The CIS and the Salvadoran and international communities have learned a lot about emergency aid from our experience with Hurricane Mitch, both on the political and material aid level.  We are in a much better position to respond to this tragedy than we were 2 years ago.  Mitch pales compared to the level of destruction caused by the earthquake of 2001.  Thousands are homeless and the majority of the country is without water.  The death toll continues climb and will reach well over 1,000.  The structural damage to poor peoples’ homes, churches, and businesses is widespread. On the political level, we know ARENA will try to use the aid to finance their electoral campaigns for 2003 and 2004 as they did with Mitch aid for the 1999 campaign.  Already, they have put Roberto Murray Mesa, a prominent businessman, and ARENA's pre-candidate for president, as heading up the emergency efforts.  ARENA has said that private enterprise will head up the relief efforts, cleverly admitting that the government cannot handle the aid, and has named this emergency committee the Committee for International Solidarity (not to be confused with CIS or real solidarity).  At the same time, they have put private businessmen who are their friends on the committee, not private business in general.  One also has to ask, "why are they proposing the same sector to head relief efforts that did such an inefficient job with Mitch, and with the 1986 and 1967 earthquakes?"   People are still living in shacks from the 1967 and 1986 earthquakes and Mitch and have never been supplied with permanent, dignified housing.  NGOs and local municipal governments of the FMLN have played the major role in any aid getting to the people that need it.  The political demand on the government must be that any aid from other governments needs to be channeled through a commission made up of COMURES, the Association of all 262 Local Municipal Governments, NGOs, a broad sector of private enterprise, and the central government.

The earthquake was a blessing for President Flores.  It takes the attention off the high level of discontent caused by the economic crisis that has been exacerbated by the ARENA Government’s privatization and dollarization policies.

El Salvador:  A Continual Emergency

Through Mitch, it became clear that El Salvador suffers from a constant state of emergency.  People live in inadequate homes that collapse every few years with or without a natural disaster.  This year alone, El Salvador has suffered epidemics of dengue fever (36 deaths), cholera (?# deaths), and the rotavirus (7 deaths to date), not to mention the 140 people killed from alcohol poisoning.  Poor health care facilities, lack of prevention measures, unclean water, and unclean air contribute to a permanent state of national emergency.  Half of the adults in the country are functionally illiterate.  Dollarization has created another emergency by provoking a wave of price increases and forcing people to learn a new system and language to be able to deal with day-to-day transactions.  23,000 people were laid off this year for the coffee harvest due to the drop of the price of coffee on the international market.  Gas prices went up 39% in 2000.  Electricity has gone up 18% as of January 1, 2001.  Minimum wage, which is maximum wage for most Salvadorans, has maintained at $144 U.S. per month since 1992 and ARENA is actually proposing to lower it!

Not only are these facts devastating in and of themselves, but they have also provoked a crime wave that includes the highest level of per capita homicides and kidnappings in the Hemisphere.  In 2000, there were 107 reported kidnappings, robbery is commonplace and not even reported, as well as numerous homicides.  The corruption in the judicial and police systems fans these flames even higher.  Why work 50 hours a week for $46 that is impossible to live on, when you can steal from the poor, wealthy, or someone getting $200 a month from their family member in the U.S.?

Dollarization and the Earthquake

The Government is using the equivalent of $46 million dollars from the sale of the telephone and electricity utilities plus the reserves in the National Reserve Bank to buy dollars, costing the government a total of 1.8 billion U.S. dollars.  The FMLN is demanding that the Government cancel the dollarization and use the money for an Earthquake Emergency Fund. 

The Ad Hoc Committee against the U.S. military base and dollarization has temporarily postponed the protest planned for last week in light of the national tragedy.  At the same time, this campaign is more important now than ever and will continue.  We thank those who have generously pledged for the activity and ask that you send that money for similar activities that will be planned in the near future.

CIS Emergency Efforts