PVC 1991 Delegation – Part Sixteen: Diario Latino

 

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.

Thursday, 17 October 1991 10:30 AM Diario Latino

We are inside a huge warehouse which serves as both offices and plant for Diario Latino, the only progressive newspaper in El Salvador. A gigantic press dominates the main floor. Partitions section off the office area, but there are no enclosed rooms. We are invited to climb a fire escape stairway to a second-level balcony, where there is additional office space, and are seated in a circle in the open space at the top of the stairway, surrounding Francisco Valencio, the director of the newspaper.

It is apparent that Wanda is in her element here, and we gladly defer to her to make the introductions and lead the discussion on behalf of our group. Señor Valencio thanks us for our visit and explains the newspaper's philosophy.

"We see our role as a newspaper to accompany our people in support of the interests that all our people share for peace and democracy. All these are things that the people have lacked because of the military governments, especially recently since the counter-insurgency.

PVC 1991 Delegation – Part Eleven: ONUSAL

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 - 2:20 PM - ONUSAL (United Nations Observer Mission in El Salvador)

The ONUSAL headquarters is located in the Sheraton Hotel, high atop the ridge overlooking Escalon [an elite neighborhood in San Salvador]. As the van makes its way through the broad streets of this wealthy neighborhood, with its lavish mansions hidden behind high brick walls and barbed wire barricades, we wonder how many poor peasants will be able or willing to make this daunting trip in order to denounce the injustices they have experienced. The entrance to the Sheraton courtyard is guarded by armed soldiers who are not certain at first if they want to let us pass. We are more uneasy entering what is supposed to be a UN safe haven than we have been at any other visit this year.

Once in the lobby we are kept waiting for ten to fifteen minutes, then taken to one of the upper floors and seated around a conference table in an office which had quite obviously until recently been a regular hotel room. Jake introduces the group to the ONUSAL representative, Ingrid Kircher, a young woman from Austria who mentions that she had worked for Amnesty International before joining this mission.

"ONUSAL is part of the whole peace process. There were two major initial meetings: in April 1990 both sides committed to continuing negotiations; then in May 1990 in Venezuela they set up the agenda for the negotiations. The first agreement which was concluded, signed on 26 July 1990, covered human rights and provided for an observer mission to be set up after a cease fire had gone into effect. But the commission in April 1991 decided that both sides to the negotiations and the people themselves wanted the mission set up as soon as possible.

PVC 1991 Delegation – Part Ten: CRIPDES

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.