SHARE Foundation Call to Action, October 8, 1999SHARE Foundation Call to Action, October 8, 1999Posted for SHARE Foundation by Partners Across Borders, St. Cloud, MN
Who can forget Mitch? Here we are a year later and the farmers along both sides of the Lempa River, especially the Lower Lempa, are facing renewed flooding. What happened to the promised reconstruction in the region by the government of El Salvador? There is no evidence of reconstruction work…..The rainy season is here….1,000 families have been evacuated…. Another years crops have been lost… Losses are estimated at $25 million…These farmers, mostly small landholders, were poor to begin with. How many more floods can they face before they're driven off the land?
The response of the affected communities of the Bajo Lempa (Lower Lempa) in San Vicente, Usulutan, and La Paz is "basta ya" (enough already). The communities; organizations such as CRIPDES, CORDES, and Initiative of the Bajo Lempa; and the mayors and municipal councils of effected municipalities in the area (Zacatecoluca, Tecoluca, San Agustin, and Juiquilisco) have convened a march into San Salvador Friday, October 8th.
The plan is to peacefully march through the streets of San Salvador, arriving at the
Casa Presidencial where the coordinating commission of the demonstration has asked for a
meeting at 10:00am with the Salvadoran President Francisco Flores to discuss the recurring
structural problem of flooding and to find a permanent solution.
e-mail President Francisco Flores at webmaster@casapres.gob.sv or or fax him at (011-503)-281-0018
Request that he meet with the coordinating Commission on October 8 and enter into a genuine process for solving the problem of flooding in the Lower Lempa. Stress that this flood prevention plan should include building permanent flood walls working closely in coordination with organized communities along both the San Vicente and Usulutan borders of the rivers. Remind him that his government must comply with the Stockholm Declaration and provide transparency on all reconstruction and emergency funds.
If you miss the Oct 8 deadline send a message anyway and urge immediate attention to flooding, especially in the critically affected areas of the Lower Lempa River.
For 17 consecutive days, heavy rains have hit El Salvador. Both sides of the Lempa River in San Vicente and Usulutan have experienced flooding. As in past flooding CEL (the privately owned company that maintains the hydroelectric dams along the Lempa which generates much of El Salvador's electricity) opened the flood gates. This time it was on September 15th with a two week warning which is an improvement over last year's "no warning." The opening of the floodgates sent walls of water rushing down into the Bajo Lempa at rates of up 8,000 cubic meters per second. When flood waters rose because of the raging currents, the water bounced off the few existing retaining walls and was then shot around the lower end of the structures.
The government has in fact made feeble attempts at preventing flooding by constructing earthen retaining walls in the communities of Rancho Grande, Taura, Santa Marta, and San Bartolo on the San Vicente side. But because the retaining walls in the region only cover 7 kilometers of the 37 kilometers in need of such protection, a majority of the communities were flooded out. At one point, because the water was pushed in with such force the flooding actually moved from inland towards the river. The current, confronting an obstacle on the San Vicente side, flowed freely over the Usulután bank where no flood wall whatsoever had been built. Several months ago the government promised to begin building a dike on the Usulután bank. To date work has not begun.
The National Emergency Committee (COEN) is in charge of national emergency alerts and reconstruction efforts post disaster. In Stockholm last May, at a meeting with the Consultative Group (of donor countries to Central America), the Salvadoran Government committed to participatory methods of reconstruction, by consulting with a broad base of social sector organizations. Recent events however, such as COEN's failure to consider the opinion of local leaders when distributing aid allows for doubts in regards to those commitments. The new emergency proposal, which has not yet been passed as law by the legislature, continues to be hierarchical, while paying lip service to a participatory process.
On Friday, September 24th, in a press paid ad to President Francisco Flores, the Bajo Lempa communities and associated organizations stated that they are "tired of permanently living in a high risk situation of vulnerability, uncertainty, and the possibility that with every rainy season we will find ourselves with water up to our waists (if not up to our necks), which includes provoked currents charging the communities along the sides of the Lempa river, by the unpredictable opening of the flood gates, and even with the possibility of losing our homes, belongings, crops, animals, and even our lives;" Sources: Sister Cities, CIS, SHARE Foundation, La Prensa Grafica, El Diario de Hoy
On Monday, September 27, SHARE Foundation's El Salvador Director, Sara Stowell and Marina Pena SHARE's staff for Women's Advocacy, met in Nueva Esperanza, Usulutan with the communities, local and international NGO's, members of the Forum of the Civil Society and the CDM's of the micro-region. The objective of the meeting was to listen and seek ways to best support through suggestions, accompaniment, and active participation to advocate and pressure the Salvadoran government to activate the reconstruction plan approved this past May. Agreements were made and promised, but to date, nothing has been accomplished. Although President, Francisco Flores has visited the desolated areas, and has seen the conditions in which the people suffer, there has been no action to construct damns, levies, protective walls, paved roads, nothing.
On Tuesday, September 28, the people of the Usulutan area came together and demonstrated on the San Marcos Lempa side of the bridge explicitly demanding their needs, which includes control of the hydro-electric dam, paved roads, protective walls, levies, and ditches. SHARE was there.
On Wednesday, September 29, Forum of Civil Society, local and international NGO's, including SHARE, and representatives from the Micro-region and the Bajo Lempa met again. The Forum of Civil Society is coordinating advocacy efforts at the national level. All actors agreed upon actions to support the five most affected zones: Upper and Lower Lempa, the Rio Paz in Auhuchapan, bordering Guatemala and El Salvador, and El Guazcoran, bordering Honduras and El Salvador.
On Friday October 8, SHARE will be marching to the presidential house as members of civil society demanding immediate attention to infrastructure reconstruction along the borders of the Lempa river.
Another key issue for the effected communities is that of social transparency and monitoring of the incoming funds to El Salvador for reconstruction. There is concern that the funds will be politicized by the Salvadoran government, in which they will channel the aid to favored communities and favored geographic regions. There is also concern that the funds could be diverted towards supporting the governing ARENA party in the 2000 municipal and National Assembly elections.
In August the scandal of the 10 million colones ($1.14 million) given by the Salvadoran government to the Salvadoran Association of Agricultural Producers (APROAS), members of the ex-paramilitary civil patrols from the war, two weeks before the March 7 presidential elections broke. In return for supporting the candidacy of ARENA candidate Francisco Flores 5,000 members of APROAS each received 2,000 colones. As well, the ARENA party distributed 25,000 tee shirts to induce members of APROAS and their families and friends to vote for Flores. Both these actions are clear violations of the Salvadoran electoral code. The case is being investigated for possible legal action, but it would seem unlikely the much will happen.
The more explosive and damming part of the scandal is where the 10 million colones came from and what APROAS members had to do to receive them. At first the head of the ARENA party faction in the National Assembly, Walter Araujo, said the funds came from international aid for Mitch. Quickly, government spokespersons made the "correction" that the funds came from the national budget, and not foreign sources. On September 16th, however, a special prosecutor from the Attorney General's office gave a radio interview in which he stated investigations showed the funds did come from international sources. He was then quickly called into his superior's office and several hours later retracted his statement. Since then the Treasury Minister has emphatically denied the 10 million that came from international sources.
The question is still posed, did the funds come from international sources? What is clear, however, is that 10 million colones that were destined for Mitch reconstruction were given to APROAS shortly before the elections so its members would vote for Francisco Flores.
Various APROAS leaders have publicly stated that to receive their funds APROAS members had to register as small farmers effected by Mitch. Some of these recipients were not farmers, others lived in areas basically untouched by Mitch, such as the departments of Cabanas and Sonsonate. In short, APROAS members portrayed themselves as Mitch victims so the government could channel funds for relief and reconstruction to them to buy their votes.
Given the APROAS scandal the communities of the Bajo Lempa and their allies are very concerned that any international aid for Mitch reconstruction entering El Salvador may not reach those who need it most. There have been clear and consistent demands for community input on the use funds for reconstruction projects and the establishment of a system of social monitoring (including the participation of civil society groups and the effected communities) to ensure total transparency of international and national funds for Mitch reconstruction projects.
The September 24th paid ad from the Initiative of the Bajo Lempa clearly states the concern of the effected communities that the scandal will increase doubt towards donor governments and international agencies and the situation with the Salvadoran government's administering of funds for reconstruction. This in turn could put danger on the possibility of obtaining future funding.
The communities of the region, along with social movement organizations and non-governmental organizations (local and international) who work with them, have called for a protest march on Friday, October 8th.
NOW IT IS OUR TURN!
FRIENDS OF THE SHARE FOUNDATION IN THE UNITED STATES IT IS TIME TO ACT!
CONTACT PRESIDENT FRANCISCO FLORES TODAY!