Thursday, March 23, 2006
Salvadoran Government Reluctantly Acknowledges Responsibility for Human Rights Abuses in Case of Disappeared Children
CHALATENANGO - Yesterday, against a large banner backdrop boasting a picture of the government Commission on Disappeared Children’s first reencounter, amidst cries of “The president should be here” from family members of the disappeared, Chancellor of the Republic of El Salvador Francisco Laínez publicly expressed regret to the Serrano Cruz family on behalf of the Salvadoran government, but failed to explicitly ask them for forgiveness.
Speaking in front of the cathedral in the city of Chalatenango, Laínez said the Salvadoran state is “deeply sorry for everything that happened during the armed conflict that lasted 12 years in our country and directly affected each and every Salvadoran family and above all those cases involving children. The state is especially sorry for the incidents related to the case of Erlinda and Ernestina Serrano Cruz” and “expresses our desire that situations that happened in those times and that affected Salvadoran society never occur again.”
President Saca himself did not appear, much to the disappointment of family members of the disappeared and Pro-Búsqueda, the organization founded by the late Fr. Jon Cortina that has worked to reunite more than 300 disappeared children with their biological families.
Read More and See Photos

Pro-Búsqueda Facing Harrassment
In a letter sent to its supporters last week, Pro-Búsqueda reported being the target of intimidation and harassment, including having power and internet cut at the Pro-Búsqueda office, individuals in unregistered vehicles parked outside the office taking photos of people entering and leaving, and phone calls to employees homes asking about Pro-Búsqueda activities. Read Letter

Final Election Results
Final results are in for the legislative and municipal elections held Sunday, March 12. The elections decided 262 mayoral races and 84 Legislative Assembly seats. In San Salvador, the country's largest municipality, FMLN candidate Violeta Menjivar won by the narrowest of margins—just 44 votes. To read the last listserv update on the San Salvador mayoral race, click here.
In mayoral races, ARENA gained 36 more municipalites while the FMLN lost 15, the PCN lost 13, the PDC lost 5, and the CD lost 2 (but gained in coalitions). However, those numbers are not as unbalanced as they appear. On a national scale, the FMLN will have 4% more of the population under their jurisdiction, equal to 281,247, because their mayoral victories were in more densely populated areas.
In legislative races, the ARENA party won fewer popular votes than the FMLN overall—the FMLN won 784,894 and ARENA finished with 783,208—but because of distribution of the vote, ARENA managed to win 34 seats in the Legislative Assembly, two more seats than the FMLN and a gain of seven seats since the last legislative election in 2003. The PCN lost six seats, the CD lost three seats, and the PDC gained 1.

Legislative Race

Mayoral Races

ARENA
FMLN
PCN
PDC
CD

34
32
10
6
2

ARENA
FMLN
PCN
PDC
CD

147
54
39
14
2

CD-PNL Coalition
FMLN-CD Coalition
PDC-FMLN Coalition

1
4
1

Political Parties
ARENA (Nationalist Republican Alliance of El Salvador)
FMLN (Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front)
PCN (The National Conciliation Party)
PDC (Christian Democratic Party)
CD (Democratic Change)
PNL (National Liberal Party)

U.S. Citizens for Peace Protest Occupation of Iraq Outside U.S. Embassy in
El Salvador
Last Monday, on the third anniversary of the start of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, approximately 30 demonstrators from the group U.S. Citizens for Peace—a coalition of United States citizens living, working, and studying in El Salvador—gathered outside the U.S. Embassy in San Salvador to express opposition to the ongoing occupation of Iraq. Read more and see photos

Salvadorans Celebrate 26th Romero Anniversary
Friday, March 24, is the 26th anniversary of the assasination of Oscar Romero, Archbishop of San Salvador from 1977 until his death in 1980. The largest event, the Farolitos March, begins in the Plaza Salvador del Mundo early Saturday evening and ends in front of the Cathedral downtown with a Mass and concert. Click here to see details of the Farolitos March. The University of Central America is also hosting the "Festival Verdad 2006" this weekend. Click here for details.

Deadlines Approaching for Two CRISPAZ Job Openings
The application deadline for two CRISPAZ positions is Thursday, March 30: the Economics for People Program (EPP) Coordinator (based in our Boston office) and the Communications Coordinator (based out of El Salvador).
Click below for more information:
Communications Coordinator
EPP Coordinator