If you think climate change will only be a problem in the distant future, just take a look at Central America: people there are having to deal with its effects on a daily basis. Temperatures have risen across the board, but the increasingly extreme highs are posing an acute threat. A report from Panama and El Salvador on the eve of the Copenhagen climate conference.
By Cor Doeswijk and Thijs Westerbeek van Eerten
The effects of climate change in Panama and El Salvador are disastrous. Harvests are failing because of too much and sometimes too little water. The seasons are becoming so mixed up that farmers no longer know when to sow their seeds or plough and fertilise their land. Populated coastal islands are facing floods. The climate is simply no longer to be trusted.
Miguel Ramos, who lives in central El Salvador, says the climate used to be predictable. Over the last 20 years, however, it has become dangerously capricious.
“Nowadays, you can have not only one but even two dry periods in the middle of the rainy season. That means we’ve got to sow seed more than once to be sure we’ll have enough to eat. Seed sown in fields high up dries out, while lower down the water rots it. Cattle are also dying from hunger, thirst or simply from the heat. You can see the cows looking for shade as early as 10 o’clock, if they can find trees that is, because lots of them have disappeared.”
Mr Ramos says people have also been hit. He and his family used to work from 6 am and stop at 3 or 4 pm because of the heat. Now, to get something done, people begin at 5 am and have to stop at 10 am because the sun is just too fierce.
Mangrove
Flor Rivera can also no longer depend on the climate. She lives by the Pacific coast in El Salvador and has problems with both drought and flooding.
“My husband fishes for crab in the mangrove swamps but catches are down because the mangrove is shrinking. This is being caused by rising sea levels which push the salt water further inland.”
Mrs Rivera is trying to keep ahead of problems by finding a different way to produce food for her family.
“To make ends meet, we’re growing a bit of maize and beans on our own land and on some ground we’ve rented. But, last year, we lost everything to floods and, this year, it’s been so dry that almost nothing will grow. That means we’ll go hungry.”
Moving away
Gilberto Arias is one of the six 'caciques' (chiefs) of Kuna Yala, an autonomous region for the indigenous Kuna people which lies along Panama’s Caribbean coast. Most of the Kuna community live on low-lying islands and depend for their livelihood on fishing and tourism. Over recent years, the islands have been flooded a number of times by high seas. This meant there was no more dry wood with which to cook food. Many people want to move to the mainland but that will mean the end of centuries-old traditions.
Chief Arias wanted to explain what was happening and talked to the reporter through an interpreter:
"God has given us gold, silver, oil and all the rest. If we take these things from the earth without proper care, we change the environment. Look - You have a tape recorder. If it goes wrong and you don’t know how to repair it but try to anyway, you’ll probably make things worse. Nature’s the same. We’ve been given nature but, if we change it through deforestation or by doing things which are forbidden such as creating life through cloning, we try to be on a par with God and that causes Him to be angry. Now we’re having to accept the consequences of our actions."
This sort of explanation for climate change is not unusual in Central America. Poor local people, who are suffering its effects first hand, are often unaware that it is being caused by global warming, let alone that this is to do with carbon dioxide emissions. And the Copenhagen climate conference? They've never heard of it.
Source: rnw.nl
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Emergency mission to El Salvador for disaster relief
In the aftermath of deadly mudslides and devastating floods, AmeriCares sent emergency relief workers and disaster aid to help thousands of families in need. El Salvador was recently hit by flash floods and mudslides that killed nearly 200 people. MSNBC's Morning Joe special correspondents Susan and Joey Scarborough, joined AmeriCares relief efforts.
AmeriCares delivered an emergency airlift of over $275,000 worth of critical medicines to treat flood-related infections and injuries typical in flood situations such as in El Salvador. "Morning Joe" Host Joe Scarborough's wife Susan and son Joey helped bring much needed relief to disaster survivors.
"It was amazing to see first-hand how AmeriCares improves the lives of El Salvador's most disadvantaged," reflected Susan Scarborough. "Whether responding to mudslides or earthquakes, AmeriCares has gone the extra mile to bring hope to the hopeless."
Among the many places the relief team delivered aid were an orphanage, emergency shelter and several hospitals. The human tragedy was overwhelming.
Help AmeriCares provide medicines and humanitarian relief to people in desperate need around the world »
"AmeriCares work in El Salvador moved me greatly because I got to see firsthand how the organization delivers real results to people who need their help the most. I was honored to be able to deliver vital medicines and supplies to people hurt the most by the recent mudslides," continued Susan.
"Meeting a mother who lost her husband and child in the mudslides has made me realize not only how fortunate I am, but how much we all need to do to help people in need around the world."
Susan and the rest of the relief team met a young widow named Mercedes. She was at the Hospital Santa Gertrudis, covered from head to toe in cuts, scrapes and bruises. Mercedes was in severe physical pain, but what hurt her most was her broken heart.
Mercedes, her husband and seven year old son were asleep when they awoke to the sound of rushing water in their one room home. Trapped inside by crashing boulders, mudslide and flash flood waters, they struggled to get out. Their home then burst apart, hurling the family into rushing flood waters and sharp debris. Mercedes was helpless as her son and husband were swept away. The last time she saw her family, they were up to their necks in water - her son crying for help that she could not give.
Mercedes was rescued more than two miles from her home. Her wounds will heal thanks to the care at the Hospital Santa Gertrudis, but it could take a lifetime for her to recover from the trauma of losing her loved ones.
AmeriCares relief efforts were not without hope. Susan and Joey Scarborough also visited the Saint Vincent DePaul Children's Home. Supported by longtime partners the Order of Malta and FUSAL, AmeriCares donations help the orphanage's infirmary and other health care needs of the orphans.
"While I saw many heartbreaking scenes in El Salvador it was heartwarming to see how AmeriCares affects the lives of so many throughout the country," said Susan.
AmeriCares will continue to help communities in El Salvador and beyond. Humanitarian assistance is helping survivors of recent hurricanes, typhoons, earthquakes and mudslides in Latin America, the Philippines, Indonesia and the United States. We will also maintain our ability to deliver aid to others in desperate need around the world and here at home.
AmeriCares responds in times of sudden natural disasters, and works to provide lifesaving medicines and humanitarian relief to people in poor and conflict-ridden countries struggling daily for survival around the world.
Source: reliefweb.int
AmeriCares delivered an emergency airlift of over $275,000 worth of critical medicines to treat flood-related infections and injuries typical in flood situations such as in El Salvador. "Morning Joe" Host Joe Scarborough's wife Susan and son Joey helped bring much needed relief to disaster survivors.
"It was amazing to see first-hand how AmeriCares improves the lives of El Salvador's most disadvantaged," reflected Susan Scarborough. "Whether responding to mudslides or earthquakes, AmeriCares has gone the extra mile to bring hope to the hopeless."
Among the many places the relief team delivered aid were an orphanage, emergency shelter and several hospitals. The human tragedy was overwhelming.
Help AmeriCares provide medicines and humanitarian relief to people in desperate need around the world »
"AmeriCares work in El Salvador moved me greatly because I got to see firsthand how the organization delivers real results to people who need their help the most. I was honored to be able to deliver vital medicines and supplies to people hurt the most by the recent mudslides," continued Susan.
"Meeting a mother who lost her husband and child in the mudslides has made me realize not only how fortunate I am, but how much we all need to do to help people in need around the world."
Susan and the rest of the relief team met a young widow named Mercedes. She was at the Hospital Santa Gertrudis, covered from head to toe in cuts, scrapes and bruises. Mercedes was in severe physical pain, but what hurt her most was her broken heart.
Mercedes, her husband and seven year old son were asleep when they awoke to the sound of rushing water in their one room home. Trapped inside by crashing boulders, mudslide and flash flood waters, they struggled to get out. Their home then burst apart, hurling the family into rushing flood waters and sharp debris. Mercedes was helpless as her son and husband were swept away. The last time she saw her family, they were up to their necks in water - her son crying for help that she could not give.
Mercedes was rescued more than two miles from her home. Her wounds will heal thanks to the care at the Hospital Santa Gertrudis, but it could take a lifetime for her to recover from the trauma of losing her loved ones.
AmeriCares relief efforts were not without hope. Susan and Joey Scarborough also visited the Saint Vincent DePaul Children's Home. Supported by longtime partners the Order of Malta and FUSAL, AmeriCares donations help the orphanage's infirmary and other health care needs of the orphans.
"While I saw many heartbreaking scenes in El Salvador it was heartwarming to see how AmeriCares affects the lives of so many throughout the country," said Susan.
AmeriCares will continue to help communities in El Salvador and beyond. Humanitarian assistance is helping survivors of recent hurricanes, typhoons, earthquakes and mudslides in Latin America, the Philippines, Indonesia and the United States. We will also maintain our ability to deliver aid to others in desperate need around the world and here at home.
AmeriCares responds in times of sudden natural disasters, and works to provide lifesaving medicines and humanitarian relief to people in poor and conflict-ridden countries struggling daily for survival around the world.
Source: reliefweb.int
Moderate quake jolts El Salvador, Guatemala
SAN SALVADOR: A moderate earthquake shook El Salvador on Thursday and was felt in neighboring Guatemala, claiming no victims and causing no damage
in either country, officials said.
The offshore temblor measured 5.9 on the Richter scale, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).
It struck at around 1:00 pm (1900 GMT) and its epicenter was around 47 miles (76 kilometers) to the west of San Salvador, in the Pacific Ocean, according to the USGS.
The Salvadoran seismology service said the quake measured 6.0 on the Richter scale, and emergency services personnel said it was felt in parts of Guatemala, El Salvador's neighbor to the north.
Source: indiatimes.com
in either country, officials said.
The offshore temblor measured 5.9 on the Richter scale, according to the US Geological Survey (USGS).
It struck at around 1:00 pm (1900 GMT) and its epicenter was around 47 miles (76 kilometers) to the west of San Salvador, in the Pacific Ocean, according to the USGS.
The Salvadoran seismology service said the quake measured 6.0 on the Richter scale, and emergency services personnel said it was felt in parts of Guatemala, El Salvador's neighbor to the north.
Source: indiatimes.com
Nicaragua, El Salvador close borders with Honduras
TEGUCIGALPA, Nov. 28 (Xinhua) -- Nicaragua and El Salvador closed on Saturday their customs posts on the Honduras border and will open them again on Monday to avoid any possible incidents linked to Honduras' Sunday elections, Honduras police officers said.
Nicaragua sealed its El Espino, Guasaule and Las Manos border posts beginning at 6 a.m. local time (1200 GMT), police spokesman Orlin Cerrato told media. El Salvador will do the same thing at noon local time (1800 GMT), he added.
At the same press conference, Rene Maradiaga Panchame, the head of the National Police's General Directorate of Special Investigations, said that Nicaragua had taken the measure "to avoid any possible problems or speculation."
Roberto Micheletti, who became Honduras' president after the June 28 coup, responded to the news by blaming Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez accusing him of trying to apply boycotts to Hondurans "right to be free."
Hondurans are going to the polls amid a crisis that has seen the nation pushed out of the Organization of American States. Only three nations recognize the elections as they are currently configured: the United Sates and its close allies Colombia and Panama.
Source: xinhuanet.com
Nicaragua sealed its El Espino, Guasaule and Las Manos border posts beginning at 6 a.m. local time (1200 GMT), police spokesman Orlin Cerrato told media. El Salvador will do the same thing at noon local time (1800 GMT), he added.
At the same press conference, Rene Maradiaga Panchame, the head of the National Police's General Directorate of Special Investigations, said that Nicaragua had taken the measure "to avoid any possible problems or speculation."
Roberto Micheletti, who became Honduras' president after the June 28 coup, responded to the news by blaming Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez accusing him of trying to apply boycotts to Hondurans "right to be free."
Hondurans are going to the polls amid a crisis that has seen the nation pushed out of the Organization of American States. Only three nations recognize the elections as they are currently configured: the United Sates and its close allies Colombia and Panama.
Source: xinhuanet.com
Minimizing risk in curious El Salvador
Having rebuilt itself after a decade-long civil war in the 1980s, and again after two devastating earthquakes in 2001, El Salvador still can't shake its reputation as the most dangerous country in Central America.
It's not necessarily the threat of earthquakes that keeps visitors away. Nor is it the strong currents and undertows that can make Pacific Coast waters perilous, even for strong swimmers. It's true that in backcountry areas, unexploded land mines pose serious risks to hikers and backpackers. But knowledgeable tour guides keep tourists well out of harm's way.
El Salvador's biggest deterrents exist in and around the congested capital, San Salvador, where petty street crime, carjackings and armed assaults are common.
So why visit Central America's smallest nation when the U.S. State Department warns of a ``critical crime threat'' to travelers? Hardcore surfers are drawn here by some of the world's best waves. A few intrepid travelers, like me, come for a curious getaway.
BLENDING IN
After my plane landed at Comalapa International Airport, I hopped in a taxi for the 45-minute ride to San Salvador. Thieves have been known to target well-heeled tourists at the airport and follow them to isolated stretches of road where robberies are then carried out. To avoid unwanted attention, I wore jeans and a T-shirt. My unassuming backpack was filled with bare necessities.
If potential crime is a detriment to tourism, affordability is a huge selling point. The InterContinental San Salvador -- an elegant four-star hotel, the likes of which I can rarely afford -- offers deluxe rooms for as low as $63. At local eateries away from the hotel, a basic meal costs less than $4.
And don't worry about the exchange rate. In January 2001, El Salvador adopted the U.S. dollar as its primary currency. The previous currency, the colon, is basically obsolete. All ATMs issue dollars.
In my search for a quiet beach, the hotel concierge recommended that I use a tour guide rather than hire a taxi or rent a car. He suggested Nahuat Tours, a local agency with a stellar reputation.
Whether it's climbing volcanoes or deep sea fishing, Nahuat offers more than 20 different sightseeing and adventure tours. You can visit coffee plantations and learn how El Salvador's most valuable export is harvested. Or stop by Joya de Ceren, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and gaze upon the ruins of ancient Mayan homes.
The country boasts pyramids and volcanic lakes and wonderful nature reserves, such as the Impossible National Park, a refuge for wild animals and exotic trees. (``Impossible'' may sound like a strange name. But during the last 30 years, nearly 98 percent of El Salvador's forests have been stripped.)
Roughly the size of Massachusetts, El Salvador occupies about 8,000 square miles of mountainous terrain. The compact dimensions mean that visitors are never far from the beach.
LA COSTA DEL SOL
My tour guide, Sergio, drove past verdant volcanoes and ramshackle ranches on the one-hour drive to La Costa del Sol, the best calm-water beach in the country. Here, on the wide expanse of dove-gray sand, I found what I was looking for: solitude.
There were no banana boats motoring across the gentle waves. No parasailing, no Jet Skis, no man-made diversions. Only desolate beach for as far as one could see. In fact, during my day at La Costa del Sol, I saw no more than 15 or 20 souls -- all at a generous distance.
I spent my time soaking up sun, frolicking in 78-degree water and watching eared grebes circle overhead before plummeting with a splash into the fish-laden sea.
La Libertad is quite another story. Located only a half-hour from San Salvador, its rolling breaks attract throngs of surfers and the youthful beach culture that follows in their wake. Think reggae music, swaying hammocks and cold beer.
I almost signed up for a class at Punta Mango Surf Trips. In addition to classes, the company offers guided surf tours, custom surf packages and ``surfaris'' to the best surf breaks.
But surfing is a dangerous game. I had successfully navigated a trip to El Salvador and didn't want to press my luck.
Source: miamiherald.com/
It's not necessarily the threat of earthquakes that keeps visitors away. Nor is it the strong currents and undertows that can make Pacific Coast waters perilous, even for strong swimmers. It's true that in backcountry areas, unexploded land mines pose serious risks to hikers and backpackers. But knowledgeable tour guides keep tourists well out of harm's way.
El Salvador's biggest deterrents exist in and around the congested capital, San Salvador, where petty street crime, carjackings and armed assaults are common.
So why visit Central America's smallest nation when the U.S. State Department warns of a ``critical crime threat'' to travelers? Hardcore surfers are drawn here by some of the world's best waves. A few intrepid travelers, like me, come for a curious getaway.
BLENDING IN
After my plane landed at Comalapa International Airport, I hopped in a taxi for the 45-minute ride to San Salvador. Thieves have been known to target well-heeled tourists at the airport and follow them to isolated stretches of road where robberies are then carried out. To avoid unwanted attention, I wore jeans and a T-shirt. My unassuming backpack was filled with bare necessities.
If potential crime is a detriment to tourism, affordability is a huge selling point. The InterContinental San Salvador -- an elegant four-star hotel, the likes of which I can rarely afford -- offers deluxe rooms for as low as $63. At local eateries away from the hotel, a basic meal costs less than $4.
And don't worry about the exchange rate. In January 2001, El Salvador adopted the U.S. dollar as its primary currency. The previous currency, the colon, is basically obsolete. All ATMs issue dollars.
In my search for a quiet beach, the hotel concierge recommended that I use a tour guide rather than hire a taxi or rent a car. He suggested Nahuat Tours, a local agency with a stellar reputation.
Whether it's climbing volcanoes or deep sea fishing, Nahuat offers more than 20 different sightseeing and adventure tours. You can visit coffee plantations and learn how El Salvador's most valuable export is harvested. Or stop by Joya de Ceren, a UNESCO World Heritage site, and gaze upon the ruins of ancient Mayan homes.
The country boasts pyramids and volcanic lakes and wonderful nature reserves, such as the Impossible National Park, a refuge for wild animals and exotic trees. (``Impossible'' may sound like a strange name. But during the last 30 years, nearly 98 percent of El Salvador's forests have been stripped.)
Roughly the size of Massachusetts, El Salvador occupies about 8,000 square miles of mountainous terrain. The compact dimensions mean that visitors are never far from the beach.
LA COSTA DEL SOL
My tour guide, Sergio, drove past verdant volcanoes and ramshackle ranches on the one-hour drive to La Costa del Sol, the best calm-water beach in the country. Here, on the wide expanse of dove-gray sand, I found what I was looking for: solitude.
There were no banana boats motoring across the gentle waves. No parasailing, no Jet Skis, no man-made diversions. Only desolate beach for as far as one could see. In fact, during my day at La Costa del Sol, I saw no more than 15 or 20 souls -- all at a generous distance.
I spent my time soaking up sun, frolicking in 78-degree water and watching eared grebes circle overhead before plummeting with a splash into the fish-laden sea.
La Libertad is quite another story. Located only a half-hour from San Salvador, its rolling breaks attract throngs of surfers and the youthful beach culture that follows in their wake. Think reggae music, swaying hammocks and cold beer.
I almost signed up for a class at Punta Mango Surf Trips. In addition to classes, the company offers guided surf tours, custom surf packages and ``surfaris'' to the best surf breaks.
But surfing is a dangerous game. I had successfully navigated a trip to El Salvador and didn't want to press my luck.
Source: miamiherald.com/
Hurricane Ida floods kill 50 in El Salvador
SAN SALVADOR: Torrential rains caused by Hurricane Ida have killed at least 50 people and left several others missing in El Salvador, civil protection officials said on Sunday.
Ida, churning in the western Caribbean, was barrelling towards Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula early on Sunday, bringing torrential rains and flooding of up to four feet above sea level in some areas. “Unfortunately we have to report the number of dead has increased because of the rains, we now count 50 individuals,” the head of El Salvador’s civil protection service, Jorge Melendez told AFP.
Forecasters said flooding was also possible in Western Cuba, and the US National Weather Service in Miami Florida said Ida was expected to produce “large and destructive waves” across the affected region. The NHC warned rains could produce flashfloods and mudslides in Central America and the Caribbean. Meanwhile, the death toll from tropical storm Mirinae in central Vietnam has passed 122, with damage estimated at more than five billion dong (about $280 million), officials said. Two people were still missing, according to a new report by the national flood and storm control committee, which also listed 145 injured.
The toll however did not include victims of a landslide, which killed at least 13 people on Thursday. According to national statistics, Mirinae damaged or toppled more than 100,000 houses. Several hundred thousand hectares (acres) of cultivated land was also damaged or submerged in the passage of the storm. The priority was still “to supply disaster victims with food, drinking water and to sort out problems related to pollution of the environment,” an official from the national committee told AFP on Sunday. Mirinae weakened from a typhoon before it hit Vietnam Monday, after killing at least 27 people in the Philippines. afp
Source: dailytimes.com.pk
Ida, churning in the western Caribbean, was barrelling towards Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula early on Sunday, bringing torrential rains and flooding of up to four feet above sea level in some areas. “Unfortunately we have to report the number of dead has increased because of the rains, we now count 50 individuals,” the head of El Salvador’s civil protection service, Jorge Melendez told AFP.
Forecasters said flooding was also possible in Western Cuba, and the US National Weather Service in Miami Florida said Ida was expected to produce “large and destructive waves” across the affected region. The NHC warned rains could produce flashfloods and mudslides in Central America and the Caribbean. Meanwhile, the death toll from tropical storm Mirinae in central Vietnam has passed 122, with damage estimated at more than five billion dong (about $280 million), officials said. Two people were still missing, according to a new report by the national flood and storm control committee, which also listed 145 injured.
The toll however did not include victims of a landslide, which killed at least 13 people on Thursday. According to national statistics, Mirinae damaged or toppled more than 100,000 houses. Several hundred thousand hectares (acres) of cultivated land was also damaged or submerged in the passage of the storm. The priority was still “to supply disaster victims with food, drinking water and to sort out problems related to pollution of the environment,” an official from the national committee told AFP on Sunday. Mirinae weakened from a typhoon before it hit Vietnam Monday, after killing at least 27 people in the Philippines. afp
Source: dailytimes.com.pk
Bus Driver Suffers Burns in Attack by Presumed Gangmembers in El Salvador
SAN SALVADOR – A driver suffered burns when presumed gangmembers set fire to an intercity bus, the 19th vehicle burned in similar attacks this year, the local press reported in this capital on Sunday.
The bus, which departed from the town of Armenia in western El Salvador and was en route to San Salvador, was set on fire by five boys between 14 and 16 years old, apparently members of a gang, who doused it with gasoline and made the passengers disembark.
The driver remained inside the vehicle and, as the daily Diario de Hoy reported, only managed to escape the burning bus “by a miracle,” although he suffered burns on his head, arms and legs.
According to the president of the Fecoatrans transport businessmen’s federation, Catalino Miranda, this year 19 passenger vehicles have been burned by alleged gangmembers who extort so-called “dues” or protection fees from the bus drivers for allowing them to ply their routes unmolested.
One press version said that so far this year, 150 people have been killed in attacks on public transport vehicles, including passengers, drivers, ticket takers and vehicle owners.
Source: laht.com/
The bus, which departed from the town of Armenia in western El Salvador and was en route to San Salvador, was set on fire by five boys between 14 and 16 years old, apparently members of a gang, who doused it with gasoline and made the passengers disembark.
The driver remained inside the vehicle and, as the daily Diario de Hoy reported, only managed to escape the burning bus “by a miracle,” although he suffered burns on his head, arms and legs.
According to the president of the Fecoatrans transport businessmen’s federation, Catalino Miranda, this year 19 passenger vehicles have been burned by alleged gangmembers who extort so-called “dues” or protection fees from the bus drivers for allowing them to ply their routes unmolested.
One press version said that so far this year, 150 people have been killed in attacks on public transport vehicles, including passengers, drivers, ticket takers and vehicle owners.
Source: laht.com/
Spanish ship gauges local seafood resources
Some 16 scientists initiated the first assessment survey of seafood resources in El Salvador waters this Monday under the direction of the Spanish Oceanography Institute (IEO) of Spain.
The survey will be initiated aboard the research and oceanographic fisheries research vessel Miguel Oliver, property of the Ministry of Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs (MARM) of Spain.
Spanish and Salvadoran scientists will carry out studies to estimate abundance indices of the geographic and bathymetric distribution per sex and size. They will target the main species of fish, crustaceans and molluscs in the platform and continental slope down to 1,000 metres in depth.
The objectives are to increase knowledge of the scientific composition of the fauna of depth of the Salvadoran platform, to evaluate the physical oceanographic conditions of the water column, and to carry out bathymetric and morphologic recognition of the marine bottom, MARM indicated.
During the survey – and with the aid of a multibeam sonar – the Miguel Oliver will survey 100 per cent of area bottoms every night. This will be followed up by casts with bottom trawling gear the next day.
The research is being developed within the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding on bilateral cooperation in fisheries matters signed in March 2006 between MARM and the El Salvador fisheries administration.
Meanwhile, scientists aboard the vessel Miguel Oliver just finalised the third annual assessment survey of demersal fauna in Panamanian waters.
Over 16 days, Spanish and Panamanian experts participated in studies to broaden the knowledge of localised fisheries resources between 100 and 500 metres in depth of the Pacific Ocean.
Source: fis.com/
The survey will be initiated aboard the research and oceanographic fisheries research vessel Miguel Oliver, property of the Ministry of Environment and Rural and Marine Affairs (MARM) of Spain.
Spanish and Salvadoran scientists will carry out studies to estimate abundance indices of the geographic and bathymetric distribution per sex and size. They will target the main species of fish, crustaceans and molluscs in the platform and continental slope down to 1,000 metres in depth.
The objectives are to increase knowledge of the scientific composition of the fauna of depth of the Salvadoran platform, to evaluate the physical oceanographic conditions of the water column, and to carry out bathymetric and morphologic recognition of the marine bottom, MARM indicated.
During the survey – and with the aid of a multibeam sonar – the Miguel Oliver will survey 100 per cent of area bottoms every night. This will be followed up by casts with bottom trawling gear the next day.
The research is being developed within the framework of the Memorandum of Understanding on bilateral cooperation in fisheries matters signed in March 2006 between MARM and the El Salvador fisheries administration.
Meanwhile, scientists aboard the vessel Miguel Oliver just finalised the third annual assessment survey of demersal fauna in Panamanian waters.
Over 16 days, Spanish and Panamanian experts participated in studies to broaden the knowledge of localised fisheries resources between 100 and 500 metres in depth of the Pacific Ocean.
Source: fis.com/
El Salvador honors 6 slain Jesuits
Reporting from Mexico City and San Salvador - In a sign of the remarkable changes afoot in El Salvador, the government Monday bestowed the nation's highest award on six Jesuit priests slain by the army exactly 20 years ago.
Right-wing governments that ruled El Salvador since its civil war have traditionally relegated the case of the murdered Jesuits to a historic past they preferred to forget. But the election in March of a new president from a leftist political party made up of former guerrillas set the stage for Monday's recognition.
"We want this to be an act of recovering our collective memory," President Mauricio Funes said in the ceremony. "For me, this act means [we] pull back a heavy veil of darkness and lies to let in the light of justice and truth. We begin to cleanse our house of this recent history."
Funes, a former journalist who, like many Salvadorans, was educated by the Jesuits, presented golden medallions to relatives of the priests "for extraordinary service to the nation."
Stunning the audience, the minister of defense then said that the army was prepared to ask for forgiveness and that he was willing to open military archives to judicial investigators -- something that the priests' advocates have long demanded but the army steadfastly refused. The Funes government has not ordered such an investigation.
"If the government asks me to open the archives, I will do it," said the minister, Gen. David Munguia Payes, who fought in the war against the guerrillas and served in the early 1980s as part of the presidential guard.
The 1989 assassination of the priests, along with their cook and her young daughter, was a pivotal event in El Salvador's long civil war.
The priests were highly regarded intellectuals, promoters of justice for the poor and opponents of the war, and seen by the Salvadoran right as pro-left subversives.
Among them was Ignacio Ellacuria, a Spanish national who was one of the region's leading intellectuals and rector at the time of the Jesuit-run University of Central America, or UCA, in San Salvador.
Their killings provoked outrage worldwide; the pictures of the priests sprawled face down on the lawn of their modest home after being shot by soldiers were among the most haunting images of the war.
It was a bookend atrocity, in some ways, to the 1980 slaying of San Salvador Archbishop Oscar Romero, who was shot by an assassin as he said Mass. His death is often seen as a marker of the start of the civil war, and the Jesuits' killings the beginning of the end.
The 1989 assassinations finally broke long-standing U.S. administration support for the Salvadoran army and government, which in turn helped to force the end of the war in 1992.
A national truth commission, as well as several international investigations, established that top Salvadoran army officers had ordered and then covered up the slayings of the priests, whom the military accused of supporting the guerrillas.
Four officers and five soldiers were tried and convicted for their roles in the killings. No one, however, was higher in rank than a colonel, and all were released in 1993 under an amnesty law. No one in the top military leadership was prosecuted.
There is widespread suspicion in El Salvador and among U.S. officials that Roberto D'Aubuisson, one of the founders of the right-wing Arena party that ruled El Salvador until this year, ordered the Jesuits' killings during a meeting with other party officials in November 1989.
A lawsuit filed last year in a Spanish court is attempting to bring senior military and civilian officials to account.
Next week, attorneys and witnesses on behalf of the Jesuits' families will present evidence based on hundreds of pages of declassified U.S. documents from the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The documents, including cables from U.S. Embassy, military and CIA officials in El Salvador to Washington, describe the Salvadoran army's "role in planning, ordering and committing the crime and covering it up afterward," said Kate Doyle, a researcher with the National Security Archive, a Washington-based organization that has been key in bringing much of the information to light.
The ceremony Monday in San Salvador drew participants from all over the world, including activists, religious figures, journalists from the country's civil war era, and U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.), a follower of U.S. policy in Central America who has long demanded a full accounting of the Salvadoran and U.S. government roles in the killings.
"We've had to wait 20 years for this," said Father Jose Tojeira, the current UCA rector. "This is the first time that a Salvadoran government publicly and officially recognizes the courage, dignity and service of this group of academics and men of faith."
Still, there are many in El Salvador who are critical of Funes for not going far enough in pushing for a full airing of the Jesuit case.
The Jesuits "don't need homages," an editorial on the leading Salvadoran news website El Faro said Monday. "They need, and especially we Salvadorans need, to know the truth. . . . The new government . . . has fled from its moral obligation to demand the opening of an investigation."
Source: latimes.com
El Salvador honors 6 Jesuits slain by army in 1989
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — Six Jesuit priests killed by the army during El Salvador's civil war two decades ago were decorated with the country's highest honor Monday.
Mauricio Funes, El Salvador's first leftist president, called the decorations an act of atonement for an atrocity during the 1980-1992 war between leftist rebels and a U.S.-backed right-wing government.
He presented the National Order of Jose Matias Delgado to the families of the priests on the 20th anniversary of the massacre.
"It means lifting the dirty carpet of hypocrisy and starting to purge our home of our recent history," said Funes, whose election in March brought to power the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, which fought for 12 years to overthrow U.S.-backed governments until laying down their arms and becoming a political party.
"For me, it means lifting the thick veil of darkness and lies to allow the light of truth and justice to enter," Funes said.
On Nov. 16, 1989, members of an army battalion killed Spanish-born university rector Ignacio Ellacuria, five other Jesuits, a housekeeper and her daughter.
The killings at the University of Central America sparked international outrage and tarnished the image of U.S. anti-communism efforts after it was found that some of the soldiers involved received training at Fort Benning, Georgia.
Ellacuria, a follower of liberation theology, had promoted a negotiated end to the war, which left 75,000 dead before ending in peace accords in 1992.
His brother, Juan Antonio Ellacuria, traveled from Spain to accept the award Monday.
Two army officers were convicted in the massacre in 1991. Both were released early under a 1993 amnesty.
In January, Spanish Judge Eloy Velasco opened an investigation into 14 Salvadoran former military officials, including former Defense Minister Humberto Lario, to consider their indictment for the killings.
Velasco acted under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows for the prosecution of crimes against humanity and other serious offenses such as terrorism, even if alleged to have been committed in another country.
Two human rights groups — the Spanish Association for Human Rights and California's Center for Justice and Accountability — filed suit in November 2008 asking Spain's National Court to indict the 14 and former Salvadoran President Alfredo Cristiani.
Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i4MpbaMH2pl4hw6MnYpCptWREDpAD9C0T3MG0
Mauricio Funes, El Salvador's first leftist president, called the decorations an act of atonement for an atrocity during the 1980-1992 war between leftist rebels and a U.S.-backed right-wing government.
He presented the National Order of Jose Matias Delgado to the families of the priests on the 20th anniversary of the massacre.
"It means lifting the dirty carpet of hypocrisy and starting to purge our home of our recent history," said Funes, whose election in March brought to power the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, which fought for 12 years to overthrow U.S.-backed governments until laying down their arms and becoming a political party.
"For me, it means lifting the thick veil of darkness and lies to allow the light of truth and justice to enter," Funes said.
On Nov. 16, 1989, members of an army battalion killed Spanish-born university rector Ignacio Ellacuria, five other Jesuits, a housekeeper and her daughter.
The killings at the University of Central America sparked international outrage and tarnished the image of U.S. anti-communism efforts after it was found that some of the soldiers involved received training at Fort Benning, Georgia.
Ellacuria, a follower of liberation theology, had promoted a negotiated end to the war, which left 75,000 dead before ending in peace accords in 1992.
His brother, Juan Antonio Ellacuria, traveled from Spain to accept the award Monday.
Two army officers were convicted in the massacre in 1991. Both were released early under a 1993 amnesty.
In January, Spanish Judge Eloy Velasco opened an investigation into 14 Salvadoran former military officials, including former Defense Minister Humberto Lario, to consider their indictment for the killings.
Velasco acted under the principle of universal jurisdiction, which allows for the prosecution of crimes against humanity and other serious offenses such as terrorism, even if alleged to have been committed in another country.
Two human rights groups — the Spanish Association for Human Rights and California's Center for Justice and Accountability — filed suit in November 2008 asking Spain's National Court to indict the 14 and former Salvadoran President Alfredo Cristiani.
Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5i4MpbaMH2pl4hw6MnYpCptWREDpAD9C0T3MG0
Death toll in El Salvador storms rises to 192
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — Salvadoran authorities say at least 192 people were killed by floods and landslides that swept through the country last week.
El Salvador's Civil Protection agency says in a statement that 89 of the victims were killed in the state of San Vicente, where days of heavy rains caused mud and boulders to sweep down the side of the Chichontepec volcano before dawn a week ago.
The agency said Sunday that dozens more remain missing. It says that more than 14,000 Salvadoran have been affected by the floods and mudslides that were indirectly linked to Hurricane Ida's passage through the region.
Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j0XCCb1n12DyhoBoDzGj_hTyEtrAD9C06DJG0
El Salvador's Civil Protection agency says in a statement that 89 of the victims were killed in the state of San Vicente, where days of heavy rains caused mud and boulders to sweep down the side of the Chichontepec volcano before dawn a week ago.
The agency said Sunday that dozens more remain missing. It says that more than 14,000 Salvadoran have been affected by the floods and mudslides that were indirectly linked to Hurricane Ida's passage through the region.
Source: http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j0XCCb1n12DyhoBoDzGj_hTyEtrAD9C06DJG0
Local Caterer to Host Wine Dinner Fundraiser for Medical Mission to El Salvador
Catering by Design, a prominent local caterer based in Cary, will be hosting a five course dinner with five quality wines on Sunday December 20th at 5pm.
Chef Greg Lewis will be helping raise funds for a medical mission to El Salvador in January 2010 with Hannah's Hands International. He will be joining the mission also.
Wines will be selected by well-known wine expert, Bill O'Neil. The dinner menu will be developed by Chef Lewis. Updates will be posted on the Catering by Design Facebook Page.
The dinner will be held in downtown Cary on Kilmayne at 132 Kilmayne, at the corner of Kilmayne and Kildaire Farm Road. There is plenty of parking.
The dining area can seat 70 guests. Reservations are required and can be made by calling the main number at (919) 481-2366. The fee is $55 before tax and gratuities.
Source: mync.com/
Chef Greg Lewis will be helping raise funds for a medical mission to El Salvador in January 2010 with Hannah's Hands International. He will be joining the mission also.
Wines will be selected by well-known wine expert, Bill O'Neil. The dinner menu will be developed by Chef Lewis. Updates will be posted on the Catering by Design Facebook Page.
The dinner will be held in downtown Cary on Kilmayne at 132 Kilmayne, at the corner of Kilmayne and Kildaire Farm Road. There is plenty of parking.
The dining area can seat 70 guests. Reservations are required and can be made by calling the main number at (919) 481-2366. The fee is $55 before tax and gratuities.
Source: mync.com/
Skipper’s concert/fundraiser to aid hurricane victims in El Salvador
This Sunday afternoon at Skipper’s Smokehouse in Tampa, seven different bands of various musical pedigrees will be performing in a benefit concert for the people of El Salvador impacted by Hurricane Ida.
Mud slides and flooding earlier this month from the storm has left about 200 dead and 15,000 displaced in the Central American nation.
Rafael Avendano from the group Point 6 is organizing the event. He said the proceeds from the show will go towards the Medical Mission of Mercy, led by Dr. Robert Araujo in New Port Richey, which will then direct the funds to those who need it in El Salvador.
Avendano is from El Salvador. He says he’s been talking to people in the region, who stress that “any kind of help will be great.” He says $1 donated on Sunday is the equivalent of one meal in his native land, and adds, “any help we can get is a blessing.”
The show begins at 4 p.m. on Sunday, November 29th. Suggested donation is $10.
Source: creativeloafing.com
Mud slides and flooding earlier this month from the storm has left about 200 dead and 15,000 displaced in the Central American nation.
Rafael Avendano from the group Point 6 is organizing the event. He said the proceeds from the show will go towards the Medical Mission of Mercy, led by Dr. Robert Araujo in New Port Richey, which will then direct the funds to those who need it in El Salvador.
Avendano is from El Salvador. He says he’s been talking to people in the region, who stress that “any kind of help will be great.” He says $1 donated on Sunday is the equivalent of one meal in his native land, and adds, “any help we can get is a blessing.”
The show begins at 4 p.m. on Sunday, November 29th. Suggested donation is $10.
Source: creativeloafing.com
Mexico's Banco Azteca Starts Operations In El Salvador
MEXICO CITY (Dow Jones)--Mexico's Banco Azteca said Friday it began operations in El Salvador, continuing its expansion in Latin America.
Banco Azteca, a unit of retail and financial services concern Grupo Elektra (ELEKTRA.MX, EKT), said it started operations with 29 branches across the Central American country. Banco Azteca, which pioneered consumer loans to low-income customers in Mexico, has expanded to include operations in Brazil, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, and Peru.
In El Salvador the bank will offer loans, savings and investment accounts, and other services. Banco Azteca said it has more than 9 million credit accounts and 8 million deposit accounts across the region.
-By Anthony Harrup, Dow Jones Newswires, (5255) 5001 5727, anthony.harrup@dowjones.com
Source: wsj.com/
Banco Azteca, a unit of retail and financial services concern Grupo Elektra (ELEKTRA.MX, EKT), said it started operations with 29 branches across the Central American country. Banco Azteca, which pioneered consumer loans to low-income customers in Mexico, has expanded to include operations in Brazil, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama, and Peru.
In El Salvador the bank will offer loans, savings and investment accounts, and other services. Banco Azteca said it has more than 9 million credit accounts and 8 million deposit accounts across the region.
-By Anthony Harrup, Dow Jones Newswires, (5255) 5001 5727, anthony.harrup@dowjones.com
Source: wsj.com/
Pacific Rim says arbitration tribunal formed for El Salvador case
TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – An arbitration case brought by Pacific Rim Mining against the government of El Salvador will move ahead, as the arbitration tribunal has now been constituted, the company reported on Thursday.
Pacific Rim embarked on arbitration proceedings because of the government's failure to issue permits for the company's El Dorado project, three years after Pacific Rim submitted a mine design to authorities.
The company claims the government has breached international and Salvadoran law in its “improper failure to finalize the permitting process as it is required to do and to respect the company's and the enterprises' legal rights to develop mining activities in El Salvador”.
Pacific Rim said it has received notice from the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes that the three nominees for arbitrators in the action have accepted their appointments.
"This is a key milestone in Pac Rim's claim as the arbitration process will now get fully under way," CEO Tom Shrake said in a statement.
"The next step is for the arbitral tribunal to convene a hearing to set out the further procedures in the arbitration.”
The company wants the arbitration to proceed as quickly as possible, but will continue to maintain a dialogue with the government of El Salvador, in the hopes of reaching a resolution, he said.
Shares in TSX- and Amex-listed Pacific Rim slid 4,3% on Thursday, to 22,5 Canadian cents by 15:27 in Toronto.
Edited by: Liezel Hill
Source: miningweekly.com/
Pacific Rim embarked on arbitration proceedings because of the government's failure to issue permits for the company's El Dorado project, three years after Pacific Rim submitted a mine design to authorities.
The company claims the government has breached international and Salvadoran law in its “improper failure to finalize the permitting process as it is required to do and to respect the company's and the enterprises' legal rights to develop mining activities in El Salvador”.
Pacific Rim said it has received notice from the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes that the three nominees for arbitrators in the action have accepted their appointments.
"This is a key milestone in Pac Rim's claim as the arbitration process will now get fully under way," CEO Tom Shrake said in a statement.
"The next step is for the arbitral tribunal to convene a hearing to set out the further procedures in the arbitration.”
The company wants the arbitration to proceed as quickly as possible, but will continue to maintain a dialogue with the government of El Salvador, in the hopes of reaching a resolution, he said.
Shares in TSX- and Amex-listed Pacific Rim slid 4,3% on Thursday, to 22,5 Canadian cents by 15:27 in Toronto.
Edited by: Liezel Hill
Source: miningweekly.com/
El Salvador Outshines UK In Lonely Planet Top 10
A popular travel guide has pinned the Latin American country of El Salvador as a remarkable place to visit for tourists, thus abandoning more traditional destinations for the top spot.
The Lonely Planet 2010 edition of Best In Travel guide has listed the ‘vibrant culture’ of El Salvador’s as one of the main reasons to visit the now peaceful country.
The publication recently announced its annual suggestion of the 10 best countries to visit, although the new 2010 list may surprise many.
Lonely Planet picked New Zealand for the number one spot, explaining that the destination possesses spectacular scenery and a great variety of activities, including skiing, hiking and bungee-jumping.
As stated earlier, El Salvador was added to the list of the top 10, and it’s been do so because of its vibrant culture and beautiful scenery. This shocks many since the western consciousness has long associated the Latin American country with war and violence.
The guide has also praised the destination’s capital, San Salvador, for its restaurants, bars, museums and galleries as well as its active live music scene.
In the UK, several businesses and companies specialising in tourism have been questioning the decision to put formerly turbulent El Salvador, which experienced a civil war between 1980 and 1992, ahead of Britain as tourist destination.
Tom Hall, the UK travel editor for the Lonely Planet, told reporters that El Salvador has been overlooked in the recent past but is now on the travel radar.
According to Mr Hall, the capital San Salvador is an exciting city and the nation as a whole surprises the visitors with has beautiful national parks and several majestic volcanoes and is a great spot for surfing. He added that the country is not likely to get invaded by tourists but the positioning of the Lonely Planet will contribute to raise its appeal.
As for the UK, it did get some praise thanks to The Lake District, which was mentioned amongst the world’s ten best regions. Not so far away, the small Irish city of Cork was rated as one of the 10 best cities to visit.
Lonely Planet’s other top 10 countries were Germany, Greece, Malaysia, Morocco, Nepal, Portugal, Suriname, and the USA.
Source: self-catering-breaks.com/
The Lonely Planet 2010 edition of Best In Travel guide has listed the ‘vibrant culture’ of El Salvador’s as one of the main reasons to visit the now peaceful country.
The publication recently announced its annual suggestion of the 10 best countries to visit, although the new 2010 list may surprise many.
Lonely Planet picked New Zealand for the number one spot, explaining that the destination possesses spectacular scenery and a great variety of activities, including skiing, hiking and bungee-jumping.
As stated earlier, El Salvador was added to the list of the top 10, and it’s been do so because of its vibrant culture and beautiful scenery. This shocks many since the western consciousness has long associated the Latin American country with war and violence.
The guide has also praised the destination’s capital, San Salvador, for its restaurants, bars, museums and galleries as well as its active live music scene.
In the UK, several businesses and companies specialising in tourism have been questioning the decision to put formerly turbulent El Salvador, which experienced a civil war between 1980 and 1992, ahead of Britain as tourist destination.
Tom Hall, the UK travel editor for the Lonely Planet, told reporters that El Salvador has been overlooked in the recent past but is now on the travel radar.
According to Mr Hall, the capital San Salvador is an exciting city and the nation as a whole surprises the visitors with has beautiful national parks and several majestic volcanoes and is a great spot for surfing. He added that the country is not likely to get invaded by tourists but the positioning of the Lonely Planet will contribute to raise its appeal.
As for the UK, it did get some praise thanks to The Lake District, which was mentioned amongst the world’s ten best regions. Not so far away, the small Irish city of Cork was rated as one of the 10 best cities to visit.
Lonely Planet’s other top 10 countries were Germany, Greece, Malaysia, Morocco, Nepal, Portugal, Suriname, and the USA.
Source: self-catering-breaks.com/
Olathe man helps build homes in El Salvador
Leon Bauman of Olathe had built Habitat for Humanity homes before, but never in the conditions that he faced in the Central American country of El Salvador.
First, there was sweltering heat, humidity and the conditions of working in a high elevation. Added to that was the fact that he didn’t speak the language of the families he was working with.
But Bauman, a 15-year Olathe resident, quickly discovered a striking similarity between building homes for Salvadoran families and American families: both families want to earn their new homes. “Neither wants handouts,” he said. “They work hard to earn their homes.”
Bauman was selected along with 27 other Thrivent Financial representatives from throughout the United States to build homes Oct. 16-25 in a new community called “Villa Esperanza,” or Village of Hope.
Thrivent Financial for Lutherans has committed $1.3 million to the project, which will offer 75 families a home and access to basic services and a social infrastructure, including a community center and green areas. Thirty-five of the 75 homes have been completed.
The American team built homes with volunteers from a local Lutheran church and Habitat El Salvador partner families who will live in the community. The families apply for, purchase the homes and put in sweat equity before they can move in.
Bauman spent eight-hour days building 20-foot by 20-foot homes—about the size of a two-car garage. The homes have two bedrooms, a living room and kitchen. A sink and bathroom was included in a small room outside.
“They are small by our standards, but there’s a huge housing shortage there,” he said. “They estimate that 400,000 additional homes are needed. There is a huge need to increase the standard of housing.”
“We learned that eighty-five percent of the population makes less than $1,000 a month,” Bauman added.
During their free time, Bauman and the other volunteers attended a Lutheran church service, toured Mayan ruins and a coffee mill. “We also visited the city markets. Everyone was very nice, courteous and happy to see us.”
Bauman said he would recommend the experience to others.
Source: kansascity.com
Keeping the memory of the Jesuit Martyrs of El Salvador
I have just returned from an emotion-filled week of events in San Salvador, to mark the twentieth anniversary of the brutal killing of six great members of the Society of Jesus - all of whom I had known and worked with during the 1970s and 1980s. Our British contingent included Edinburgh’s archbishop, Cardinal Keith O’Brien, SCIAF, CAFOD and Romero Trust representatives and a handful of Jesuits including former Provincial, Michael Campbell Johnston. In fact Jesuits from around the world, along with many thousands of lay people and religious from the Christian communities of Central America, came together to celebrate the martyrs’ lives with a kind of ‘grief-filled joy’.
The key memorial events began at dusk last Saturday, with a moving candle-lit procession round the University campus leading into a huge outdoor Mass, with more than 12,000 in attendance. The vigil went on till dawn in carnival atmosphere, with a concert of popular music and dance. For me, the culmination of the triduum of liturgies and exhibitions, seminars, broadcasts, films and song was a ceremony at the Presidential Palace on Monday morning which literally brought tears to my eyes when the six were posthumously honoured by President Mauricio Funes with El Salvador’s highest award, the Order of José Matías Delgado - the equivalent of our ‘Order of Merit’. I never would have believed this could happen. After twenty years of cover-up and denial by El Salvador’s ruling establishment who had more in common with their assassins than with Romero or the Jesuits, this recognition of them as “eminent Salvadorans who rendered extraordinary service to the country”, by El Salvador’s first left of centre President, was astounding -especially as it was stated to be a "public act of atonement" for the stance of past governments. The speeches and the presentation of the medals to the families of the six and to their Jesuit brethren can be found on YouTube.
But going back to 1989: it had been at around 2am on 16 November, at the height of El Salvador’s civil war, that those six Jesuit priests – Ignacio Ellacuria (59), Segundo Montes (56), Nacho Martin-Baro (44), Juan Ramon Moreno (56), Amando Lopez (51) and Joaquin Lopez y Lopez (71) - and their two women helpers, Julia Elba Ramos and her daughter Celina, were dragged from their beds in the residence of the Central American University and slaughtered by an army commando unit of the elite US trained Atlacatl Batallion. The action had been authorised from the High Command of the armed forces and was yet another in a long line of great atrocities that had marked Salvadoran national life, its people and Church, through a dozen years of repression and civil war.
Indeed almost a decade after the assassination at the altar of Archbishop Oscar Romero it brought another crop of martyrs, another cloud of witnesses. They were theologians and philosophers, writers and teachers, human rights activists who worked for justice, reconciliation and peace. They each had weekend pastoral commitments in service to Christian communities. They were all followers of Jesus Christ and striving to walk the same path as Archbishop Romero.
You could say they were killed for ‘doing theology’ the right way, incarnate in the struggle for survival of the Salvadoran people. They certainly paid the price for their fidelity to the rearticulated Jesuit charism of ‘witnessing to faith and promoting social justice’ just as the then Father General of the Society of Jesus, Pedro Arrupe, had warned his confreres would inevitably happen if Jesuits embraced the option for the poor so authentically in their lives and in their mission.
These six were all very different characters with quite distinctive personalities, each with their own special gifts and their own particular faults. But they lived in community and shared their joys and their fears, their jokes and their tensions in community; and they died in community - at the hands of soldiers and officers who literally blew their brains out because as a group they were absurdly labelled as ‘the brains behind the guerrilla movements’. The military intruders shot too at their dangerous theology books and one volume fell off the shelf into the blood of Juan Ramon Moreno. With spectacular and uncanny symbolism it was Jürgen Moltmann’s ‘The Crucified God’. They also fired a flame-thrower at a photographic portrait of Archbishop Romero hanging in the hallway. It had been taken and printed by Chilean photographer, Carlos Reyes, and I had carried it out to San Salvador as hand luggage five years earlier with the assistance of the then General Secretary of the Bishops’ Conference, Mgr Vincent Nichols.
This celebration of martyrdom was not simply a nostalgic reminiscence of a long-gone epoch. Those Jesuit martyrs, like Archbishop Romero, and like the four US religious women raped and murdered there 30 years ago, offer to us, today, paradigm examples of living love and transforming solidarity and of heroic commitment to reconciliation and peace. They stand for life over death, for courage, creativity and dogged determination in working for the kingdom of God. The martyrs energise us. For Christians truly authentic remembering must be ‘Do this in Memory of Me’ and so the task once again is to carry on the work and mission for which these men and women gave their lives.
In short the martyrs of Central America give us real hope as we struggle, on the one hand, to work for justice and peace in our greedy and materialistic world where the lives of the poor are so cheap; and, on the other, as we strive to witness to our faith in this sceptical and sometimes hostile post-modern world. The challenge is whether, and most importantly how, we hold the two together with integrity as these six Jesuits did - and not fall into the temptation of keeping the two in separate compartments of our lives, in effect becoming schizophrenic ‘Nicodemus Christians’ of the 21st century!
Julian Filochowski
Source: indcatholicnews.com
The key memorial events began at dusk last Saturday, with a moving candle-lit procession round the University campus leading into a huge outdoor Mass, with more than 12,000 in attendance. The vigil went on till dawn in carnival atmosphere, with a concert of popular music and dance. For me, the culmination of the triduum of liturgies and exhibitions, seminars, broadcasts, films and song was a ceremony at the Presidential Palace on Monday morning which literally brought tears to my eyes when the six were posthumously honoured by President Mauricio Funes with El Salvador’s highest award, the Order of José Matías Delgado - the equivalent of our ‘Order of Merit’. I never would have believed this could happen. After twenty years of cover-up and denial by El Salvador’s ruling establishment who had more in common with their assassins than with Romero or the Jesuits, this recognition of them as “eminent Salvadorans who rendered extraordinary service to the country”, by El Salvador’s first left of centre President, was astounding -especially as it was stated to be a "public act of atonement" for the stance of past governments. The speeches and the presentation of the medals to the families of the six and to their Jesuit brethren can be found on YouTube.
But going back to 1989: it had been at around 2am on 16 November, at the height of El Salvador’s civil war, that those six Jesuit priests – Ignacio Ellacuria (59), Segundo Montes (56), Nacho Martin-Baro (44), Juan Ramon Moreno (56), Amando Lopez (51) and Joaquin Lopez y Lopez (71) - and their two women helpers, Julia Elba Ramos and her daughter Celina, were dragged from their beds in the residence of the Central American University and slaughtered by an army commando unit of the elite US trained Atlacatl Batallion. The action had been authorised from the High Command of the armed forces and was yet another in a long line of great atrocities that had marked Salvadoran national life, its people and Church, through a dozen years of repression and civil war.
Indeed almost a decade after the assassination at the altar of Archbishop Oscar Romero it brought another crop of martyrs, another cloud of witnesses. They were theologians and philosophers, writers and teachers, human rights activists who worked for justice, reconciliation and peace. They each had weekend pastoral commitments in service to Christian communities. They were all followers of Jesus Christ and striving to walk the same path as Archbishop Romero.
You could say they were killed for ‘doing theology’ the right way, incarnate in the struggle for survival of the Salvadoran people. They certainly paid the price for their fidelity to the rearticulated Jesuit charism of ‘witnessing to faith and promoting social justice’ just as the then Father General of the Society of Jesus, Pedro Arrupe, had warned his confreres would inevitably happen if Jesuits embraced the option for the poor so authentically in their lives and in their mission.
These six were all very different characters with quite distinctive personalities, each with their own special gifts and their own particular faults. But they lived in community and shared their joys and their fears, their jokes and their tensions in community; and they died in community - at the hands of soldiers and officers who literally blew their brains out because as a group they were absurdly labelled as ‘the brains behind the guerrilla movements’. The military intruders shot too at their dangerous theology books and one volume fell off the shelf into the blood of Juan Ramon Moreno. With spectacular and uncanny symbolism it was Jürgen Moltmann’s ‘The Crucified God’. They also fired a flame-thrower at a photographic portrait of Archbishop Romero hanging in the hallway. It had been taken and printed by Chilean photographer, Carlos Reyes, and I had carried it out to San Salvador as hand luggage five years earlier with the assistance of the then General Secretary of the Bishops’ Conference, Mgr Vincent Nichols.
This celebration of martyrdom was not simply a nostalgic reminiscence of a long-gone epoch. Those Jesuit martyrs, like Archbishop Romero, and like the four US religious women raped and murdered there 30 years ago, offer to us, today, paradigm examples of living love and transforming solidarity and of heroic commitment to reconciliation and peace. They stand for life over death, for courage, creativity and dogged determination in working for the kingdom of God. The martyrs energise us. For Christians truly authentic remembering must be ‘Do this in Memory of Me’ and so the task once again is to carry on the work and mission for which these men and women gave their lives.
In short the martyrs of Central America give us real hope as we struggle, on the one hand, to work for justice and peace in our greedy and materialistic world where the lives of the poor are so cheap; and, on the other, as we strive to witness to our faith in this sceptical and sometimes hostile post-modern world. The challenge is whether, and most importantly how, we hold the two together with integrity as these six Jesuits did - and not fall into the temptation of keeping the two in separate compartments of our lives, in effect becoming schizophrenic ‘Nicodemus Christians’ of the 21st century!
Julian Filochowski
Source: indcatholicnews.com
El Salvador: UNCT Situation Report No. 8, 26 Nov 2009
. HIGHLIGHTS/KEY PRIORITIES
- The National Commission of Civil Protection announced the gradual transition to rehabilitation phase in order to attend damages in households, roads, bridges, health facilities, schools, agricultural sector, electric network, and water distribution.
- The National Shelter Commission was deactivated and the Security Commission lead by military forces could be deactivated in the coming days.
- Government reports that 43,280 students could not be enrolled due to damages in 111 schools in San Vicente.
- An earthquake struck off El Salvador's Pacific coast today. With a magnitude of 6, the earthquake was centered 31 miles (51 kilometers) southwest of the Salvadoran town of Sonsonate, and 47 miles (76 kilometers) west of the capital, San Salvador. Civil protection reported no injuries or damages.
II. SITUATION OVERVIEW
Civil Protection authorities initiated the transition from emergency phase to rehabilitation phase in order to rehabilitated infrastructure and basic services to affected population and communities.To date, the number of persons reported dead is 199 and 77 people are still reported missing. 5,705 people remain in 63 collective centers. According to Civil Protection, the majority of people still in collective centers are in the Department of San Salvador (2547 on the 24rd Nov).
Source: reliefweb.int
- The National Commission of Civil Protection announced the gradual transition to rehabilitation phase in order to attend damages in households, roads, bridges, health facilities, schools, agricultural sector, electric network, and water distribution.
- The National Shelter Commission was deactivated and the Security Commission lead by military forces could be deactivated in the coming days.
- Government reports that 43,280 students could not be enrolled due to damages in 111 schools in San Vicente.
- An earthquake struck off El Salvador's Pacific coast today. With a magnitude of 6, the earthquake was centered 31 miles (51 kilometers) southwest of the Salvadoran town of Sonsonate, and 47 miles (76 kilometers) west of the capital, San Salvador. Civil protection reported no injuries or damages.
II. SITUATION OVERVIEW
Civil Protection authorities initiated the transition from emergency phase to rehabilitation phase in order to rehabilitated infrastructure and basic services to affected population and communities.To date, the number of persons reported dead is 199 and 77 people are still reported missing. 5,705 people remain in 63 collective centers. According to Civil Protection, the majority of people still in collective centers are in the Department of San Salvador (2547 on the 24rd Nov).
Source: reliefweb.int
El Salvador shares coffee expertise
The annual coffee exhibition will run through next Monday at the World Trade Center.
Featuring coffee equipments and appliances, the exhibition is expected to draw thousands of experts and coffee addicts.
Taking this opportunity, Francisco Ricardo Santana, the ambassador of El Salvador to Taiwan, especially invited officials from El Salvador Economic Affairs Department and Coffee Council to Taiwan for a seminar to promote their world-class coffee, roasted from Arabica beans, and professional expertise to islanders.
Undoubtedly, El Salvador boasts perfect climate, temperatures and soil conditions, as well as knowledge and techniques for growing coffee. It is certain that El Salvador is an acclaimed coffee producing country, and that coffee culture has been rooted in their society for years. The seminar aims to share and promote coffee to the Taiwanese public.
To further share coffee know-how with Taiwan people, Jorge Alberto Escobar Borja, the master cupper of the El Salvador Coffee Council and the runner-up of the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe World Cup Tasters Championship, presented coffee cupping in the seminar.
Coffee cupping is the technique of observing the tastes and aromas of brewed coffee. After Borja showcased the steps of cupping coffee, participants were excited to have the chance to try it themselves. A few dozen cups of coffee were placed on three tables, with each cup of coffee having a different origin, and seminar participants were invited to taste the coffee with spoons. Borja, meanwhile, shared his opinion on the tastes of the different coffee, and it seemed a wonder for participants that coffee had so many facets.
“This is perfect for women to drink when they get up in a bad mood; it has the smell of cocoa,” Borja said. “And this is a little bit sour, you can feel it at the tip of your tongue,” Borja commented on another cup of coffee.
Source: chinapost.com.tw/
Featuring coffee equipments and appliances, the exhibition is expected to draw thousands of experts and coffee addicts.
Taking this opportunity, Francisco Ricardo Santana, the ambassador of El Salvador to Taiwan, especially invited officials from El Salvador Economic Affairs Department and Coffee Council to Taiwan for a seminar to promote their world-class coffee, roasted from Arabica beans, and professional expertise to islanders.
Undoubtedly, El Salvador boasts perfect climate, temperatures and soil conditions, as well as knowledge and techniques for growing coffee. It is certain that El Salvador is an acclaimed coffee producing country, and that coffee culture has been rooted in their society for years. The seminar aims to share and promote coffee to the Taiwanese public.
To further share coffee know-how with Taiwan people, Jorge Alberto Escobar Borja, the master cupper of the El Salvador Coffee Council and the runner-up of the Specialty Coffee Association of Europe World Cup Tasters Championship, presented coffee cupping in the seminar.
Coffee cupping is the technique of observing the tastes and aromas of brewed coffee. After Borja showcased the steps of cupping coffee, participants were excited to have the chance to try it themselves. A few dozen cups of coffee were placed on three tables, with each cup of coffee having a different origin, and seminar participants were invited to taste the coffee with spoons. Borja, meanwhile, shared his opinion on the tastes of the different coffee, and it seemed a wonder for participants that coffee had so many facets.
“This is perfect for women to drink when they get up in a bad mood; it has the smell of cocoa,” Borja said. “And this is a little bit sour, you can feel it at the tip of your tongue,” Borja commented on another cup of coffee.
Source: chinapost.com.tw/
Volunteers heading to help in El Salvador
Some people will be home for Christmas. Others may not have a home to go back to.
On Wednesday, a Manitoba businessman is leading a group of volunteers back to El Salvador, to see how they can help after Hurricane Ida destroyed homes and claimed lives.
"We are going to be taking some very basic things like blankets and quilts with us on Wednesday to distribute in the community," said Ray Loewen in Altona.
"Once we have assessed the need, we will make arrangements to buy as many of the needed items as possible in El Salvador," said Loewen, who founded Build a Village charity more than five years ago.
It's built more than 250 homes in San Nicolas, La Linea, Aqua Zarca, San Jose, Torolla and Jardines De Colon following back-to-back earthquakes that devastated the region in 2001.
Now, some of those homes have been destroyed in the hurricane and its aftermath.
"The initial word out of La Linea is that Hurricane Ida caused a lot of damage -- not from the winds but from the 300 millimetres of rain that fell in just over three hours -- a total of four people were killed, 64 homes were totally destroyed as was the 'Manitoba Chicken Ranch'," the farm that Manitobans provided the start up funding for, as well as many other homes, businesses, churches suffered extensive damage as well, Loewen said.
"Many people in places like La Linea... lost everything -- and they did not have many material possessions to start with," Loewen said.
"If people would like to help rebuild homes and lives, we would ensure their money is put to good use," he said. Build a Village is 100 per cent volunteer run, with donations going directly to the work in El Salvador, said Loewen.
"We try to buy most items in (that) country so that we support the local economy as much as possible and that's what we will be doing again this time," he said.
Cheques for Build a Village can be mailed to Box 1144, Altona, Man., R0G 0B0 and charitable tax receipts will be issued.
Source: winnipegfreepress.com
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