The following notes have been edited to correct errors and to add explanations and updates. Parenthetical notes and remarks from the original are enclosed in parentheses. Present day [2022] updates are italicized and enclosed in square brackets.
Tuesday, 15 October 1991 – 9:00 AM – CRIPDES
Once again we are on familiar territory as we enter the CRIPDES offices and clinic. Last year we left the bus a block away and walked quickly and quietly to the location. This year the van pulls right up into the courtyard; our driver is proud to bring us to his home base. We view with delight the architect's model of a substantially enlarged clinic which is on display in the reception room. This represents their hope and their goal for the future.
After we are seated in the meeting room, Sally introduces our group, saying how glad we are to return and to see the improvements and expansion that they have made since last year. She also expresses our deep concern for Mirtala's safety, and describes the actions we had taken to help to secure her visa to enter the United States. We are speaking with Elizabeth, who works in the secretariat of relations.
"Thank you for all that you have done for our organization and for our companion. In the end there were five different threats against Mirtala and against CRIPDES. What they are always trying to do is to terrorize us, hoping that we will disappear. But they have never been able to do this. So thank you for all that you have done. We know that we are not alone; there are many international supporters who will respond.
"In 1979-1980 the armed forces and the government began repression in the countryside. Some of these military operations were referred to as the 'scorched earth policy.' The aim was to wipe out the rural population. It didn't matter if they were children or old people. Many people had to flee into the mountains and the bush. Some sought refuge in other countries such as Nicaragua and Honduras. Some found refuge in other areas of El Salvador.
"The campesinos had begun to organize to demand our rights and to demand land. It was then that the repression began. Here in San Salvador there were fourteen refuges under the Roman Catholic church. After a while the church couldn't fund the refuges any longer. So the refugees began to discuss how to return to their homes. We met first in the Rosario Church. Later we convoked a national assembly of refugees and displaced at the University of El Salvador. A directorate was formed to coordinate the efforts. We began the work of consciousness raising, because after having to flee the bombs, it was very painful for people to think about going back to a place where they had lost husbands and children. People had to prepare themselves to return. The first group determined that they were ready despite continued military operations. In May of 1986 they went to San Jose las Flores, in Chalatenango. One month later, on 19 June 1986 a second community was formed. These two repopulated communities were an example to the other displaced.
"Then began the coordination of the return for refugees in Honduras. They indicated that they also wanted to return to their places of origin. They saw how the first repopulated communities were living, and they decided to organize and to present a letter of intent to the government. The government researched who these people were; the government has always considered them FMLN. When the people saw the negative response of the government, they decided to walk home despite government opposition.
"The first group got to the border and were detained there for several days. The government did not want to let them in, and said that the areas to which they wanted to return were dangerous and conflictive. The government offered an alternative area, but the people didn't want to go there. The people were detained on the border for fifteen days, but the government finally gave in; they had no choice. This group returned to Guarjila, Santa Marta, and Copapaya. Since then there have been five more repatriations from Honduras, one from Nicaragua, and one from Costa Rica. One more each from Nicaragua and Costa Rica are in process right now. Those from Costa Rica came to San Salvador, found family members here, and stayed in the city. This has been the struggle of our people.
"We work also with the displaced within San Salvador. It is very hard to work with these people. The campesinos have never had land, and the government is very opposed to our returning to these lands, but we are determined to go to land which can sustain our lives. Presently the displaced are living along the sewage rivers and the railroad tracks; this is not sufficient to sustain lives. There are no jobs in the city. We campesinos know only how to work the land. To get to a chosen site is a struggle, and to maintain ourselves there is also a struggle. The war continues and repression has increased in the countryside. As an organization we have had to face this.
"In the repopulated communities we are not permitted access to medicine or to construction materials like tin siding. The army says that sheet metal is for the FMLN, so they can construct arms. As for food, one can only bring in enough for one's own family. Otherwise they say that it is for the FMLN. Everything is measured and limited. Our people have stated that we are civilians; we have a right to freedom of transport and free trade.
"We also have a problem getting school supplies in. They say that these are materials for the FMLN to use to send messages. Despite this, the people are able to break through the barriers.
"They also won't let sister community delegations through. We have had to avoid this by finding new ways around the road blocks. And despite all of this harassment there have been a number of communities who have been able to build themselves up.
"On 11 October 1991 in Guarjila we dedicated a hospital that the people built. We are building schools, churches; we've been able to plant crops, develop workshops such as artisans and shoemaking. We see this as a triumph for the communities, that despite all of the obstacles, we have been able to move forward. We are clear about the value of international solidarity and your willingness to speak up. Otherwise we could not have achieved all this.
"During the past two months there have been intense military operations in Chalatenango. One example of this was the baby who was killed in San Jose las Flores. The Colonel later tried to justify the action by saying that the child died in a combat situation. But we took the body to ONUSAL to demonstrate that what had happened was different from what the army said. We also took the body to the Colonel to show him what had been done. They opened machine gun fire on us and tried to take some of us captive.
"It was after this incident that the threats against Mirtala began. We took out public denouncements of what was happening in the repopulated communities. The military never likes our doing this. We placed national and international denouncements, and through this effort we were able to end the threats. Many international communications went to the high command.
"In reference to the structure in our office, we have a national directorate, and each person on the directorate has under her or him a secretariat. We work with ninety-four communities in seven departments. This work is immense. In five of the departments we have regional coordination because the work is on such a large scale. In the central office we don't know everything that is going on in the departments, so we created these regional directorates. We have a committee in Chalatenango, the Committee of Displaced Persons in La Libertad, another committee in the northern part of San Salvador, the CDR in Usulutan, San Vicente, and La Paz, and La Progresso in Cuscatlan and Cabanas. When these groups cannot solve a problem regionally, they come to the national directorate and we all discuss it together.
"As for the secretariats, the first is Education. This includes teachers of the communities themselves, people who have some education and share what they know with others. The task of the secretary of education is to develop better trained teachers. Through coordination with ANDES (the national teachers' union) we have the services of teachers who have been fired or were never able to get positions through the official Ministry of Education. We have negotiated with them to go to the repopulated communities and the Ministry of Education will pay them. What we do is get the teachers into the communities, and then tell the government that they should pay them because the government is responsible for education. In Rutilio Grande community and in several communities in La Paz this tactic has worked."
At this point a young man comes into the room and speaks with Elizabeth, who then excuses herself and leaves. The young man stays to answer our questions.
Question: How many people work in the hospital?
"There is a nurse from Germany who works in operating procedures. There are health promoters who received health courses while in the camp at Mesa Grande and are receiving more training here. There are two sections - the clinic and the hospital. We are not quite done; the walls are up but the roof isn't on the building yet. We will have forty-five beds in the clinic, and we will also have a laboratory.
"We also have a clinic at this location. It has been a provisional operation for the past two years. We hope to convert it to a clinic and hospital for injuries and illnesses which require X-rays and more serious operations.
"Even though there is no roof on the new hospital, we have five patients. We did two operations the first night. In addition, we have health centers in each community, where they pay attention to ordinary illnesses and small wounds. If there is a more serious illness or injury, the patient goes to a regional hospital. The most serious come into San Salvador."
Question: What will it take to make military reform a reality?
"The only thing that the New York accords do is to set an agenda and a framework. These agreements come after the suffering of the Salvadorans who have demanded some resolution to the conflict after all these years. The negotiations really have two agendas. There is the New York agreement. There is also a confidential agreement between the two sides. During the discussions in Mexico on 12 October the only agenda item on which they reached agreement was the structure and function of COPAZ. They did achieve the naming of the members of COPAZ. The discussions in Mexico scheduled for 25 through 27 October will include moving into more concrete details, and a specific timetable. They must set dates for COPAZ to begin functioning, for the purging of the military, for the dissolution of the National Guard and the Military Police.
"There are requirements for the new civilian Police force. It must consist of persons not previously engaged in military or terrorist acts. These people will have to go through strict training; they need to know the entire legal process so that they achieve sensitivity. Their purpose is to serve the civilian population."
Question: How will they weed out those who were engaged in terrorism?
"Persons and groups with connections to violence against civilians are well known to the people; the vast majority knows who was responsible. So the minority will have to bow to the majority. (This appears to be wishful thinking on his part; there are no mechanisms yet in place to accomplish this.) The new police will have to go through a whole education process. Both sides will have to agree on who can be in the police."
Question: In the past month, has there been an increase or a decrease in military operations in the repopulated areas?
"For over a month now we have been in a process of dialogue and negotiations. In the repopulated communities, the bombing, threats, and captures have continued. During the past two months we have brought in the harvest, then the military has come in and robbed us of corn, chicken, beans. In Segundo Montes City the army killed 1500 chickens. Similar things have happened in Chalatenango and Cuscatlan. Also, the people have not had access to their work areas and fields because these areas, along with the communities themselves, have been militarized.
"On 13 October Arcatal and Nueva Trinidad were militarized by the Atlacatl Battalion. They occupied the community store and began to eat everything. They detained and interrogated community members.
"On 11 October Father Jon Cortina was in a vehicle being driven to San Jose las Flores. When they got to Las Limas, there was a Fourth Brigade roadblock, which fired three rounds at his vehicle. He was detained and interrogated for three hours, and the people with him were threatened.
"On 14 October around 6:00 PM a truck carrying food and supplies to San Francisco was detained at the Guara Bridge in Cuscatlan. By 8:30 it was still not allowed to go through. The army was requiring a salvo conducto for basic food supplies – oil, rice, and beans. The truck was also carrying metal building beams for two communities. The next morning we talked with ONUSAL and pointed out that this was a violation of human rights. We have the right to transport our food supplies. As Salvadorans we should not need salvos to transport our own food.
"ONUSAL spoke with the colonel in charge, and he said that there was no order for the detention of the materials. But the official at the bridge would not let the truck past. ONUSAL has done quite a bit, but we need more observers so that human rights will be fulfilled. Human rights are a very important topic for us in El Salvador. Because ONUSAL is setting up offices around the country, local organizations have been able to operate their own human rights offices."
Question: Have there been any problems with ONUSAL's setting up offices?
"No, because they were established under agreements made by both sides. Before ONUSAL opened, a new political party calling itself the Anti-Communist Front was set up to oppose any work for human rights. On 19 September during the period that we were receiving threatening letters, this party directly threatened to kill Mirtala. They said that ONUSAL was an enemy and would not provide security for her. This Anti-Communist party is made up of high military officials. They demanded that CRIPDES stop its 'defaming campaign against the armed forces.' But we have never stood around with our arms crossed!
"On 15 September we demonstrated in front of the U.S. embassy and told Ambassador Walker that he could do something about the threats. We also met with Colonel Emilio Ponce. He told us that he also was receiving threats from the Anti-Communist Front. We said to him that we doubted that he was receiving threats from his own military. We also said that we had heard that he had stated that the popular organizations are only a front for the FMLN and are destabilizing the country. We pointed out that the declarations that they were making were the same things that were said in the threatening letters we had received. We asked why they were making these threats against displaced people. There are two million displaced and marginalized people in El Salvador. Since the meeting with Ponce, the threats have diminished.
"There is nothing in the Salvadoran Constitution about salvo conductos. This system came out of the military occupation, as a way to control and deny access to conflictive areas.
"Concerning the new clinic here, we are talking about a cost of thirteen million colones (about $1,650,000.00) to build a four story hospital. What we would like is to have a natural medical program, not just chemical medicines. (The poster which they give us at the end of the talk illustrates cooperation among osteopathic, homeopathic, and allopathic medical practices.) We want to plant enough shade trees so that there is no need for air conditioning.
"Because of the war we have many people affected by trauma, insomnia – this is all from the tension of the war. These afflictions won't be cured just by medicine. The people need moral support and a place where they can share their experiences. This kind of treatment has helped many patients. We want to train health promoters in such practices.
"Our budget now is about 75,000 colones ($9,375.00) per month. We have funding from the solidarity movement, both delegations and other groups. We have a sister relationship with the People's Clinic in Washington, D.C., and also a clinic in Michigan. A church in Michigan recently gave us $2,000.00 for a sterilizer.
No comments:
Post a Comment