[Marxism] CISPES action alert

[Greg McDonald]

CISPES ACTION ALERT

July 30, 2008
-------------- next part --------------


Take Action to Denounce Political Killings in El Salvador

Government Officials Fail to Investigate New Wave of Politically  
Motivated Assassinations

Just six months before the 2009 municipal and legislative elections  
in El Salvador, political violence is heating up. Since March 2006  
when Alex Flores Montoya and Mercedes Pe?ate de Montoya, two well- 
known FMLN leaders, were found dead in the municipality of  
Coatepeque, at least 23 leaders of the social movement and FMLN party  
have been murdered (see FESPAD chart in Spanish here <http:// 
www.cispes.org/index.php? 
option=com_content&amp;task=view&amp;id=440&amp;Itemid=29> ). 2008 is  
a pre-electoral year and thus has been particularly violent for  
organized sectors of the population.  Such political violence doesn?t  
contribute to the democratic electoral process that Salvadoran people  
desire; rather, it creates a climate of fear that threatens the  
upcoming elections.

On June 26 student activist ?ngel Mart?nez Cer?n, coordinator of the  
January 24 Revolutionary Socialist Student Bloc, was killed in the  
city of Santa Ana.  Then on July 2 Holman Riva, an employee of the  
FMLN?s municipal government in the municipality of Ilopango, was  
killed along with his nephew.  Most recently, 27 year-old Rafaela  
Hern?ndez Delgado, whose husband is an FMLN member of the municipal  
government of San Pablo Tacachico, was shot dead in a bus.  San Pablo  
is the same town in which FMLN deputy Gerson Martinez' security guard  
was shot to death 3 months ago.

Back in January of this year, in one of the most high-profile of such  
cases, the mayor of Alegr?a Wilber Funes was killed alongside  
municipal employee Zulma Rivera. The young, popular mayor had planned  
to run for reelection as a member of the FMLN party in 2009. Such  
killings could threaten support for the FMLN in the 2009 elections in  
several municipalities as people become afraid to campaign for the  
leftist party or support the social movement because of the concerns  
about personal security.  In reference to the several murders that  
have taken place this pre-electoral year, FMLN deputy Benito Lara  
recently stated that ?here we have various cases that remain  
unresolved, unclear, and it is difficult for us to accept the theory  
that these are merely cases of common crime.?  For more information  
check out the recent CISPES update ?Political Violence Increases in  
El Salvador.? <http://www.cispes.org/index.php? 
option=com_content&amp;task=view&amp;id=439&amp;Itemid=28>

On top of this, Salvadorans also fear repercussions coming from the  
US government should the FMLN win. Back in 2004 ? the last time there  
were presidential elections ? several US officials made declarations  
denouncing the FMLN, including Rep. Tom Tancredo who threatened to  
introduce legislation to halt remittances sent to El Salvador if the  
FMLN were to win.  Already this year US officials (including deputy  
Secretary of State John Negroponte, who visited El Salvador in June)  
have declared that the US government won?t work with governments who  
have ?terrorist ties?, a clear reference to the right-wing media  
campaign connecting the FMLN to the Colombian FARC rebels.  Like the  
fear caused by political violence, such declarations could affect the  
opinion of Salvadoran people preparing to vote in the 2009 elections.

In the context of this escalating violence and intervention, CISPES  
joins the Salvadoran social movement in calling for international  
solidarity to support an electoral process free of both US  
intervention and political violence.


Boston CISPES
2161 Massachusetts Ave
Cambridge, MA 02140

tel: 617.576.1709
email: boscispes at speakeasy.net

TAKE ACTION!


1. Sign onto CISPES People?s Pledge to Defend the Right to Free &  
Fair Elections in El Salvador and accompany the Salvadoran people by  
standing in solidarity with them during their struggle for REAL  
democracy. Go to www.cispes.org/pledge2009 <http://www.cispes.org/ 
pledge2009>



2. Contact Felix Garrid Safie, Attorney General of El Salvador, by  
fax at 011(503) 2528-6095or e-mail at fgsafie at fgr.gob.sv and tell him  
to respect El Salvador?s democratic process by carrying out a serious  
investigation of these political murders.  See below for sample letter.


SAMPLE LETTER

30 de Julio de 2008
Se?or Fiscal General de la Republica Felix Garrid Safie
Fax (011 503) 2528-6095

Estimado Se?or Fiscal General  Felix Garrid Safie,

Le escribo con suma preocupaci?n por el alarmante incremento de  
asesinatos motivados pol?ticamente que han ocurrido en El Salvador  
durante este a?o pre-electoral de 2008. En los ?ltimos dos a?os, la  
represi?n pol?tica contra los sectores organizados ha alcanzado  
niveles muy altos.  En los ?ltimos a?os han habido un sin numero de  
arrestos ilegales, desapariciones, asesinatos de activistas del  
movimiento social y miembros y l?deres del partido FMLN.

El  caso mas conocido de todos estos asesinatos es el del alcalde del  
FMLN Wilmer Funes, en la municipalidad de Alegr?a, Usulut?n, quien  
fue asesinado junto a la empleada municipal Zulma Rivera. La  
investigaci?n de este caso continua sin ser resulto al igual que la  
gran mayor?a de asesinatos motivados pol?ticamente que viene  
ocurriendo desde el 2006.

Mas recientemente, ?ngel Mart?nez Cer?n, estudiante y activista, fue  
asesinato el pasado Junio 26 en la ciudad de Santa Ana, de forma  
similar. Mart?nez Cer?n, coordinador del Bloque Estudiantil  
Socialista Revolucionario 24 de Enero, fue balaceado ocho veces antes  
que sus asesinos le asestaran el tiro de gracia en la cabeza.

Este proceder es similar a las acciones paramilitares del gobierno  
que ocurrieron durante el conflicto armado en El Salvador, las cuales  
todav?a se encuentran el la impunidad. Esta impunidad en que se  
encuentran los casos de Funes y Mart?nez Cer?n, entre otros, no  
contribuye a una estabilidad democr?tica, ni ayudan a que el proceso  
electoral promueva la estabilidad democr?tica tan deseada por la  
poblaci?n de El Salvador. Le hacemos un urgente llamado a que  
investigue estos asesinatos motivados pol?ticamente; un contexto  
libre de represi?n y violencia es necesario para que El Salvador  
pueda tener un proceso electoral transparente y democr?tico.

El garantizar la libertad de expresi?n, y particularmente la  
expresi?n pol?tica, es esencial en cualquier democracia.  Ahora, en  
este a?o pre-electoral, es cr?tico que el gobierno de El Salvador  
demuestre su compromiso por la defensa del derecho de todas y todos  
los salvadore?os y su expresi?n pol?tica.


Atentamente,

__________________ (name)



__________________ (state, country)




Translation

Dear Attorney General Felix Garrid Safie,

I am writing to you extremely concerned about the high number of  
political motivated assassinations that have been happening in El  
Salvador during this pre-electoral year of 2008.  In the last couple  
of years there has been a high amount of political repression against  
Salvadoran organizers, such as illegal arrests, disappearances, and  
murders of leftist activists and FMLN leaders and members.

The most well known of these murders is the assassination of Wilber  
Funes, FMLN mayor of Alegria and his co-worker Zulma Rivera on  
January 9, 2008. This investigation is still unresolved as well as  
many others that have occurred since 2006.

More recently, student activist ?ngel Mart?nez Cer?n was killed in a  
similar fashion on June 26 in the city of Santa Ana. Mart?nez Cer?n,  
coordinator of the January 24 Revolutionary Socialist Student Bloc,  
was shot eight times before his assassins delivered a final bullet to  
the head.

Such murders recall para- military practices that occurred during the  
armed conflict of El Salvador, which still remain in impunity. The  
impunity of the cases of Funes y Mart?nez Cer?n, among others, do not  
contribute to the process of democratic stability desired by the  
population of El Salvador. We urge you to fully investigate these  
cases because in order to have a transparent democratic process in El  
Salvador, it must be free of political repression and violence.

The guarantee of free expression, and particularly political  
expression, is essential in a democracy.  Now, in this pre-electoral  
year, it is critical that the Salvadoran government demonstrate a  
commitment to defend the rights of all Salvadorans who seek to  
express themselves politically.