salvador. Affected and vulnerable communities from Hurricane Stan and the Ilamatepec Volcano this fall used this day to organize two actions to generate attention to the realities they face. The two actions are connected to a series of national and regional forums being held on reconstruction and vulnerability. The hope of these forums is to organize communities to advocate for more government accountability during emergencies caused by natural phenomena, but exacerbated by faulty infrastructure and poor government planning. One protest was held in Chalatenango against proposed projects destined to displace communities and cause environmental destruction (see story on this mobilization on the side panel).

The other event was a forum on reconstruction and vulnerability held in Salvador del Mundo

Read more and see pictures from the San Salvador Forum