El Salvador: News & Updates

Men, women and children have been rounded up across the Central American country since the government declared a state of emergency on 27 March, suspending constitutional rights including the presumption of innocence. President Nayib Bukele has said that the detainees are all gang members and that they will not be released. While the police claim to have captured the MS-13 leaders who ordered the killings, there is mounting evidence that ordinary people who live or work in gang-dominated neighbourhoods have been arrested arbitrarily.

This past weekend was one of the most violent in El Salvador. At least 80 people were killed in different parts of the country, allegedly by gang members. We at WOLA condemn this situation, and stand in solidarity with the families of victims, local communities, and with the entire population that suffers because of these crimes. We reaffirm their right to live in peace and without violence.

The Salvadoran congress approved legal reforms of immediate application that increase prison sentences against those who participate or lead gangs. As a result of these changes, belonging to a gang will be judged as a crime of illicit association and will carry prison sentences that may range from 20 to 30 years. The legislators established sentences of between 40 and 45 years in prison for those who create, organize, lead or finance gangs.

Q REPORTS (EFE) The Latin American economy will grow 2.3% in 2022, estimated this Thursday the UN Conference for Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which lowered its outlook for the region three-tenths compared to those calculated six months ago, due to the negative effects of the Ukraine war on the global picture.

On Nov. 16, 1989, an elite commando unit killed six priests — five Spaniards and one Salvadoran — along with their housekeeper and the housekeeper’s daughter in the priests’ residence. The killers tried to make the massacre appear as though it had been carried out by leftist guerrillas. Prosecutors allege that Cristiani knew of the military’s plan to eliminate the priests and did nothing to stop them. In a statement released by Cristiani’s daughter, the former leader denied the allegations. Now,  A court in El Salvador ordered the capture of former President Alfredo Cristiani in relation to the massacre of the six priests and two others by soldiers.

The Confederation of Federations of the Salvadoran Agrarian Reform (CONFRAS) considers that this year there will be a decrease in the national production of basic grains and vegetables, given the increased cost of inputs for agricultural production and little government support. They say that this, in turn, will generate more unemployment, poverty, hunger and greater emigration of the rural population. “The increase in prices of agricultural inputs and gas is generating a drop in productivity and reduction in cultivated areas. If this problem is not solved, there will be an expanded food crisis. With the increase in the cost of living in the country during 2022, poverty rates, which have been increasing since 2020, will skyrocket even more” said Alejandra Góchez, from the CONFRAS board of directors.

Prosecutors in El Salvador have charged the former president Alfredo Cristiani over the 1989 massacre of six Jesuit priests that sparked international outrage. Prosecutors also announced charges against a dozen other people, including former military officers, over the massacre. The list of charges will apparently include murder, terrorism and conspiracy. The attorney general, Rodolfo Delgado, wrote on his Twitter account that his office “is determined to go after those accused of ordering this regrettable and tragic event”.

El Salvador has released another woman imprisoned for aggravated homicide who after suffering an obstetric emergency was accused of aborting her pregnancy in a country where abortion under any circumstances is banned. The woman, who activists helping her identified only as Elsy, had served more than a decade of a 30-year sentence. She was the fifth woman released before completion of her sentence since late December of last year. In the past 20 years, El Salvador has prosecuted 181 women who suffered obstetric emergencies. A local rights organization has succeeded in freeing 61 of them since 2009.

As a candidate, President Biden spoke out forcefully against the cruelty, xenophobia, and racism against immigrants and other communities of color stirred by President Trump and other leaders. As president, President Biden from Day One made bold commitments to build an immigration system that is fair, humane, and that “welcomes immigrants, keeps families together, and allows people across the country – both newly arrived immigrants and people who have lived here for generations – to more fully contribute to this country.” In this report, the We Are Home campaign assesses Biden’s Year One on immigration by looking at his most high-profile promises and longstanding priorities for the coalition.

A new study shows the impact the warmer climate will have on cultivating coffee, avocados and cashews, and on the farmers doing so. Of the three crops, coffee will be hit hardest by warming: The study model foresees an overall decline by 2050 in the number of regions where it could grow. For cashews and avocados, results were more complicated. Certain growing regions would experience declines in those crops while others, such as the southern United States, would likely find more land better suited to tropical food crops like cashews and avocados. By predicting decades in advance how agriculture will change, scientists can help farmers know what to expect, and can advise policy makers on how to encourage farmers to use more efficient growing methods like cover crops to prevent erosion or planting new crops when needed.