Showing posts with label violence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label violence. Show all posts
Monday, September 10, 2012
Una Vida Libre de Violencia
There's a motto that you see all over Suchitoto - it's stenciled on many, many houses, the outline of the national bird, the torogoz, sitting on a flower (Suchitoto means bird-flower in Nahuat) and underneath these words: En esta casa queremos una vida libre de violencia hacia las mujeres. In this house, we want a life free of violence against women. (It's not on my house, alas, but only because the outside got repainted in December and I haven't been able to find anyone who could stencil it again for me).
This motto - it also appears on a big billboard at the entrance to the town - is up on our walls for the sad and necessary reason that there's far too much violence against women in El Salvador, and in our beautiful, apparently tranquil town of Suchitoto. For the wider perspective, there's an excellent recent article on Femicide in Tim's El Salvador Blog, and every day the terrible stories show up in the newspaper and the news shows.
Recently, over the long August holiday weekend, brutal violence almost took the life of a woman I know, a woman who's part of the fabric of Suchitoto, living and working here with her family and among friends. I don't know the details, except that the assailant was not a stranger, but Luz was stabbed many, many times and only survived thanks to heroic immediate work in the Suchitoto hospital and long weeks of intensive care in the capital. She's been in a coma through the past month, and has just begun to emerge, facing terrible pain and months of slow work to return to life.
I am praying for Luz, and for all the women, for my friends and neighbors, that here in El Salvador we may begin to find a path out of the brutal violence that haunts every woman's life and every woman's nightmares. Una vida libre de violencia: this should be the birthright of every woman, man and child. Until that day, the work continues.
Labels:
El Salvador crime,
Suchitoto,
violence,
women
Thursday, June 14, 2012
New clothes for a hard day
Just before I flew north from San Salvador to spend 5 weeks in the U.S. I learned that the husband of a new friend had been picked up by the U.S. ICE Border Patrol and is being held in a Texas detention facility. Last night she e-mailed to ask if I could buy and mail some clothing for him to wear on his flight back to El Salvador - apparently the clothes he'd been detained in were pretty awful, and the alternative is either to return home in a prison uniform or to have someone supply a going-home outfit.
Juan had trusted himself, and no doubt his and his family's hard-won cash, to a coyote who said he was a trustworthy Evangelical. Not so, apparently: the journey was brutal and he witnessed his "trustworthy" guide raping a woman. He was picked up almost immediately on the U.S. side of the border and whisked off to detention, where at least he's safe and my friend has been able to talk to him a couple of times.
I called the facility and found out that what I could send for a going-home outfit is quite specific: 1 pair pants, 1 shirt, 1 pair underpants, 1 pair socks. Shoes could also be sent, but apparently Juan has those. So today I went shopping for the clothing, which I'll send tomorrow. Challenging to buy clothes for someone you've never met, especially when it comes down to figuring out whether you think the guy would prefer boxers or briefs. An odd assignment for a nun, but I enjoyed it. And I picked boxers, on the simple grounds that they were less expensive.
So Juan will be able to take the long flight home in new, clean clothes, a scrap of dignity for a hard day.
Juan had trusted himself, and no doubt his and his family's hard-won cash, to a coyote who said he was a trustworthy Evangelical. Not so, apparently: the journey was brutal and he witnessed his "trustworthy" guide raping a woman. He was picked up almost immediately on the U.S. side of the border and whisked off to detention, where at least he's safe and my friend has been able to talk to him a couple of times.
I called the facility and found out that what I could send for a going-home outfit is quite specific: 1 pair pants, 1 shirt, 1 pair underpants, 1 pair socks. Shoes could also be sent, but apparently Juan has those. So today I went shopping for the clothing, which I'll send tomorrow. Challenging to buy clothes for someone you've never met, especially when it comes down to figuring out whether you think the guy would prefer boxers or briefs. An odd assignment for a nun, but I enjoyed it. And I picked boxers, on the simple grounds that they were less expensive.
So Juan will be able to take the long flight home in new, clean clothes, a scrap of dignity for a hard day.
Friday, April 13, 2012
Signs of stress and distress
I get a Google alert on El Salvador each day - basically an updated clipping service, with links to news items in English that mention El Salvador. Usually it's mainly soccer news and stories about Salvadoran immigrants living in the U.S. Today's alert, though, led to two startling and disquieting stories. First, a story in Gallup.com reported a poll of how people in countries all across the world rated their lives. Participants were asked to rate their current lives and what they thought their lives would be like five years from now on a scale from 1 to 10, with 10 being the best life that person could imagine. Those who rated their current lives and prospective lives at 4 or below were classified as "suffering": the other possibilities were "thriving" and "struggling." I was shocked to learn that El Salvador followed Bulgaria, Yemen and Armenia as the country with the 4th highest level of "suffering" with 33% of the respondents reporting that level of pessimism. What was even more surprising was that the other Central America countries, where violence, impunity, and lack of opportunity are just as strong, registered much lower levels of "suffering," and that no other Central American country was among the 20 with the highest level of suffering.
On the other hand, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras all registered steep increases in the level of suffering over the past year - in Salvador, 24% more responded as suffering than a year ago. That makes more sense: the drug trafficking and gang violence that has struck all three countries in Central America, the level of murder, extortion, and unchecked criminal activity coupled with lack of trust of the police and judicial systems, means that people live with constant fear, stress and uncertainty about their own most basic safety.
That was the other disquieting article in today's clutch of stories: an article by Hannah Stone in In Sight - Organized Crime in the Americas about El Salvador's failure to move on police reform. While the murder rate has dropped significantly since a gang truce that was apparently mediated by the Catholic Church, the government has taken no significant steps to really reform or police the police. I know from my Salvadoran friends that many do not trust the police, that they will not take extorsion attempts to the police, and that they believe many police are allied with the gangs. As the In Sight article details, police members have been credibly accused of beating people up, torture and even murder. I also know some policemen and women who are good and decent people. They deserve, as do all Salvadorans, a real effort to curb violence and intimidation. And then hope could grow.
On the other hand, El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras all registered steep increases in the level of suffering over the past year - in Salvador, 24% more responded as suffering than a year ago. That makes more sense: the drug trafficking and gang violence that has struck all three countries in Central America, the level of murder, extortion, and unchecked criminal activity coupled with lack of trust of the police and judicial systems, means that people live with constant fear, stress and uncertainty about their own most basic safety.
That was the other disquieting article in today's clutch of stories: an article by Hannah Stone in In Sight - Organized Crime in the Americas about El Salvador's failure to move on police reform. While the murder rate has dropped significantly since a gang truce that was apparently mediated by the Catholic Church, the government has taken no significant steps to really reform or police the police. I know from my Salvadoran friends that many do not trust the police, that they will not take extorsion attempts to the police, and that they believe many police are allied with the gangs. As the In Sight article details, police members have been credibly accused of beating people up, torture and even murder. I also know some policemen and women who are good and decent people. They deserve, as do all Salvadorans, a real effort to curb violence and intimidation. And then hope could grow.
Labels:
El Salvador crime,
El Salvador people,
violence
Saturday, December 10, 2011
The best of times, the worst of times
Today began so beautifully, with the firecrackers at 4 AM giving notice that it was time for our neighborhood, el Barrio Calvario, to gather for our procession to the church to make our "ofrenda" to Santa Lucia. We gathered outside the home of my next-door neighbor, Dinora, and drank coffee and ate pan dulce while we waited to begin. I talked with Martha about how beautiful these celebrations are, how I wish we had such fiestas in my own country. We walked and sang and carried our candles into the church, where we placed them below one of the santos or at the entrance to the santísimo (the sanctuary). We participated in the Mass that began at 5:45, and afterwards I walked home, thinking about the possibility of a nap.
Just as I was about to turn the corner onto my street, the peaceful scene was shattered. I didn't hear a bullet, but I saw my neighbor Dinora come running, crying out that "they killed the Niña Julia." (Niña is in this case a respectful way to name an older woman). Julia runs a little restaurant on the corner that's part of the mercado building; her son owns the disco behind our house. We quickly learned that she wasn't dead, but was seriously wounded; the police arrived to carry her to the local hospital, where her wounds were beyond their capabilities; she was sent on to Hospital Rosales, an hour away in the capital. I am praying for her to live.
How could such a horror happen in the middle of our fiesta, in the middle of this little town that's usually an oasis from the violence that seems worse every day in El Salvador? No one knows exactly; there's speculation that she didn't pay the renta (protection money). It's said that the shooter was an adolescent boy. I don't know if the bystanders knew who he was, and if they did know, I don't know whether they'll tell the police.
With little trust in the police and even less in the courts, ordinary Salvadorans have no solution to the violence that has become so everyday here. And they have reason not to trust the police and the courts: just this past week, a judge refused to let a witness appear in a facial mask and refused to have him use voice distorting equipment. The next day two of the witness' relatives were killed.
My Salvadoran friends will go on, living their lives as best they can in as much peace as they can find, fearing for the future of their sons and daughters, and I will go on accompanying them. And praying for the life of the Niña Julia. And praying for peace.
Just as I was about to turn the corner onto my street, the peaceful scene was shattered. I didn't hear a bullet, but I saw my neighbor Dinora come running, crying out that "they killed the Niña Julia." (Niña is in this case a respectful way to name an older woman). Julia runs a little restaurant on the corner that's part of the mercado building; her son owns the disco behind our house. We quickly learned that she wasn't dead, but was seriously wounded; the police arrived to carry her to the local hospital, where her wounds were beyond their capabilities; she was sent on to Hospital Rosales, an hour away in the capital. I am praying for her to live.
How could such a horror happen in the middle of our fiesta, in the middle of this little town that's usually an oasis from the violence that seems worse every day in El Salvador? No one knows exactly; there's speculation that she didn't pay the renta (protection money). It's said that the shooter was an adolescent boy. I don't know if the bystanders knew who he was, and if they did know, I don't know whether they'll tell the police.
With little trust in the police and even less in the courts, ordinary Salvadorans have no solution to the violence that has become so everyday here. And they have reason not to trust the police and the courts: just this past week, a judge refused to let a witness appear in a facial mask and refused to have him use voice distorting equipment. The next day two of the witness' relatives were killed.
My Salvadoran friends will go on, living their lives as best they can in as much peace as they can find, fearing for the future of their sons and daughters, and I will go on accompanying them. And praying for the life of the Niña Julia. And praying for peace.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Coming into safety
Last week I shared the hard story of a friend whose family was being extorted by gangsters. I've been praying for her through the week, knowing that the final payment on the amount that had been agreed was due yesterday. I called today, and apparently everything went OK, and she is now feeling some relief from the terror that has seized the family for the last month.
It's hard to know that this family's hard-earned money and everything they could get in loans from other family members and friends has gone to strengthen the gangs that devastate the people of El Salvador. But I am so glad that my friend can begin to feel safe again!
Beyond this immediate relief, it's my prayer that somehow, somehow the people can find ways to trust each other and band together against the gangs - and that the government can work harder and smarter to begin to solve this enormous problem.
It's hard to know that this family's hard-earned money and everything they could get in loans from other family members and friends has gone to strengthen the gangs that devastate the people of El Salvador. But I am so glad that my friend can begin to feel safe again!
Beyond this immediate relief, it's my prayer that somehow, somehow the people can find ways to trust each other and band together against the gangs - and that the government can work harder and smarter to begin to solve this enormous problem.
Labels:
El Salvador crime,
El Salvador people,
violence
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Zozobra

When I lived in Santa Fe, New Mexico in the 1970s, the burning of Zozobra was one of the biggest events of the year, and it continues to be a great tradition. Zozobra, a giant figure symbolizing worry, anxiety and general grumpiness, is burned at the culmination of the Santa Fe fiesta - here's a photo of the creature.
But the zozobra we've experienced this week in El Salvador is far from fun or funny. It began on Tuesday, after gang members had put out the word that any buses operating would be shot up. The speculation is that the gang members were reacting to a recently passed law outlawing gangs, and also to the police seizure of buried barrels of money worth $10 million plus (a great story that, which everyone here has enjoyed: narcobarrels!) The threats and menaces were compelling, and on Tuesday, when I was in the capital, no buses were running and the downtown markets were deserted.
It's shocking to see how completely this series of threats was able to terrify and paralyze the country. The government response has been good - police and military were out in numbers, and official trucks were turned into transportation for the many people trying to make their way to work or home. But even today, Thursday, the bus transportation system - on which probably 80% of the population depends - was not back to normal. Buses are, in many ways, the most vulnerable link: they travel fixed routes, so they're easy to hold up, and they are so frequent here that it would be almost impossible to guard them all. A friend of ours was robbed on the bus just last week, along with all the other passengers. Drivers and conductors are terribly vulnerable, and are subject to extorsion payments, as are the owners of the bus routes. Hearing about the murder of a driver or conductor is a commonplace in the news.
The panico y zozobra, panic and anxiety, show how completely seriously everyone here takes the menace posed by the gangs. Our priest, Father Carlos Elias, talked on Wednesday about the fear that everyone says is perhaps worse than it was during the Civil War. He talked about El Salvador, a country uniquely named for Jesus, as a small country with a powerful history of light and darkness, not unlike Jesus' country two thousand years ago. He talked about our need to rely on God in this time.
Here, we can't burn zozobra. The darkness is too real and the threat is too great.
Labels:
El Salvador crime,
El Salvador people,
violence
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Deaths on a bus
Everyone in this country has been shocked by a massacre that took place Sunday night in Mejicanos, a suburb of San Salvador. At 7pm a bus full of people was boarded, almost certainly by gang members, who shot some people, then doused the interior of the bus with gasoline and set it on fire. Fifteen people have died, many remaining unrecognizable. Others who managed to get out are being treated in the hospital. Three other people were shot on a different bus in that area on the same night. Here, where everyone is used to the gang-related extorsions and killings, even to the frequent killings of bus drivers and conductors, this atrocity has shaken us all to the core.
What is the cause of such mindless and heartless violence? How can it be ended? There have been calls to institute the death penalty - as though fear of a death penalty would be likely to deter such an act, as though we could count on a police and legal system as finely tuned as that in the U.S. The violence last Sunday fell on the poor, as is usually the case here. God's beloved community here continues to suffer.
What is the cause of such mindless and heartless violence? How can it be ended? There have been calls to institute the death penalty - as though fear of a death penalty would be likely to deter such an act, as though we could count on a police and legal system as finely tuned as that in the U.S. The violence last Sunday fell on the poor, as is usually the case here. God's beloved community here continues to suffer.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Waking up in Suchitoto
I'm back home in Suchitoto - came back with the remnants of a cold still clinging to me and spent almost all day yesterday in bed. This morning, though, with plenty of errands and a trip to the capital city pending, I climbed out of bed, washed my clothes, said good morning to Margaret Jane and was getting ready for breakfast when I heard the unmistakable sound of drums coming up our street. Opened the door, and there was today's parade, the entire student body of the Centro Escolar Ana Dolores Arias - Suchitoto's public girls' school - with banners, drums, flowers, and a few little girls in fancy dresses (most were wearing their school uniforms). I have no idea what the purpose of the parade was, but what a delight to come back to a town where the morning's disruption is a parade. And while the appalling toll of human tragedies in El Salvador continues to mount - I learned today that the mother of a Salvadoran doctor who has worked with us was recently killed, another victim of the senseless violence that racks this country - the parades and fiestas, the evidence of the love of life and community that is so strong here, gives me hope.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Primero Dios or Primero El Salvador
Yesterday La Prensa Grafica featured a two-page spread on the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of Archbishop Romero's murder, and one item on the page reported vandalism at a small park in Antiguo Cuscatlan honoring Roberto D'Aubuisson, founder of the ARENA party and a man considered by many to be responsible for Romero's murder (for a recent, well-reported and chilling story about the events surrounding that murder, see the English translation of El Faro's excellent interview with Captain Alvaro Saravia.).
The vandals at the park had left a sign saying Asesino and the outline of a body in red paint. But what really struck me in the photo was the plaque with what I presume was D'Aubuisson's motto:
The vandals at the park had left a sign saying Asesino and the outline of a body in red paint. But what really struck me in the photo was the plaque with what I presume was D'Aubuisson's motto:
Primero El Salvador
Segundo El Salvador
Tercero El Salvador
Segundo El Salvador
Tercero El Salvador
How different that is from the words I hear every day in El Salvador, Primero Dios, God first. There's a huge irony here in that El Salvador means the Savior, means God. But I don't think that was how D'Aubuisson meant it.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
A day of lights and shadows
There's much I want to tell you about today, indeed about the last few days which have been rich and full. But first, the bad news today in Suchitoto is that six or seven young men were killed in the village of Milingo, part of the Suchitoto municipality, in a shooting yesterday afternoon; three others were wounded. These terrible murders are probably the work of a gang, and the police speculate that the young men were killed by a rival gang - though as yet there's no real evidence that those killed were in a gang.
This shocking news has brought great pain to my town. For a long time, we've been able to think of ourselves as exempt from the gang violence here, but no longer. What can we do? Many meetings took place today to look for a powerful response, and that response begins tomorrow with a procession bearing witness to our grief.
The gang violence in this country has increased to an unbearable level. The police and military, working together, are looking for new ways to combat this epidemic - and indeed, it has the qualities of an epidemic. It doesn't help that there's not much public trust in the integrity of the police.
It was interesting that today my friends Lena and Rosi called suggesting that Margaret Jane and I might like to stay with them in Santa Tecla for a while because of these murders. This struck me as pretty funny, because Santa Tecla has its own set of gangs. I thanked Lena and Rosi, but told them that we wanted to be in solidarity with our Suchitoto community. I didn't add that nuns in la tercer edad (senior citizens) are just about the last people threatened by this gang violence. Instead, what we're losing here in Suchitoto, in El Salvador, is a generation of youth.
This shocking news has brought great pain to my town. For a long time, we've been able to think of ourselves as exempt from the gang violence here, but no longer. What can we do? Many meetings took place today to look for a powerful response, and that response begins tomorrow with a procession bearing witness to our grief.
The gang violence in this country has increased to an unbearable level. The police and military, working together, are looking for new ways to combat this epidemic - and indeed, it has the qualities of an epidemic. It doesn't help that there's not much public trust in the integrity of the police.
It was interesting that today my friends Lena and Rosi called suggesting that Margaret Jane and I might like to stay with them in Santa Tecla for a while because of these murders. This struck me as pretty funny, because Santa Tecla has its own set of gangs. I thanked Lena and Rosi, but told them that we wanted to be in solidarity with our Suchitoto community. I didn't add that nuns in la tercer edad (senior citizens) are just about the last people threatened by this gang violence. Instead, what we're losing here in Suchitoto, in El Salvador, is a generation of youth.
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