Report from El Salvador: Why They All Keep Coming > > By ALEXANDRA EARLY > > June 30, 2008 > > http://www.counterpunch.org/early06302008.html > > Having just spent time south of the border in a poor > country whose major export is people, I've seen > firsthand what's driving people north - and why > conventional political solutions aren't going to deter > desperate Salvadorans from coming to the U.S. Largely > missing from this year's campaign is any serious > reappraisal of our foreign, military, and trade > policies that have forced millions Latin Americans to > uproot themselves and seek opportunities for a better > life far from home. > > On the presidential campaign trail, even free trade > critics provided little public education about the link > between corporate globalization, trade deregulation, > and the resulting forced relocation of people, in both > hemispheres. For example, while courting blue-collar > workers in farm states and the rust belt (often one and > the same these days), Edwards frequently denounced the > North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) - and its > new Central American counterpart, CAFTA - as "trade > laws that send American jobs overseas". In Iowa, > Michigan, and Ohio, free trade has fallen into disfavor > because it threatens local manufacturing in rural > communities already so economically depressed that some > are becoming depopulated. As Lorri Brouer, a > middle-aged Iowa Falls gift shop owner, asked a Boston > Globe reporter in January: "Who's going to turn off the > lights when we grow old and die, because all the young > people are going away?" > > In my recent travels in the Salvadoran countryside, I > heard Lorri Brouer's fearful refrain echoed in many > small villages (where the absence of people between the > age of 25 and 55 is often quite noticeable). In one > remote farming community in Usulutan, the remaining > peasants were struggling to survive by grazing cattle > and growing beans and corn amid cycles of flooding and > drought. Most had settled in the region after being > made refugees by El Salvador's 12-year civil war. Some > had served as combatants against the government forces, > which received $4 billion in U.S. counterinsurgency aid > during the 1980s. Because most residents still support > the left, the right-wing Republican Nationalist > Alliance (ARENA) government of Antonio Elias Saca has > failed to provide needed agricultural assistance and > social services (which are made available to friendlier > constituencies instead). > > The mother and father in the large family I stayed with > proudly showed me middle-school graduation photos of > their two oldest children. But their pride was mixed > with sadness and regret. Their son and daughter had > both emigrated illegally to Houston after completing > 9th grade, joining the 100,000 of their countrymen who > flee every year. With few employment opportunities > locally - and not many in the capital city of San > Salvador either - the youth of the town "turn fourteen, > and then they all leave", the woman explained. She > pointed to the picture of her daughter smiling in her > cap and gown: "When we talk on the phone, she says she > misses us. She cries and says she doesn't like it there > and wants to come home." > > This forced displacement of people - a human tragedy on > a massive scale - is at the heart of the trade > agreements. Enacted fifteen years ago, NAFTA > established a now familiar regional pattern. It has > allowed U.S. grain companies "to dump cheap corn on the > Mexican market, while at the same time Mexico was > forced to cut its agricultural subsidies." Poor farmers > in Oaxaca and Chiapas can no longer sell their crops at > prices covering their production costs. So they've > joined the stream of six million Mexicans seeking work > here. > > The Salvadoran economist Alfonso Goitia sees the same > phenomenon occurring in El Salvador, where 40 per cent > of the workforce is still employed in agriculture. Out > of a total population of six million, 750,000 > Salvadorans became political or economic exiles prior > to the 1992 peace accords ending the civil war. Today, > two million live in the U.S.A. because - under a series > of ARENA governments over the last fifteen years - El > Salvador has embraced free trade, adopted the dollar as > its currency, privatized public services, ratified > CAFTA, and consigned a large percentage of the > population to continued poverty and exploitation. > > In the countryside, small farmers can't maintain their > own plots without government support or survive on the > wages paid for day labor at larger farms. For those > forced to seek work in urban areas, the choices aren't > good either. In the manufacturing sector, jobs are > concentrated in high-security export zone factories > with low wages, sweatshop working conditions, and > union-busting multinational employers. An effort last > summer by SUTTELL, the telephone workers' union, to > organize women assemblers at ABX Industries, an > electronic component maker in San Bartolo, led to 30 of > them being fired and then blacklisted, with the > complicity of the Labor Ministry. As is often the case, > the casualties of this campaign - when I met them in > November - had been forced into the informal economy, > joining the vast army of Salvadorans already peddling > fruit, sneakers, toys, packaged snacks, and home-made > food items at rickety roadside stands and in crowded > central market places throughout the country. > > One of the street vendors' biggest product lines - > pirated CDs and DVDs - is now making them a special > target of local police, trained by the U.S.-financed > International Law Enforcement Academy in San Salvador. > Where the U.S. once aided and abetted "death squads," > it spends millions of aid dollars today orchestrating a > crackdown on any would-be infringers on CAFTA-protected > "intellectual property rights." > > Not surprisingly - given such a problematic urban and > rural "job market" - I would regularly see large crowds > of people at the American Embassy in San Salvador, > waiting for hours with their documents in hand, to > apply for some form of legal entry into the U.S.A. A > recent study by the University of Central America > reported that 42 per cent of all Salvadorans still > living in their own country would leave for the U.S. if > given the chance. Whether you're approved or not, the > nonrefundable fee for the personal interview required > to get a U.S. visa is $65 - a hefty sum in a country > where the monthly minimum wage is $157. The lines of > hopeful people who snake around the high outside walls > of the castlelike embassy complex are now enclosed in > their own adjacent structure, a kind of immigration bus > depot (with a very limited number of tickets > available). > > When legal entry into the U.S. is thwarted, Salvadorans > who can afford to sell any land they own or take out > personal loans hire a coyote who charges $4,000 to > $6,000 for unofficial immigration assistance. With or > without such a "professional" guide, migrants are > vulnerable to assault, theft and rape along the long > overland route through Guatemala and Mexico. In 2006, > the Central American Resource Center documented > hundreds of deaths and injuries among Salvadorans > attempting to cross into the U.S. on foot. While U.S. > newspapers report on local fears about Spanish-speaking > invaders, the Salvadoran media regularly runs stories > on children who disappear in the Arizona or Texas > desert or young women who drown when their leaky boats > capsize off the coast of Mexico. Meanwhile back home, > family disintegration is a major Salvadoran social > problem. Departing mothers and fathers leave their > children in the hands of grandparents and other > relatives; some kids grow up loosely supervised and > feeling abandoned and end up contributing to the > country's world-renowned "gang problem." Everyone's > favorite local scapegoat, Salvadoran street gangs are > indeed violent and a feeder system for a national > prison system filled to twice its capacity. And > legitimate popular concern about street crime - which > has many urban residents afraid to walk outside after > dark - is easily manipulated by the right, to further > its own program of (civil liberties-infringing) > domestic security measures. > > Where President Bush and his ARENA allies are actually > quite at odds is never publicly acknowledged. In Bush's > rosy world view, loyal members of the "coalition of the > willing" not only send troops to Iraq (as President > Saca did) to bring the benefits of free markets to the > Middle East; they also keep folks down on the farm at > home - instead of coming to the U.S.--by exposing them > to benefits of unfettered domestic capitalism. In > reality, El Salvador is heavily dependent on > remittances - the earnings of hundreds of thousands of > its citizens working abroad. In 2006, Salvadorans sent > home $3.3 billion - which equals about 18 per cent of > the nation's GDP. These remittances keep the economy > afloat and, by cushioning the impact of austerity > policies imposed from abroad, operate as a huge social > safety valve. With hard-earned dollars from the U.S. > flowing to so many lower-income families and > communities, there's far less pressure on the > government to tax the rich or corporations to pay their > fair share of the cost of schools, roads, solid waste > disposal, health care, and other public services. In > another town in Usulutan that I visited, a group of > farmers proudly showed me the recently improved road > connecting their fields to the closest markets; tired > of waiting for public works assistance from the > government, they had taken matters into their own hands > and, with their own labor and funds - from children, > siblings and others working in the U.S. - had done the > necessary construction themselves. > > Despite stepped up repression (in the form of new laws > making various forms of political protest a potential > "terrorist" act), Salvadoran social movements are also > stirring. Their goal - and, hopefully, campaign > platform, when the Farabundo Marti National Liberation > Front (FMLN) challenges ARENA in next year's > presidential election - is to reclaim the idea of > national economic development, fueled by much needed > public investment. Last fall, thousands of > banner-waving Salvadorans marched in the capital to > "Defend the Right to Water" - in a major > anti-privatization protest aimed at averting a > threatened corporate takeover of the country's ailing > public water system. On their heads, demonstrators > balanced the colorful plastic containers that women and > children use to carry water on their long walks to and > from wells, springs, and pumps in rural areas. Local > speakers were joined by several North American > visitors, including former U.S. Ambassador Robert White > and Maryland legislator Ana Sol Gutierrez, who joined > the call for expanded access to potable water. > Unfortunately, only a handful of North Americans > currently share their understanding that publicly > funded job creation, agricultural assistance, workers' > rights, decent roads and schools, and other basic > services are exactly what's needed to keep far more > Salvadorans in El Salvador, where most would much > prefer to be. > > Alexandra Early is a recent graduate of Wesleyan > University in Latin American Studies who worked in El > Salvador for CRISPAZ, a cross-border solidarity and > social justice group. She can be reached at > [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information on CRISPAZ, > see www.crispaz.org . > > _____________________________________________ > > Portside
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