For those who visited the SalvAide booth at the RSF, or for anyone interested in how people in other countries are responding to globalization, you may be interested in this journal-style reflection on my trip to El Salvador as part of a King's/SalvAide delegation on food security in May of this year. The country is still rebuilding itself after a brutal Civil War in the 1980s and people in the United States, Spain and Canada - as well as organizations such as SalvAide, CRIPDES, CORDES and the European Union - are contributing to reconstruction projects in El Salvador that challenge the homogeneity and poverty creation of globalization.

Introduction

                The following is a reflective analysis of a two-week delegation to rural El Salvador in May 2007. The purpose of the delegation was to study the political economy of El Salvador with a particular focus on how citizens are fighting to sustain and foster food security and sovereignty in the context of globalization. Because Canada is also a participant in the global economy – with Canadian mining companies now looking to set up operations in El Salvador – the delegation provided valuable lessons on how we as Canadians can work toward a more sustainable, localized and responsible lifestyle here at home, beginning with our methods of food production and consumption. Additionally, the delegation demonstrated the importance of maintaining solidarity with our brothers and sisters abroad in opposing globalization, since the latter is arguably an extension of Western colonization in Latin America. But as the delegation made clear, rejecting globalization needn’t be a negative affair: instead it will involve organizing ourselves, raising political awareness, sharing our experiences with each other, and pursuing lifestyles and initiatives that encourage a sense of community and inclusion.                   

                This essay will discuss my most significant impressions and lessons from the delegation. Occasionally it will adopt an informal tone, using the phrases “I,” “me,” “my” and “we” (the delegates) throughout. As well, because the essay does not draw extensively from academic sources, most of the facts and statistics cited are from the pre-delegation preparation meetings and our encounters with various organizations during the trip.

Understanding the Political Economy of El Salvador

A History of ‘Open Veins’

                While learning about El Salvador’s current situation, I found it helpful to conceptualize the country’s history using Eduardo Galenao’s thesis of the “open veins of Latin America.” According to Galeano, Latin America has been impoverished by virtue of its wealth in resources, all of which have been pillaged by the developed world from colonization to the current era of unrestrained free trade. He posits that “everything (in Latin America), from the discovery until our times, has always been transmuted into European – (and) later United States – capital. Everything: the soil, its fruits and its mineral-rich depths, the people and our capacity to work and to consume, natural…and human resources.” The history of Latin America is consistent with El Salvador’s history of constantly being exploited – mostly due to its interactions with the West – which persists in the country’s current struggles over mining operations, emigration, trade liberalization and Western exploitation of El Salvadorian maize (for ethanol production), sugar cane, coffee and maquiladora workers.

From Colonization to Civil War: a Cycle of Repression

                 As Carlos Garcia of Equipo Maiz explained to our delegation, Indigenous El Salvadorians shared their land and crops before being displaced by the Spaniards in the 1500s. Spanish colonizers began the country’s cycle of exploitation and repression by appropriating communal land for monoculture crop production and forcing Indigenous peoples to harvest cocoa and indigo for export. In 1830, when coffee was first discovered in El Salvador, the government appropriated all Indigenous land for cultivation of the newfound crop. This eventually caused Farabundo Marti [whom the country’s leftwing political party, the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), is named after] to organize a peasant uprising in 1932 after coffee growers slashed wages and employment in response to the Depression. But the uprising and the government’s response, in which the El Salvadorian military massacred tens of thousands of protestors, reflected much larger, long-term problems than the Depression itself. The events highlighted the perpetual instability created by colonization, landlessness, wage labour and the tendency of El Salvadorian governments to protect private interests and suppress popular dissent.

                Continuous struggles over a lack of public access to land, liveable wages, labour rights, and education and health care sparked massive demonstrations against the El Salvadorian government in the early 1980s. Similar to the uprising of 1932, government troops and death squads responded to the demonstrations by killing thousands of dissidents. Supporters of what began as a peaceful protest movement were forced to take up arms against the government when it started to displace people from their communities. Using “scorched earth campaigns,” the military burned down entire villages to the point where not even farm animals were spared.  As well, the government placed mines in rural areas to discourage crop production and it cut off the water supply of citizens suspected of supporting the guerrillas (the armed dissidents of the protest movement, who generally operated under the military wing of the FMLN).

                At this time the United States was waging a global ‘war against communism’ and it wrongly assumed that the labour unionists, working poor, liberation theologists, students, intellectuals and community organizers of the protest movement were communists. Furthermore, the Reagan Administration sought to secure American business ‘interests’ in Latin America by supporting and installing governments that were brutally repressive. The U.S. therefore provided the El Salvadorian government with millions in aid to suppress the protest movement, a factor that contributed to the death of 75,000 civilians by the end of the Civil War in 1992.

                I was first confronted with the realities of the War - the human suffering it inflicted; the sheer brutality and animosity that accompanies armed conflict - when we travelled to the Central American University museum in the capital of San Salvador. SalvAide guide Miguel Mejia showed us the offices where six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her daughter were shot to death by the military in 1989. The priests were assassinated for their roles as intellectual leaders of the protest movement; the women ostensibly for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. To me what made the assassinations particularly unjust was not merely that these were innocent, unarmed civilians, but the fact that the women were raped before their being slaughtered. I immediately came to the realization that, when wars are described in terms of protecting states’ “interests,” and when human death is summarized as “casualties,” humanity stoops to a level of madness that muddies the very real treachery of war.       

                Our travels to the community of San Joes Las Flores and the Lempa Mar region enabled me to meet with some of the former guerrillas, most of whom are now seniors. These simple, decent people were the “communists” that the American and El Salvadorian governments were fighting against in the 1980s. From the seniors’ perspective, the War was a political struggle over land, not a battle of ideologies. Citizens were displaced from their land by the El Salvadorian government and, after spending years as refugees, they decided to occupy the land and take it back. Nor do the seniors consider themselves communists today. However, even if certain members of the protest movement were communists, that still wouldn’t justify the government’s decision to use force against an initially peaceful movement.

                After twelve years of fighting the government and mobilizing support among the international community (from organizations such as the Red Cross to expatriates in the U.S. and Spain), the movement – now formally recognized as the FMLN – was successful in getting the National Republican Alliance (ARENA) government to negotiate a peace deal. The UN-sponsored Peace Accords of 1992 established El Salvador as a formal democracy (in principle anyway) in addition to calling for much-needed land reforms and up-starting the country’s process of rebuilding. But as Hugo Flores of CORDES explained to us, the immense resources that the U.S. poured into the War came with the expectation that ARENA, the neoconservative party that has governed El Salvador since 1981, would open the country’s borders to foreign investment and trade. The result has been a continuation of Western exploitation of El Salvador’s resources and people, which has devastated a majority of the country’s population.   

The Consequences of Liberalization

                    Since opening its borders to the free flow of foreign capital, El Salvador has yet to benefit from the supposed ‘fruits’ of trade liberalization. The country is a signatory of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), but 60 percent of the population works in the informal sector of the economy. This means that most El Salvadorians earn their living by selling homemade or pirated goods on the street. Many women, especially those who have migrated from rural areas to the cities, perceive the sex trade as being their only viable source of income. According to FMLN Member of Parliament Salvador Arias, 80 percent of El Salvadorian families do not have enough money to support their basic needs. None of this should come as a surprise: because the American dollar is the official currency of El Salvador and because prices of goods match those found in North America, the cost of living in the country is considerably higher than most peoples’ incomes. Infrastructure is phenomenal, even by Western standards, in order to allow for the smooth flow of goods. However, the countryside and highways are littered with families who live in absolute squalor.   

                Evidently what free trade has brought El Salvador is poverty, injustice and a lack of sovereignty over the country’s current and future direction. Multinational corporations have set up maquiladoras where mostly female workers earn $156 per month, even though it takes a monthly income of $680 for a family of five to get by. The ARENA government has facilitated Western pillaging of the country’s minerals by issuing mining permits to Canadian and U.S. firms without first consulting with the communities that will be affected.

                As a primarily agricultural country, one would assume that El Salvador has a national plan for fostering and subsidizing agricultural production. But no such plan exists. Instead, when land was allotted to peasant farmers as part of the Peace Accords, the government refused to provide these farmers with any type of support for cultivating crops. Consequently many farmers decided to sell their land and pursue other types of employment, which consolidated ownership of farmland in the hands of corporations. This cycle continues today: amidst a lack of government support, farmers are selling their land to Starbucks (a coffee company) and the Bush Administration is pressuring ARENA to rent land to U.S. firms for sugar cane and ethanol production.  Moreover, CAFTA encourages countries to import cheap and highly subsidized products from the West, which disenfranchises El Salvadorian farmers who cannot compete with products priced below the cost of production. With no access to land and no incentives to produce food, El Salvadorians are struggling to maintain their food security and sovereignty.

                The intense poverty that has been created by the above realities has inspired waves of emigration from El Salvador, especially among youth. Financial barriers to education and employment have contributed to high levels of gang activity and delinquency, leaving many young people with no option but to leave the country. Rather than addressing the situation, the ARENA government has lauded emigration with the dubious claim that remittances from expatriates in the U.S. have a net positive effect on El Salvador’s economy. That a majority of El Salvadorians live in poverty suggests otherwise.

                If I have learned anything from studying the political economy of El Salvador, it is that the ‘benefits’ globalization, specifically for developing countries, are a farce. The ability of multinational firms to locate in El Salvador and sell its elite middle class burgers and movies has not raised the country’s overall standard of living. Far too many people are still struggling to survive. Nor has the importation of Westernized diets, peddled by firms such as Wendy’s and KFC, fostered food security among El Salvadorians. Much like in Canada, the country has an enormous capacity to produce healthy local food for the masses, but corporate ownership of the land (which displaces farmers) and forced imports are jeopardizing this potential. It is in this context that our delegation learned about what El Salvadorians are doing to counter the ills of globalization and achieve more sustainable models of living.

Working Towards Sustainability in El Salvador

                This essay has discussed in great detail the history and political economy of El Salvador because understanding these factors is crucial to comprehending the post-Civil War work that is currently being done through organizations such as CRIPDES, CORDES and Equipo Maiz. SalvAide, the Canadian charitable organization that made our delegation possible, contributes significantly to all of these on-the-ground organizations. CRIPDES and CORDES (also known as CCR in the Chalatanengo region) were both founded during and after the War to provide El Salvadorians with immediate support and to help in the country’s process of rebuilding. Equipo Maiz is an educational organization that provides citizens with information on issues pertaining to genetically modified organisms, globalization and political activism. Without the mobilization and hard work of these organizations, it is unlikely that El Salvador’s working poor would be able to take advantage of many of the projects and initiatives that are available to them today.                

                Although Canada is a ‘rich’ nation by international standards, the reality is that our country faces many of the challenges that El Salvador is struggling with. These issues include poverty, homelessness, privatization of public services, pollution, climate change and unsustainable methods of production and consumption. By analyzing how El Salvadorians are addressing these issues, I was able to gain ideas on what Canadians can do to foster sustainability at home. The following is an analysis of some of the initiatives that we encountered.

Achieving Food Security

                CRIPDES and CORDES use their expertise on alternative methods of food production to help farmers produce organic food on small plots of land in half of El Salvador’s provinces. CRIPDES identifies communities that need help with development and agricultural production and CORDES goes into these areas to offer direct, hands-on support. Food security – that is, “the right of…communities to safe, culturally appropriate, and nutritious food through a food system that is ecologically sustainable” – is achieved primarily through Family Agricultural Plans. Such plans divide plots of land in a manner that provides families with a diverse array of food for their own consumption as well as a surplus that can be sold for a small profit. The key here is genetic diversity: intercropping is more environmentally friendly than monoculture as it naturally fends off pests and therefore requires fewer pesticides. And because families can harvest a variety of crops, they don’t have to purchase faux diversity from the supermarket. When enough families participate in the Plans a cooperative can be established to sell products to a local village or urban centre, which certain families have been able to do in San Salvador.               

                Cattle banks are another way in which El Salvadorians have achieved food security in the regions of La Libertad, Chalatanengo and Lempa Mar. CORDES lends pregnant cows to families with the expectation that they bring back a calf in one year’s time for another family to loan. The program has been wildly successful in promoting milk production and entrepreneurship among women. It has also spawned spin-off projects such as the “Biolatte” cheese coop in Lempa Mar, an initiative that arose when families wanted to sell their surpluses of milk but lacked the expertise to produce cheese. Using equipment and recipes from Europe, and thanks to some training from retired Spanish dairy workers, the coop now makes gourmet cheeses from local ingredients. Indeed, the excitement on the faces of CORDES organizers when we sampled their cheeses suggested to me that the coop is sustainable not only in terms of where it derives its ingredients from, but also because its members take pride in what they produce.               

                After visiting several CRIPDES- and CORDES-sponsored projects – from the solar-powered fruit dehydrator plant in Chalatanengo to the fair trade cashew plant in Lempa Mar – one of our delegates raised an excellent question: how do the organizations ensure that their initiatives do not succumb to the principles and practices of capitalism? Representatives from CRIPDES and CORDES in Lempa Mar responded that the organizations achieve this in three ways. First, the owners of a project’s land are usually the ones who work the land (there is generally no division of labour). Second, the profits made from the land are shared equitably among the workers. And third, an organizational element exists whereby CRIPDES and CORDES make their project participants aware of the importance of engaging in politics in order to secure their interests (mostly by supporting the FMLN). The organizations and their participants create an aura of community and solidarity, which ensures that people understand why they have what they have - be it coops, crops or cattle. People see no need to pursue a capitalist model of competition, accumulation, and greed because they know that they would not have anything were it not for the work and solidarity of their community.                

                Our meetings with CCR representatives in Chalatanengo revealed that adaptability and inclusion are additional factors that contribute to the sustainability of community projects. CCR always identifies the needs of people in different communities first; it then moves ahead with programs designed to meet the specific and varying needs of those communities. Plans are developed with the participation of people to ensure that “nice looking plans” are not imposed on communities that might not need them, and CCR is always willing to adjust their plans if necessary. What impressed me most about CRIPDES, CORDES and CCR and their efforts to engage people is the leadership that these organizations have demonstrated in improving the status of El Salvadorian women. 

Improving the Status of Women: Micro Credit and Women’s Committees

                Right now women in El Salvador face the challenge of overcoming male ‘machismo’ attitudes towards them – the idea that women are subordinate to men and incapable of any financial or political independence. Because this problem is both cultural and related to poverty, it cannot be dealt with overnight. But CRIPDES and CORDES are making excellent progress by engaging women in women’s committees. The committees provide women with training in gender issues, stress and self-esteem and encourage them to take on leadership roles in their communities. According to CRIPDES and CORDES organizers in La Libertad, women who have participated in the committees are now becoming involved in municipal politics and are developing their own plans for agricultural production.               

                Prior to travelling on the delegation, I had little knowledge of how micro credit actually works. In debates at home over how best to address poverty, I would constantly hear micro credit proposed as a near cure-all. But I never knew why this was so (or if it was even true). Our meeting with the leaders of CCR in Chalatanengo provided me with some answers. Simply put, micro credit programs have been established to provide women with credit and to teach them how to use this credit. The programs are necessary because, due to gender biases and systemic poverty, banks have traditionally denied women credit (especially those living in rural communities). The maximum loan is approximately $342 and each loan is accompanied with technical assistance to show women what they can do with their money; for example, start a business or coop. Once women have repaid their loans they have access to additional loans – this is how people are able to maintain and build their respective projects and it is known as a “revolving fund.” I was amazed to learn that the success rate of women repaying their loans is 95 percent in the Chalatanengo region. What this demonstrates to El Salvadorian men is that, just as women are capable of participating in politics, they are also adept at being financially independent. As well, it is possible that micro credit programs can be used to address poverty in Canadian municipalities. However, if the programs are to succeed they will need to be accompanied with the necessary technical assistance and participants need to have a vested interest in the wellbeing of their community.

Preventing Mining and Engaging Youth

                As mentioned before, El Salvador is being eyed and exploited by Western mining companies who are able to obtain permits from a government that is more than happy to open the country’s veins for pillage. Not surprisingly CRIPDES and CORDES are at the forefront of opposing mining projects that threaten the health and integrity of communities.

                In San Jose Las Flores, our delegation met with residents who have been able to prevent mining companies from locating in their community after learning about the adverse effects of mining abroad. With the help of CRIPDES and CORDES and the Catholic Church (diocese), residents travelled to Guatemala and Honduras to see how mining operations are impacting communities in both countries. What they saw was horrifying: in Guatemala, an entire river that had previously been used by people for swimming and washing was completely sucked dry by a nearby mining pit. Cyanide, which is used to extract gold from ore rock, had contaminated rivers in Honduras causing people to develop skin lacerations. Residents of San Jose Las Flores quickly determined that if they allowed a mining company to locate in their community, they would be displaced and negatively affected by pollutants. Upon returning to El Salvador, the residents travelled to the start-up mining project in their community (the company began exploration and extraction without consulting with anyone) and demanded that the miners leave. Despite some initial grumblings from the company in question, the project has since been abandoned and San Jose Las Flores has managed to keep mining companies out. The community is a case study in how organization, maintaining solidarity with countries and communities abroad, and education can lead to effective political activism.               

                Finally, I wanted to reflect on some of the work that CRIPDES and CORDES are doing with El Salvador’s youth. With the country facing a crisis in emigration – the National University claims that seven out of ten citizens tell pollsters they want to emigrate – it is vital that opportunities be made available to youth if they are to stay in El Salvador. CRIPDES and CORDES have responded to the crisis by offering students scholarships for both high school and university and by training young people in various trades. The impact of this training was evident in the work of the Lempa Mar Rural Youth Association, which has established its own coop selling “fruitenal” (a popular wine-like drink) and bio-filters for communities that do not have access to clean drinking water. Youth are engaged in meaningful employment at the coop and they are able to exercise autonomy over their own project. It is my genuine hope that these types of initiatives are made available to more of El Salvador’s young people, as it would be a shame if the current generation were forced to abandon the land that their elders fought so hard to reclaim.            

Conclusion

                   Since returning from El Salvador I have come to the realization that the delegation was the very beginning of a lifelong learning experience. As Canadians we have a propensity to pounce on immediate solutions to what are, in reality, complex problems. By this I am referring to the questions that immediately arose in my mind as to what I could do to act in a more socially responsible manner once at home. But I am so thoroughly entrenched in the systems that sustain economic globalization that unravelling my behaviour and working towards change will take a long time. A simple example is my decision to work at a grocery store that upholds a global food system that is responsible for disenfranchising many of the farmers we had a chance to meet on the delegation. However, I am nonetheless encouraged by what the future holds. I see opportunities for changing our eating habits by purchasing food from organic farmers such as Ann Slater, whose farming techniques are similar to the ones promoted by CRIPDES and CORDES. I believe that many of the initiatives used to address poverty in El Salvador – from micro credit to coops - can be applied here at home to address the same issue, but doing so will require including communities in the process of meeting their own needs. Above all, we should continue to share with and learn from our brothers and sisters in the international community as we seek out alternatives to economic globalization.