central america report - summer 2008

8/8/2019 Central America Report - Summer 2008

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/central-america-report-summer-2008 1/16

Central America ReportSummer 2008

Food aid

or foodsecurity?

Also in this issue:

Community radio in El Salvador, women threatened by EU

agreement, Honduran hunger strike against corruption

Central Americangovernments fight

food inflationwith support for

small farmers

Summer 08 artwork x16pp 15/7/08 11:54



Central America Report: Summer 2008 2

Editorial

Central America Report has set up a website at:www.central-america-report.org.uk

For information, magazine subscriptions and article submissions,please contact us at: [email protected]

Published by Central America Report,129 Seven Sisters Road, London N7 7QG

Email: [email protected]

Editorial committee: Patrick Daniels,Lian Harter, Shelagh Kavanagh,Abbie Kempson, Megan Rowlingand Helen Yuill.

Cover photos: (Top) AWorld Food Programmeschool feeding centre in Nicaragua, June 2004Photo: WFP/Sabrina Quezada(Bottom) Threshing red beans, El Porcal,

northern NicaraguaPhoto: Karen Lawson

Design: Jane Warring

Our thanks to all the contributors forhelping to produce this issue of CAR.The articles in this magazine should betaken as having been written in a personalcapacity, unless otherwise stated. Anyviews stated in the articles should not betaken to represent the policy of any of theorganisations that support the productionof Central America Report.

Contents

Tune in to social justice 3Mark Owens rediscovers the positivepower of radio in El Salvador.

Women to lose out from

EU agreement 4 – 5The Central America Women’sNetwork warns that the plannedEU Association Agreement will hurtwomen’s rights and livelihoods.

Regional update 6 – 7

High food prices to impoverish

millions more 8 – 10Central American governments

bring in emergency measures tocurb the impact of soaring foodprices on the poorest.

Book reviews 11

Fairtrade battles, and who killedBishop Gerardi?

Nicaraguan sugarcane workersfile complaint 12

A major company is accused of harming health and water suppliesin the rush to produce biofuel.

Honduran hunger strike 13Honduran prosecutors go hungryto protest against corruption.

Take action 14 – 16

Small-scale farmingback in fashion?

THE DRAMATIC RISE in the cost of food over the past year – with

wheat up 130 percent, soya 87 percent and rice 74 percent – has left

100 million more people in at least 37 countries facing food insecurity.

Given the huge scale and urgency of the problem, June’s UN Food and

Agricultural Organization (FAO) summit in Rome should have been

a logical place to come up with solutions to address the underlying

causes of the crisis.

In his opening speech, FAO Director-General Jacques Diouf appealedfor “urgent and coordinated action to combat the negative impacts

of soaring food prices on the world's most vulnerable countries and

populations”. He pointed out that, in 2006, the world had spent $1.2

trillion on arms, and asked: “Against that backdrop, how can we explain

to people of good sense and good faith that it was not possible to find $30

billion a year to enable 862 million hungry people to enjoy the most

fundamental of human rights: the right to food and thus the right to life?”

Despite this, the vested interests of Northern countries and

transnational companies resulted in a final declaration best described

as jumble of contradictions. On the one hand, it espoused support for

“the world's smallholder farmers and fishers, including indigenous

people, particularly in vulnerable areas”. But on the other, it backed

“efforts to liberalise trade in agriculture by reducing trade barriers”.

The declaration went on to point out that biofuels have contributedto a 30 to 75 percent rise in the cost of food, but stopped short of

proposing measures to address the problem. The problem of speculators

pouring money into commodity markets to make a quick buck wasn’t

even mentioned. Delegates from Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba, Ecuador,

Argentina and Bolivia criticised the declaration for its total lack of

political will to address the roots of the problem and “put a definitive

end to world hunger”.

At the same time, peasant organisations held an alternative forum,

where they denounced “the corporate industrial and energy-intensive

model of production and consumption that is the basis of continuing

crises”. In its place, the forum called for support for local farming

systems, based on indigenous knowledge, the maintenance of healthy,

fertile soil, and use of locally available biodiversity. It is to be hoped that

the measures announced this year by Central American governmentswill contribute to strengthening this kind of small-scale production and

reducing the impact of global food inflation on the poorest.




Central America Report: Summer 20083

Tune in to the positivepower of community radioFrom child labour to lead poisoning, Salvadoran radio

stations talk tough, writes Mark Owens.

R

ADIO HAS BEEN an importantpart of my life for as long as I

can remember, in the UK andthe US. But in recent years, I’vestruggled to find stations that mademe want to stay tuned; I no longer feltpart of a listening community. It wasin this state of mind that I moved toEl Salvador – a country that hasrenewed my faith in theunique intimacy and socialpower of the medium.

In the wealthy parts of the world, where most people havedaily domestic access to computers, broadband internet or digitalradio, competition for a listeningcommunity has become increasinglyfierce and fractured. Many listenershave turned to specialist and non-local digital stations, or personalisetheir stations using websites such asYahoo!’s LAUNCHcast radio andLast.fm. The local has been replaced by the ‘global’, and radio has forfeitedits special intimacy and power.

In El Salvador, a country with anestimated average annual incomeof $2,540 (according to UNICEF) –perhaps just over double the cost of aPC with broadband connection for aUK home – the state of local radio isvery different. Here, a small group of stations, including Radio YSUCA,

Radio Cadena Mi Gente and RadioMaya Vision, broadcast important

social messages and are supported bya politically outspoken, socially awarecommunity of listeners.

This is no surprise given theimportant role radio played duringthe civil war, when the FMLN broadcast their revolutionary message

from high in the mountains on RadioVenceremos and Radio Farabundo.These days, there are numerousstations playing U.S. soft rock balladsor aggressively sexist Reggaeton,a proliferating group of extremeevangelical stations, and others witha strong government voice. But evennow, despite 20 years of ARENAgovernment, messages calling for social justice still permeate the airwaves.

The strength of a station like YSUCA– my favourite – is its ability toconnect with communities of people,and to show rather than tell. Broadcastfrom the University of CentralAmerica in San Salvador, its statedmission is to foster a culture of democracy and human dignity,emphasising the voice of ordinarycitizens rather than the elite. Someof the most memorable and diverse

programmes include live interviewsand debate with a community affected by lead poisoning from a local factory;literacy and social criticism from thework of revolutionary writer RoqueDalton; and an interview with a SanSalvador-based heavy metal bandstruggling to get a record deal.

Listeners to alternative radiostations expect direct participation as

well as hearing opinions from peoplein the streets and villages. In a recent

show on child labour, YSUCApresented a series of fascinatinginterviews with children, someworking in the streets and fields, andsome from a school in a wealthiersuburb of San Salvador. The contrast between the two sets of voices notonly emphasised the growing division between the rich and the poor, butalso offered a glimpse of hope. Theschoolchildren insisted it was unfairtheir peers had towork while they hadthe chance to learn,and should begiven support.

Many depressingand apparentlyinexplicable thingshappen in ElSalvador on a daily basis, but it’sheartening to knowthere is a well-informed communityof people all over the countrylistening, discussing and searching forexplanations. Listening to YSUCAreminds me of what is unique and sopowerful about radio: its ability todraw people together, to make peoplethink and, at its very best, toencourage people to take actionto create a better world.

Listen online at:www.radiocadenamigente.net

www.radiomayavision.net

www.uca.edu.sv/virtual/ysuca/indice.html

Mark is from the UK, and is currently

doing voluntary work and studying

Spanish in El Salvador.

YSUCA opens up space for local peopleto express themselves.

El Salvador

P h o t o : R a d i o Y S U C A





Central America

T

HE THIRD ROUND of negotiations for an Association

Agreement between Europeand Central America took place inEl Salvador in April. To mark theoccasion, a broad coalition of women’s movements from across theregion joined the widespread protestshighlighting the deterioration ingender equality and poverty that theagreement would create.

Association Agreements govern bilateral relations between the EU andother countries, and cover severalareas of cooperation, includingpolitics, economics and trade. TheEU demands that the Agreement withCentral America should include a far-reaching free trade agreement (FTA)in goods and services, despite thehuge difference in development between the two regions. Tradeliberalisation would see agriculturalsmallholders, fishermen and women,craftspeople and small businessescompete “freely” with Europe’stransnational corporations.

Even more worrying is that theAgreement embraces issues and areasthat developing countries have beensuccessful in excluding from the latestWorld Trade Organisation round.These include privatisation of services,government procurement and theremoval of non-tariff barriers, including

labour and environmental regulations.The EU plans to undertake a

‘Sustainability Impact Assessment’, but only after the Agreement is in place.This means its findings will not informthe negotiations but at best helpmitigate the Agreement’s worst effects.

The Central America Women’sNetwork (CAWN) commissioned astudy (see below for details) – starting

Central American women atrisk from EU trade agreement

from analysis of theCentral America Free

Trade Agreement(DR-CAFTA) – whichfound that women’slivelihoods and theirstruggle to defend andpromote their rightswould be severelydamaged by furtherliberalisation in tradeand services as partof an AssociationAgreement withEurope.

Increased unemployment

The small businesses that are likely tosuffer from trade liberalisation areimportant employers of women andare often led by women. Theircollapse would seriously underminewomen’s economic independence.Cutbacks in the public sector dueto privatisation would alsodisproportionately affect women.With increased global competition,the already poor labour conditions inexport processing zone (EPZ) factoriesare likely to worsen, leading to higherproduction targets, compulsoryovertime, lower salaries and morelabour rights violations.

Rising unemployment is likely toforce women out of the formal labour

market – a trend already seen in thegrowing numbers of men employed inEPZ factories. Livelihoods of womenin the informal sector are moreprecarious. Many domestic workersdo not have contracts, work extremelylong hours and some experienceabuse. Women may face dangerworking in the sex industry tosupport themselves and their families.

Destruction of rural livelihoods

DR-CAFTA has already had adevastating impact on agriculturalsmallholders, and this can onlyworsen with further liberalisationunder an Association Agreement.Many small farmers in CentralAmerica engage in sustainable, low-technology production. In contrast,technology- and pesticide-intensiveEuropean agro-industry receives highsubsidies and internal support fromthe EU, which would enable it to floodCentral American markets withproduce at below production costs.Meanwhile strict sanitary standardsfor imports will continue to excludeCentral American products from theEuropean market.

Increased burden of social

reproductive work

The free market economic model –which the Association Agreementaims to further – fails to recognise orvalue the importance of people takingcare of each other and the environment.Much of this work is done by womenand girls in the home and community,

Women’s rights and livelihoods are under threat, reports Julie Porter, advocacy

coordinator with the Central America Women’s Network.

A protest demanding state action against femicide in Honduras P h o t o : C l a u d i a H a s a n b e g o v i c





Central Americaand is already burdensome enough todamage their health. Lower public budgets and privatisation are likely toresult in a transfer of costs and labourin public services such as health,education and water to the domesticeconomy, adding to women’sresponsibilities. At the same time,reduced employment opportunitieswill increase the pressure to work ever longer hours outside of thehome. The cost of essential medicineswill rise as intellectual property lawsintroduced under the Agreementprohibit the production and importof generic drugs.

Rising poverty and migration

Violence against women is endemic inCentral America amid an ingrainedculture of machismo. Femicide –murder of women because they arewomen, often by an unknownattacker – is a growing problem.Poverty and unemployment arerecognised as important contributingfactors to male violence againstwomen. Greater economic insecurityand unemployment resulting from theAssociation Agreement can only result

in family breakdown and an increasein male violence against women.

As people lose their livelihoods,migration within Central Americancountries and to other regions willrise. When men migrate, pressuresincrease on women to provide fortheir families and family cohesion isthreatened. When women migrate,they suffer discrimination and abuseas migrant workers and the socialreproductive duties they leave behindfall to other women and girls, oftendamaging their own education andhealth. There is increasing concernabout trafficking of vulnerable girls

and women for sexual exploitation.

Reduced political participation

At a regional meeting of women todiscuss the Association Agreementnegotiations in April, leadersidentified the financial situation of their organisations and members –obliging them to focus primarily onsurvival – as a constraint in the

struggle to challenge gender inequalityand rights violations. The increasing burden of women’s economic andsocial reproductive responsibilitiesresulting from the Agreement willmean they are less able to organiseand participate in public life anddemand respect for their rights.

As it stands the AssociationAgreement between Europe andCentral America will perpetuate anddeepen poverty and inequality in theregion. Despite the risks, negotiations –led by the narrow interests of theEuropean Commission’s DirectorateGeneral for Trade – are not subject tosignificant MEP scrutiny, and have been marked by a lack of transparencyand failure to engage in meaningfuldebate with civil society.

Call for moratorium

CAWN is calling for a moratorium onthe negotiations in order to establishdemocratic accountability in theagreement of trade relations that willhave such a far-reaching impact onthe lives of women and men in CentralAmerica. There is an urgent need to:• establish greater MEP scrutiny of

the negotiations• establish greater transparency and

access to information• assess fully the impact of the

proposed trade, investment andservice liberalisation, includingthe differential impact on womenand men

• engage in meaningful multi-stakeholder discussion to ensurethat Europe’s trade and investmentagreements promote – and do notundermine – economic justice,ecological sustainability, democraticaccountability and the rights of women and girls

Visit www.cawn.org to join the call

for a moratorium or to obtain a copyof the report, “The Association

Agreement between the European

Union and Central America: itspotential impact on women’s lives in

Central America” by Martha Yllescas

Altamarino & Guadalupe Salinas,in English and Spanish.

Economic PartnershipAgreements ignoretrade justice

Global trade talks in the Doha

“development” round at the

World Trade Organisation

(WTO) have failed to deliver any

meaningful progress on trade

justice. Yet the WTO is not the

only set of negotiations where

trade justice is being blocked

by rich country governments.

The UK, with its partners in

Europe, is pushing profoundly

unfair trade deals on 76 former

colonies and regions of Latin

America – some of the poorest

countries in the world. The

deals, called Economic

Partnership Agreements (EPAs),

were meant to herald a new era

of cooperation between the EU

and Asian, Caribbean, Pacific

and Latin American countries.

The lives of 750 million of the

world's poorest people are in

the balance as poor farmers

and vulnerable producers

will be forced into directcompetition with rich nations.

The EU’s aggressive trade

agenda, negotiating tactics and

desperate desire to reach

agreements in late 2007 have

sown the seeds for economic

chaos in the long term. The

main concerns surrounding

EPAs are that they will threaten

small industries and agriculture,

reduce spending on essential

services like health and

education, undermine national

plans for development, and

increase environmental

destruction in a bid to forcecountries to open their markets.

In response, campaigning

organisations in the North, such

as the Trade Justice Movement,

are calling for a moratorium

on EPAs.

For more information:

www.tjm.org.uk





Central America

Regional updateCENTRAL AMERICA

Latin America rejects EU law

on illegal immigrants

Latin American countries have

criticised a new EU immigration

law that stipulates indiscriminate

deportation of illegal

immigrants. The European

Parliament has approved the

so-called “Return Directive”,

which is due to come into force

in 2010. Under the law, all

illegal immigrants living in EU

member states will have to

leave within a period of seven

to 30 days. If they fail to do so

they will be subject to up to six

months of detention, which

can be prolonged for another

12 months in exceptional cases.

The governments of Venezuela,

Brazil, Argentina, Ecuador,

Bolivia, Guatemala and

Colombia all issued statements

rejecting the law on the

grounds that it violates human

rights. Venezuelan President

Hugo Chávez threatened to

cut off oil supplies to Europe

should it be enacted.

Climate change

study launched

In late May, the Central

American Commission on

Environment and Development

(CCAD), the UN’s Economic

Commission for Latin America

and the Caribbean (ECLAC)

and the UK’s Department for

International Development

(DfID) announced plans fora study on “The Economics of

Climate Change in Central

America” to analyse the

challenges, benefits and costs

of mitigating and adapting to

a warmer world. The study

seeks to prompt discussion

over climate change, integrating

economic and social decision-

makers with scientists and

environmental experts, and to

alert the public. It also hopes

to stimulate debate over

sustainable actions at a national

and regional level that must be

taken urgently. It is expected to

take around 15 months at a

cost of around $1.8 million.

NICARAGUA

Call to end ban on

therapeutic abortion

The Strategic Group for the

Legalisation of Therapeutic

Abortion, representing

women’s rights organisations

and medical associations,

presented a second appeal to

the Nicaraguan Supreme Court

for the ban on abortion to be

declared unconstitutional.

If the court fails to rule, the

group will take the case to

international tribunals.Organisations in Nicaragua

have maintained pressure on

the government through

national and local actions to

raise awareness. On March 8,

European parliament

members, including Michael

Cashman, Glenys Kinnock and

Jean Lambert, appealed to the

FSLN’s National Assembly

bench to repeal the law.

US accused of interfering

in municipal elections

The US Agency for International

Development (USAID) willprovide $320,000 to 16

Nicaraguan NGOs for training

in citizen participation in the

run-up to November’s

municipal elections. According

to outgoing ambassador Paul

Trivelli, the funding is to help

reduce voter abstention,

support young people in

expressing their concerns and

encourage participation

by first-time voters. The

government claims the US is

targeting 17 key cities with

FSLN-controlled councils.

Government advisor Orlando

Núñez argues the US

agreement will “finance

Sandinista adversaries”, using

media tactics to create

“ideological harassment”. But

civil society organisations –

while acknowledging that

some NGOs are political fronts

to further US interests – accuse

the government of trying to

discredit widely respected

groups such as the Nicaraguan

Centre for Human Rights

(CENIDH) and the Institute for

Democracy and Development

(IPADE), which have done

extensive voter education and

election monitoring since 1990.

Political leader goes on

hunger strike

Dora María Téllez, a former

Sandinista guerrilla commander

and leader of the Sandinista

Renewal Movement (MRS),

went on hunger strike from

June 3–16 outside the offices

of the Supreme Electoral

Council (CSE) in protest at its

decision to cancel the legal

status of MRS as a political

party, as well as the

government’s handling of the

economy. On June 6, three of

the nine original members of

the FSLN National Directoratevisited Téllez and demanded

that the government

“immediately instigate a

national dialogue to agree

policies to combat hunger and

unemployment and to

strengthen democracy”.

The CSE alleges that the

MRS failed to present

sufficient documentation on

internal structural changes,

which the MRS denies. Kerry

Max, on behalf of donor

countries, expressed concern

about the politicisation of

the CSE and called for the

electoral law to be applied

fairly. Noam Chomsky, Ariel

Dorfman, Salman Rushdie,

Eduardo Galeano, Bianca

Jagger and others issued a

statement on June 16 urging

dialogue and arguing that

Dora María “represents a

broad spectrum of civil society

that must be heard”. With her

health deteriorating, Dora

María gave up her hunger

strike in order to lead

further protests.

EL SALVADOR

FMLN presidential candidate

leads in polls

FMLN candidate Mauricio

Funes is the favourite to win

El Salvador’s 2009 presidential

elections, according to recent

opinion polls. A survey

conducted by CIG-Gallup

gives Funes a 21 percent lead

over ARENA presidential rival

Rodrigo Avila. The recent

economic crisis faced by the

majority of El Salvador’s

population has led to a swing

towards Funes.

The poll results were

released as the incumbent

president and leader of theright-wing ARENA party

commemorated his fourth

year in office on June 1.

President Elías Antonio Saca

marked the anniversary by

highlighting his commitment

to social justice in speeches.

However, according to

opinion polls, 80 percent of





Central AmericaSalvadorans believe the

country is economically worse

off under Saca, and 63 percent

believe ARENAis no longer

capable of governing.

ARENA held to

electoral reform

Faced with increasing popular

support for the opposition

FLMN party, ARENA has

made an embarrassing climb-

down in its attempts to derail

a previous electoral reform

agreement. The agreement,

made in 2007 between El

Salvador’s Supreme Electoral

Tribunal (TSE) and the

Organisation of American

States (OAS) delegated

responsibilities for

strengthening the integrity of

El Salvador’s electoral process

to the OAS. In a stunning

move, the TSE – whose

president is an ARENA

representative – announced on

May 22 it would limit the role

of OAS to an advisory capacity,

reducing its ability to promote

transparency and fairness in

the 2009 elections. A week

later, amid widespread

denunciations and growing

pressure from opposition

politicians and social

organisations, TSE president

Walter Arujo reversed the

decision, saying he would

honour the 2007 OAS

agreement.

Community groups stop

landfill scheme

A proposed landfill construction

scheme approved by local

government in Santa Ana has been halted thanks to the efforts

of more than 20 community

groups. On May 27, after six

months of peaceful protest

activities, their efforts were

rewarded with an agreement to

remove site machinery. The

scheme, which threatens the

affected communities’ only

clean water supply, was widely

seen as a political favour by

Santa Ana’s mayor, whose

Christian Democrat Party

is headed by the majority

shareholder of PRESYS, the firm

awarded the construction

contract. A company

representative denied it had

been forced to pull out of the

scheme, insisting it was awaiting

an evaluation by El Salvador’s

environment ministry.

GUATEMALA

Guatemalan official dies

in helicopter crash

Guatemala's interior minister,

Vinicio Gomez, died in a

helicopter crash on June 27.

The aircraft went down in a

wooded area in the north, killing

all four people on board. The

cause of the accident is not

known, but the area had been

blanketed in fog and heavy rain.

Gunmen kill former

govt adviser

Gunmen killed a former top

government security adviser

in April while driving through

Guatemala City, a week after

he was fired by President

Alvaro Colom amid complaints

he had become too powerful.

A Venezuelan citizen, Victor

Rivera was hired by the

government in the 1990s to

help authorities confront a

wave of kidnappings. Human

rights officials allege that

police under Rivera’s direction

were killing suspected gang

members, although he denied

any wrongdoing.

Five sentenced for

Río Negro massacre

After three years of bureaucratic

suspension and six months of

hearings, five ex-civil patrollers

were sentenced to 780 years

in prison by the Sentencing

Tribunal in the highland

county of Salamá on May 28.

The killing of 177 Río Negro

women and children is one of

626 documented massacres

perpetrated during the

bloodiest of Latin America’s

civil wars, in which 250,000

people were killed or

disappeared.

Americas Social ForumThe third Americas Social Forum will

be held in Guatemala from October

7–12. The event aims to strengthen

connections between struggles,

experiences and critical perspectivesacross the Americas, among those

who are resisting the neoliberal order

and bringing about change.

The main themes include:

• Scope and challenges for

change in the hemisphere

from different ideological

perspectives

• Defending a decent standard of

living in the face of capitalism

• The challenges of diversity

and equality

• Indigenous, Afro-descendant

peoples and nationalities:wellbeing and living together

for the future

The deadline to register organisations

and delegates online is September 22.

The deadline to register events is

July 31.

More information: http://www.forosocialamericas.org/fsa-guatemala





Central America

Food price rises threatenpoverty for millions more

SOARING GLOBAL food priceshave made it harder forCentral Americans to provide

their families with a decent diet. The

UN World Food Programme (WFP)says the rises have been particularlyharsh in Central America. The price of maize – the staple food crop – nearlydoubled in the year to May. Theprice of beans has also reachedunprecedented levels, partly due topoor weather, and international riceprices have nearly tripled since the beginning of the year.

In rural El Salvador, the sameamount of money buys 50 percent lessfood than 18 months ago, according tothe WFP. In principle, that meanspeople’s nutritional intake – alreadyinadequate – has been cut by half. Even

small farmers who are able to grow

enough to sell on local markets aren’t benefiting from higher prices because of rising fertiliser and transportation costs.

In May, Central American, Caribbeanand Andean leaders gathered inManagua for a “Food for Life” summithosted by Nicaraguan PresidentDaniel Ortega. They issued adeclaration promising joint action toreduce the devastating effects of the

global food crisis across the region.

A $660 million plan aims to stimulateproduction of grains, meat, dairyproducts and other basic foods, and toguarantee food supply in the region.

It includes credit and technicalsupport for small and mediumproducers, and the creation of seedproduction centres and a regionalfood-distribution network.

According to Reuters news agency,Guatemala – where one in every twochildren is already malnourished – isgiving emergency money to thousandsof women in the poorest areas to buy food for their families. Over thenext year, 190,000 households inGuatemala’s 45 poorest areas willreceive between $40 and $80 a month.El Salvador is distributing hybridcorn seeds to increase production, and

Nicaragua is buying crops and sellingthem cheaply to consumers. Thegovernment is also providing smallfarmers with zero-interest loans(see page 10).

A recent UN study warned that, if food prices continue to rise by double-digit percentages and wages stay thesame, over 30 million more people will be pushed into poverty in LatinAmerica – half of those into extremepoverty. The WFP has set up acommission to monitor the impact of rising food prices on the poorest CentralAmericans, and plans to supportgovernment efforts to help people cope.

Oil-rich Venezuela has called onLatin American energy-producingcountries to set up a fund for food aidusing windfall oil profits that couldgive poor nations some relief fromsoaring prices. Nonetheless, aidagencies are concerned that CentralAmerica’s emergency measures maynot be enough to save millions morefrom going hungry.

Megan Rowling

Leaders have come up with a package of measures to boost food production.

What’s causing the rise in prices?The WFP says several factors have combined in a “perfect storm” that

has pushed food prices up 54 percent over the last year on international

commodity markets. Cereal prices have soared 92 percent.

The causes include:

• increased energy costs

• rising demand from economic growth in emerging economies

• growth of biofuels, some of which use food crops like maize

• increasing climatic shocks such as droughts and floods

• decline in food reserves to their lowest level for 25 years

• extreme volatility in commodity markets, which are subject to

sudden spikes and speculation• falling value of the dollar, the currency in which all major

commodities are traded

• migration of food-producing peasant farmers to cities in

recent decades

In a bid to protect their populations, many countries have imposed export

bans or restrictions on certain food types. The UN argues such measures

should be minimised because they can drive prices up further as food

becomes less available.

“Globally, we have estimated thatthis crisis could push 100 millionpeople into poverty… This is not

a natural catastrophe. It is man-made and can be fixed by us…We just need action and resourcesin real-time.”

World Bank President Robert B. Zoellick





Central America

World food summit: wrongdiagnosis, wrong solutions

IN JUNE, the UN Food andAgriculture Organisation (FAO)

held a summit in Rome entitled “Foodsecurity: the challenges of climatechange and bioenergy”. Its aim wasto address the severe problems faced by the poorest countries as a resultof soaring food prices. The summitdeclaration, signed by 43 worldleaders, called for urgent measures toavoid further increases and guaranteefood availability. However, six LatinAmerican countries rejected thedeclaration, saying it failed to addressthe causes of the problem or come upwith real measures to end hunger.

World Bank President RobertZoellick warned that, “without fastaction, this crisis will steal the potentialof a generation”. However, the summitstopped far short of the drasticsolutions needed to address the

immense scale of the problem. TopUN officials, including the Secretary-General, insisted that doubling globalfood production over the next fewdecades would help guarantee globalfood security. However, according tothe FAO, the world already producesenough food to feed itself twice over.Leaders also ignored the fact that thethree-fold increase in global food

production between 1961 and 2007 hasnot reduced malnutrition significantlyin the poorest countries.

The summit’s pledge “to eliminatehunger and to secure food for all todayand tomorrow” rang hollow given itsfailure to call on rich countries toeliminate or even reduce multi-milliondollar agricultural subsidies for exportcrops. Nor did it contain concrete stepstowards mitigating the effects of climatechange for which rich nations aremainly responsible. Nor did thosecountries undertake to suspend or limit biofuel production.

Jean Ziegler, former UN SpecialRapporteur on the Right to Food,described the outcome as a “true

scandal”, saying “private interestshave been imposed over the [global]common interest. The decisions taken inRome may even provoke an increase inlevels of hunger around the world,” hesaid. NGO representatives at a parallelforum,“Terra Preta” (fertile earth),concluded that the Rome declaration“will not fill even one empty plate”.

The loudest objections came fromLatin American countries. During thefinal plenary session, the Argentiniandelegate criticised the lack of concretemeasures, stating: “if one diagnosesa problem incorrectly, one will notprescribe a suitable remedy, which iswhat has happened at this summit”.Venezuela, Nicaragua, Ecuador andBolivia backed this view. For Cuba, thedeclaration represented the “lack of political will from the North to put adefinitive end to hunger in the world”.

This is an edited version of an

article originally published on

www.tortillaconsal.com

Shopping at a market in Managua,

sewing machine operator Maria

Concepcion Ramos says she hopes

relief will come soon. She and herhusband, a house painter, earn a

combined $220 a month. Rising food

prices are making finances tight for

them and their three children. Maria

crosses out a list of products the

family can no longer afford to eat:

meat (including chicken), butter, coffee

and the thick cream Nicaraguans eat

with plantains. “It’s nothing but gallo

pinto (beans and rice) for breakfast,

lunch and dinner,” she sighs. She

describes what’s happening in herneighbourhood: “Families are serving

up half-empty plates or skipping meals

altogether. Hard lives have become

even harder.”

With two incomes and three meals

a day, the Ramos family is more

fortunate than many. Over at La

Chureca rubbish dump, hunger is the

constant companion of families that

scavenge a living among Managua’s

rubbish. Milton Baquedano, five, has

grown up next to this smoulderingmountain of waste. He was

hospitalised last year for complications

stemming from severe malnutrition.

He’s better now, thanks to a feeding

programme at a community clinic. But

his body still bears telltale signs of his

ordeal: many of his teeth are missing

or rotted.

Nicaraguan families go without meat and dairy products

By Karla Jacobs

P h o t o : W F P / O s c a r R o d a s

In June, WFP organised marches around the world to raise awareness and funds to

“end hunger”. In Guatemala, more than 20,000 people participated, highlighting the

fact that almost half of children under five suffer from chronic malnutrition.

Source: www.nicanet.org





Nicaragua

Credit and livestock forNicaraguan producers

ACCORDING TO the FAO,27 percent of Nicaraguans suffer

some degree of malnutrition, which isparticularly damaging for children’shealth. This is not caused by scarcityof basic food, but by unemploymentand lack of opportunities. Peoplesimply can’t afford to buy food. World

Bank figures show that 45 percent of Nicaragua’s population surviveson less than $2 a day and nearly 15percent on just $1 or less.

The combination of long-standingmalnutrition, food price rises andgeneral inflation (over 15 percent lastyear) are making it impossible for agrowing number of people to eat threetimes a day. Besides global factors,successive governments have leftpeasant farmers, the countryside andagricultural production to their fate.While no land dedicated to maize orother grains is being converted to biofuel production in Nicaragua, there

has been a notable rise in the priceof bread – as much a part of poorNicaraguans’ diet as tortillas. This is because Nicaragua doesn’t producewheat, and wheat farmers in the USand other countries have switched to biofuel crops.

The Sandinista government cameto office in January 2007 with acommitment to implementing reformsin education, health, infrastructure andrural development to address acutepoverty, particularly in rural areas. Hereare some of the main programmes:

Credit for small producers

In 2008, the government promised toprovide zero-interest loans for seedsand fertilisers for over 177,000smallholder farmers to produce basicgrains. These will be repayable withproduce at harvest time. Accordingto the Ministry of Agriculture andForestry (MAGFOR), this is part of a package worth $230 million ingovernment and private funds toprovide incentives for food

production. The government has alsoreduced or eliminated import tariffson a number of basic food products,including beans, oats, barley andcooking oil. Nicaragua has a largeamount of land and rural labour, and atraditional agrarian culture. PresidentDaniel Ortega said that, if it exploits

these opportunities, the country couldincrease production, ensure nationalfood sovereignty and even supply foodto the whole of Central America.

“Food for the People”The government has reactivatedENABAS (National Basic FoodCompany) warehouses as part of its“Food for the People” programme.In November, it was reported thatENABAS had signed agreementswith over 50,000 farmers and 72agricultural cooperatives to buy basicgrains and other food products atfixed rates. ENABAS then distributes

the produce directly to points of salein impoverished neighbourhoods andcommunities across the country. Here,the food is sold at affordable prices.

“Zero Hunger” programmeA third government food securityinitiative is the “Zero Hunger”programme, coordinated by MAGFORand based on a model pioneered bythe Nicaraguan NGO CIPRES overthe last decade. It constitutes anenvironmentally friendly, integratedway of reviving the productivecapacity of impoverished campesino

families, so they can become self-

sufficient in food and sell the surpluslocally. The model is adjusted to theeconomic, social and environmentalrealities of rural Nicaragua andfocuses on women producers.

Participating families receive apackage including a pregnant cow,a pregnant sow, chickens, a cockerel,seeds, fruit trees, a grey water filter(which recycles soapy or dirty waterfor irrigation), a bio-digestor (for

making cooking gas from animal dung,eliminating the damaging health andenvironmental effects of firewoodusage). Low-interest credit, technicalsupport and training are also provided.The immediate aim is to dramatically

improve family nutrition, whileregenerating rural economies in themedium term.

The government aims to integrate75,000 smallholder families into thisprogramme before 2012. In 2007, itprovided 13,000 packages, and plansanother 14,500 during 2008. Accordingto Minister Ariel Bucardo, 19,300direct jobs and 60,000 indirect jobshave been created in the first 15months. The programme wasinaugurated in May 2007 in Raiti innorthwest Nicaragua, an area of Miskitu, Mayangna and Mestizocommunities living in extreme

poverty. The main desire of the localpeople is to “save the Río Coco”, onwhose shores they have historically built their communities, but which isnow shrinking due to deforestation.

What contribution will theseinitiatives make to reversing povertyand malnutrition in Nicaragua? Criticspoint out that the programmes only benefit those who already haveproperty, not the two-in-five landlessfamilies who are trapped in deepestpoverty. The majority of these can’t become producers – not only becausethey have no land but also becausethey are often single mothers who will

find it harder to buy food as pricesrise. Others argue that national andregional initiatives must be backed up by much stronger political will on thepart of rich countries and transnationalcorporations if the world is to preventthe global food crisis harming theprospects of a generation.

Sources: www.nicanet.org andwww.tortillaconsal.com

P h o t o : K a r e n L a w s o n

Maize field, El Porcal, northern Nicaragua




Reviews


Book reviewsFighting theBanana Wars andOther FairtradeBattles

By Harriet Lamb

Ebury, February 2008,

£10.99

www.fairtrade.org.uk

This book does not do what it

says on the label. It is a cheery

story in a readable, clear style

about the human faces of

Fairtrade production and

consumption, and their

inspiring small-scale

successes. It is also a well-

deserved testament to the

soaring numbers of consumers

choosing Fairtrade. Yet there

is almost nothing about how

Fairtrade could play a role

in addressing trading

inequalities by redistributing

profits from big business to

producers. So unfortunately

the book is not about “how we

took on the corporate giants to

change the world”. Every time

the issue looms, the author

swerves away from analysing

it more deeply.

Harriet Lamb, director of

the Fairtrade Foundation,

writes entertainingly,

informatively and passionately

about the vision for Fairtrade

and the mechanics of

implementing it. The big gap

is the absence of big-picture

politics and strategies for

placing Fairtrade within the

wider Trade Justice Movement

(which gets mentioned only

twice). As Harriet points out,

“Fairtrade cannot change

world trade… on its own – it is

just one small part of the many

solutions needed.”

Gay Lee

The Art of PoliticalMurder – WhoKilled BishopGerardi?

By Francisco Goldman

396 pp, Atlantic,

£16.99

In his first non-fiction book,Guatemalan-American

author Francisco Goldman

reveals the complex story

behind the brutal murder of

Bishop Juan Gerardi. The

human rights defender was

killed two days after making

public the findings of a

report documenting

thousands of testimonies of

murders carried out, mostly

by the military, during the

country’s 30-year civil war.

A number of bizarre leads

followed in what was

described as Guatemala’s“crime of the century”. Was

it a gay crime of passion?

Was he mauled by a dog?

Was it a robbery gone

wrong? Despite official

mishandling, a courageous

and committed team from

the bishop’s own

organisation pursued the

case in parallel, leading to

the eventual trial and

prosecution of a number

of army officers. This is a

gripping and disturbing look

at Guatemala’s justice system

and the lives of people who

paid the price for telling

the truth.

Shelagh Kavanagh

Final Silence

By Ronald Flores,

translated by

Gavin O’Toole

108 pp, Aflame Books,

£7.50

Ronald Flores shot to

prominence as a writer in

Guatemala in 2001 at the age

of 28, when Final Silence , his

first novel, won the prestigious

Mario Monteforte Toledo

literary prize. In London to

launch the publication of the

English translation in May this

year, he recounted the story of

how he had met Monteforte

Toledo at the prize-giving

ceremony, stuck out his hand

and received a puzzled look in

response. “I thought you were

older,” explained Monteforte

Toledo. “Maybe you werethinking of my main character?”

suggested Flores in response.

Final Silence follows a

Guatemalan psychologist’s

return to his homeland as he

rediscovers the psychological

fallout from years of conflict.

It offers an intimate look at

the Guatemalan civil war one

step removed. Flores succeeds

in offering readers the

counterpoise of distance to

catch their breath, as they

discover the all-consuming

drama of a life and death

conflict inGuatemala

played out

time and again.

Patrick Daniels

Aflame Books

is a UK-based

independent

publisher which

publishes,

in English

translation,

works from

Africa, Latin

America and

the Middle East.

In 2007 it also

published From

the Darkness

by Guatemalan

novelist

Oswaldo

Salazar.

www.aflamebooks.comRonald Flores in Housman’s

bookshop, London, May 2008

P h o t o : S t e p h a n i e F a l l a





Nicaragua

M

ORE THAN 700 communitymembers and ex-sugarcaneworkers filed a complaint in

April with the International FinanceCorporation (IFC) for injuries to theirhealth and the environment whichthey say are caused by the operationsof Nicaragua Sugar Estates Limited.

NSEL is a subsidiary of GrupoPellas, one of the largest and mostdiversified corporations in CentralAmerica, with stakes in energy, sugar,Flor de Caña rum, ethanol, cars, banking and credit card companies.The towns of Chichigalpa, Goyenaand Abangasca in northwest Nicaraguaare surrounded by thousands of hectares of NSEL sugarcane. Thecompany has brought much needed

employment to the region, but this hascome at a cost to the workers’ health.

Much of the sugarcane producedhere will be used for biofuels – aswith a growing percentage of the 145million tons of sugar produced eachyear worldwide. While biofuels have been touted as an alternative to fossilfuels, some large-scale projects areproducing negative consequences for

the environment and people. TheNicaraguan complaint highlights theneed to consider the wider impacts.

Communities report respiratoryproblems caused by clouds of smokeand ash created when the sugarcanefields are burned before harvesting.And many believe the chemicals usedon the sugarcane are the cause of widespread chronic renal insufficiency(CRI) – particularly prevalent amongworkers in NSELfields. Up to January 8,2,677 people had died of renal failureresulting from pesticide poisoning,according to an association forthose affected.

Communities and sugar workershave also complained of contaminatedwater and threats to their water

supply because of the large quantities

needed to process the sugarcane. Theyaccuse NSEL of harassing those whohave attempted to establish a tradeunion or raised concerns about thecompany’s operations.

NSEL received a $55 million loanfrom the IFC in 2006 to increase itssugarcane production and to fund theconstruction of an ethanol plant. Thecommunity complaint was submittedto the Office of the ComplianceAdvisor Ombudsman, the mechanismestablished to hold the IFC accountablefor violations of environmental andsocial standards. The documentspresent evidence that NSEL activitieshave violated these standards.

“The IFC must ensure that it doesnot trade one environmental problemfor another,” said Kris Genovese,attorney for the Center for InternationalEnvironmental Law, which helpedwith the preparation of the complaint.“These communities represent thethousands of unseen victims of biofuelprojects that fail to account for theirimpact on human health andnatural resources.”

Sources: www.ciel.org

www.nicanet.org

Bitter aftertaste forsugarcane workers

Rufino Benito Somarriba, 53,

worked at the San Antonio

sugarcane fields from

1975 to 1984.“I worked as a temporary labourer,

spraying herbicide for several years

before I was hired as a permanent

worker. I used to carry a knap sack

sprayer on my back. Poison would leak

all over my body.

I had to work from 9 in the morning

till 3 to 4 in the afternoon, with no

breaks. I used to sweat a lot and

the water I took with me did not lastlong, so I had to drink from the river

or from the water used for spraying.

I never thought the water would be

contaminated and the fluid wetting my

body would lead to my present

condition. Maybe it was because we

are not educated, but they took

advantage and didn’t say a word

about it. They never gave us protective

equipment, only a useless facemask.

I also had to get into the artificial

ponds of black, extremely contaminated

water (a by-product of the industrial

process), in order to release this foul

smelling water onto the fields. I would get

totally soaked and had an intense itch

all over my body. Once I came out and

realized I was bleeding from my penis.

In 2002, my blood pressure shot up

and my whole body was aching, but

specially the nape of my neck. I was not

working on the sugarcane fields then, I

had been transferred to the liquor-making

plants. I had medical tests done with very

bad results, my creatinine* was 5.2. Now

it is 16, but at times my values were 24.”

*Creatinine is tested to determine kidney

function and its normal level is below 1.

Interview by Giorgio Trucchi, republished from:

www.rel-uita.org

Worker cuts cane in a burned field in

western Nicaragua.

P h o t o : M i k e E l l i o t t

A major Nicaraguan biofuel company is blamed for

ill-health and water contamination.





Honduras

FOR 38 DAYS from April 7, thelarge square outside the congress building in the Honduran capital

of Tegucigalpa became a campsite andthe scene of constant protests assupporters backed eight public

prosecutors on hunger strike againstcorruption.According to international watchdog

Transparency International, Hondurasis level with countries such as Liberiaand Burundi in terms of corruption –which costs the country $894 millionannually. Acoalition of humanitarianorganisations, trade unions, churchgroups and human rightsorganisations supported the strike aspart of the fight for democracy and therights of the poor. They also called foran independent press to replace thegovernment-owned media, which issubject to manipulation and censorship.

The prosecutors had been threatenedwith the sack by the Attorney General because of an investigation they werecarrying out into 16 corruption casesinvolving high-ranking politiciansand businessmen. The main demandsof the hunger strikers were thedismissal of the Attorney General andhis deputy, as well the creation of acommission to investigate and tacklecorruption in general.

The well-known Honduran singerKarla Lara and other artists wereamong the 50 people who joinedthe strike for shorter periods.“Corruption destroys our country.This strike is a historic opportunity

to fight corruption and make achange,” Lara said. “It’s tough. Mychildren call me up and ask me whyI’m not coming home, why it’staking so long… However each oneof the hunger strikers is willingto give their all, so that the situationin Honduras changes regardingimpunity about corruption, becausewe feel that, if we win the struggle,

it will create a legal precedent thatwill stop corruption in the way thesecases are taken to court.”

The head of the Catholic andProtestant churches also declared theirsupport. Evelio Reyes, leader of the

Evangelical church Vida Abundante,said: “This struggle is not just social andpolitical, it is religious too. If we believein God, we must oppose any injusticeand help weak and the oppressed.”

The hunger strike ended on May 15,and was described by the prosecutorsas the first phase of “peaceful and civicresistance struggle”. They issued astatement emphasising the involvementof thousands of people who “haveindividually made theirs the fight

that we have started – the socialorganisations, the popular andindigenous organisations, theEvangelical and Catholic churchesand NGOs that have generouslyopened themselves to the call of

dignity and justice for all Honduras”.Despite commitments to investigateand suspend the Attorney Generaland his deputy, they vowed tocontinue their struggle “untilHonduras is free from the corruptpolitical class and all those whoprotect and bless them”.

Sources: www.danchurchaid.org

www.alboan.org

www.hondurasthisweek.com

Honduran prosecutors gohungry in corruption protest

Juan Carlos Griffin Raminez sits in

a white plastic chair at the edge of the

square. He was one of the first prosecutors

to go on hunger strike. On the 34th day,

he can talk only for a few minutes before

he has to rest. His body is worn out by

lack of food. “We started the hunger strike

because our constitution states that all are

equal before the law. But in the current

state, this doesn’t hold true for people

without wealth or power,” he says.

He explains there is a doctor on 24-hourwatch and that four prosecutors have

already been admitted to hospital. “We risk

our lives for justice,” he says, gazing at his

seven-year-old son, sitting quietly beside

him. “I continue the strike for the children.

We must win our demands if we want them

to grow up in a fair and just society.”

Corruption Perceptions Index 2007The Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI), published by

Transparency International, ranks 180 countries in terms of thedegree to which corruption is perceived to exist among public

officials and politicians. The 2007 CPI score ranges between

10 (highly clean) and 0 (highly corrupt).

1 Denmark: 9.4

Finland

New Zealand

12 UK: 8.4

20 US: 7.2

46 Costa Rica: 5.0

67 El Salvador: 4.0

111 Guatemala 2.8

123 Nicaragua 2.6

131 Honduras: 2.5

Burundi

Honduras

Iran

Libya

Nepal

Philippines

Yemen





Take action

Solidarity and campaign newsNICARAGUA

■ Bristol footballers raise funds

for women’s shrimp co-operative

Following on from the hotly contestedCOPASandino football tournamentin May, Bristol Link with Nicaragua(BLINC) held a women’s footballtournament that raised £571 for theLucrecia Lindo women’s co-operative

in Bristol’s twin town of PuertoMorazan. According to twinningofficer Alix Hughes, “the women hada great time apart from the goalie whohad her nose broken by a Spanishstriker”. The Pink Panthers emergedvictorious, and received a bottle of Florde Caña rum as well as a trophy.

■ From oil dependency to

renewable energy

The Leicester-Masaya Link group has been involved in a multi-disciplinaryproject funded by the EU and Britishgovernment aimed at increasingrenewable energy in Central America

by developing networks of localauthorities, universities, businesses,national institutions, NGOs andcommunity groups. A delegation fromLeicester, including the council leader,will travel to Nicaragua and Guatemalato participate in an internationalsymposium to disseminate and takeforward the findings of the project.

www.leicestermasayalink.org

■ Meeting of towns with

twinning links

On April 26, representatives of someof the 12 towns and communities with

twinning links in Nicaragua met inBristol to discuss the wealth of ideasand initiatives across the UK. Inparticular, the meeting discussed howNSC could develop ways to shareinformation relating to its educationcampaign.

■ Support for Education Forum

NSC supports the NicaraguanEducation Forum (FEDH) and training

for teachers of children with specialneeds. FEDH brings together ANDEN(the teachers’ union), universities,social movements such as theNicaraguan Community Movement,and about 20 NGOs working withchildren, women, education anddisabled people. Before the 2006elections, FEDH agreed a New Agendafor Education, which was endorsed byall parties and is now being integratedinto government education policy.

NSC is providing financial supportto FEDH to publish internalnewsletters and technical support toset up a website: www.fedh-ipn.org.NSC also received a grant from theAMICUS Foundation to produce aleaflet on education in Nicaragua andfor a series of workshops to trainteachers of children with special needs.

■ Visit by Nicaraguan women’s

rights activists

The Central America Women’sNetwork (CAWN) organised a speaker

tour in March by Sandra Ramos andGladys Urtecho from the Maria ElenaCuadra Working and UnemployedWomen's Movement (MEC), taking inthe UK, Brussels and Ireland. The aimwas to share experiences with civilsociety in Europe and to influencepolicy makers whose decisions impacton the lives of Nicaraguan women.The MEC representatives met MPs, theEuropean Commission, civil societyorganisations and the public tohighlight attacks on women’s sexualand reproductive rights and thepotential impact on women of theAssociation Agreement currently being

negotiated between Central Americaand the European Union.

www.cawn.org Tel: 020 7833 4175

■ Solar panels bring electricity

to farming communities

‘Proyecto Sol’ in Masaya installs solarpanel electricity kits in farmingcommunities where power supplies

are unreliable or non-existent. Theproject is run by the Association forIntegrated Rural Development (ADIC)with funding from Network for SocialChange, Appletree Fund, Places forPeople and individual donations.Following the successful installationof 20 kits in 2005, the plan is to equip22 more houses, with a final target of around 150 installations.

The project was set up with a‘revolving fund’ and repayments fromfamilies should enable 20 new kits to beinstalled per year. The kits can powertwo to three special light bulbs, as wellas providing one socket outlets to runa radio or TV for up to three hours ata cost of £400 per household. Familiesrepay the money over a maximum of seven years at £5 per month, which isa similar cost to mains electricity. Manyhope to pay sooner, allowing themoney to be recycled more quickly.

www.adicmasaya.org

■ Environmental expeditionsfor young people

Between 2000 and 2006, Somerset-basedK2 Adventures organised expeditionsto Nicaragua for 400 young people and70 adults. Most were hosted and linkedwith communities in Ocotal and PuertoMorazan through the Swindon andBristol twinning links. All the tripsfocused on supporting local communityand environmental projects. K2 isplanning more trips in late 2008-09,and is interested in working throughschools, twinning links and youthservices. Further information: MattCambridge – 0845 612 2005

■ NSC raises £29,000 for

Hurricane Felix survivors

Part of the £29,000 raised has gone toa project led by the University of theAutonomous Regions of the CaribbeanCoast of Nicaragua (URACCAN) torestore the production of beans andmaize to guarantee food supplies forthe inhabitants of the communities of





Take action

Breñas Central and Ombila in thenorthern part of the Atlantic Coast.

Funds are also supporting anotherURACCAN project to improve thequality of life for agriculturalproducers in the Wasakin community.The rest of the money has beenallocated to rebuild the MaureenCourtney special needs school. A recentmessage from the school read: “Thank you so much to everyone in NSC forhelping us in this difficult time in thelife of the school and its 309 pupils.”

EL SALVADOR

■ Electoral observers wanted

The Centro de Intercambio y

Solidaridad (CIS) is organising twoelection observer missions in 2009.The first will be from January 12-20 toobserve the mayoral and legislativeelections, and the second from March9-17 for the presidential elections.CIS is looking for volunteers to helpcontribute to free and fair electionsand generate a safe environmentfor democratic participation.

Volunteers will receive observationtraining, local orientation and

information on the situation in thecountry from human rights officials,as well as representatives of civilsociety and political parties. Spanishis not a requirement as interpreterswill accompany the observers. Thereare also opportunities for longer-termvoluntary positions of between threeand six months to help organise theobserver mission.

www.cis-elsalvador.org

■ Scholarship scheme benefits

community

Young people from Dimas Rodriguez

(a small village north of San Salvador,created at the end of the war by a groupof FMLN guerillas and their families)are being offered the chance to go touniversity through a scholarshipscheme. Work prospects are limited anda lack of funds has prevented manyyoung people from accessing highereducation – one of the main reasonswhy so many migrate to the United

States. Every penny donated goesdirectly to the community leaders in

Dimas Rodriguez who select youngpeople to receive the support. In return,the students agree to undertake regularcommunity work, ensuring that thewhole community benefits from thescholarship fund. Details of past andcurrent beneficiaries are available at:www.educationforthefuture.blogspot.com

If you are able to pay £40 a month(or any other amount) to support ayoung person to go to university, pleaseset up a standing order: Account name:Education for the Future / Accountnumber: 20162520 / Sort code: 08 60 01

GUATEMALA

■ Workers’ Beer Company

fundraising

There were many more volunteers thanplaces, with 17 volunteers scheduled towork at five different events, includingGlastonbury. Thanks to everyone whohas volunteered and helped raisedmuch needed funds for GSN.

In February, five youngmembers from CWU,UNISON, UNITE/Amicusand UNITE/TGWU visitedNicaragua with the NicaraguaSolidarity Campaign ActionGroup (NSCAG). They werehosted by the National WorkersFront (FNT), as part of theNSCAG Linking Young TradeUnionists project, which

builds links between youngtrade union members in theUK and Nicaragua. The aimwas to learn about howunions in Nicaragua areinvolving young people, toexchange experiences and developideas for solidarity projects.

The delegates met with youngmembers from five of the FNT’saffiliated union federations,representing a wide range of workers

in health, education, communication,law, industry, manufacturing and theinformal sector. The group also metcivil society and women’s rightsorganisations to learn more aboutthe political and social situation.

“It was really inspiring to seethe excellent work Nicaraguantrade unions are carrying out inextremely difficult circumstancesand with very limited resources.We met activists from a widerange of backgrounds and I'mlooking forward to sharing theseexperiences with British tradeunionists and to maintainingsolidarity links of mutual co-

operation with our Nicaraguan brothers and sisters,” saidUNISON member Heenal Rajani.

NSCAG is supporting the

delegates to strengthen their

solidarity links. An InternationalYouth Solidarity Seminar will

take place in London on July 12.

For project details:http://www.nicaraguasc.org.uk/NSC

AG/youth_unionists.htm

Young trade unionists inspired by Nicaraguan visit

UNISON and UNITE delegates with local government

workers in Jinotepe

P h o t o : A n n a

C o o p e r





■ GSN ‘Women and Violence’

Speaker Tour

Women throughout the Americas arecalling for an end to rising violenceagainst them. In Guatemala alone,more than 3,000 women have beenmurdered since 2000. Familymembers, witnesses and leaders of women’s rights organisations continueto work under threat to halt theviolence and seek justice for the victims.

The Guatemalan government hasdone next to nothing to stem theviolence. The low priority it givesthe issue of femicide is reflected inthe scant resources it allocatesto investigations and the almostcomplete absence of prosecution.There have been rulings in only 20femicide cases since 2000. The statehas also failed in its efforts to preventthese murders, and few cases of domestic violence or sexual assaultare taken seriously.

the Elimination of Violence AgainstWomen. The goal is to raise awarenessof women and violence in Guatemala,including domestic violence, gangviolence and impunity. If you areinterested in hosting or gettinginvolved in meetings with GSNregional and other solidarity groups,please contact: [email protected]

GET IN TOUCH

Wales NSC: Betws, Fford HaernBach, Pen Y Groes LL54 6NYTel: 01286 882359Email: [email protected], local links and ENCA:

129 Seven Sisters Rd, London N7 7QGTel: 020 7272 9619www.nicaraguasc.org.uk GSN: Flat 9, 71 Hornsey Lane,London, N6 5LE. Tel: 020 8340 3731Email: [email protected]

While the government attributesthe murders to gang violence, theOrganization of American Stateshas noted that their aim may beto terrorise Guatemala’s women,reversing the gains they have made inthe last 10 years and forcing them outof the public sphere and back intotheir homes.

In the face of violence anddiscrimination, women have formedsurvivors’ associations, mental healthgroups, and regional coalitions. Othershave worked tirelessly to improveaccess to land, comprehensive healthcare, and education, particularly forwomen living in rural indigenouscommunities. Some have spoken outagainst discriminatory laws and a justice system plagued by impunity.Guatemala Solidarity Network ispreparing for a speaker tour inNovember, to coincide with theNovember 25 International Day for

Take action


central america report - summer 2008

Documents