Hi All,
I called Burke at CISPES this morning for an
update. He just sent this.
Everybody In/Nobody Out, Sara
(report in Spanish from the BPS follows)
Salvadorans Celebrate International Workers Day,
Call for Resistance to CAFTA and Freeing Detained
Union Leaders
(check out pictures at
http://www.cispes.org/english/Campaign_Against_CAFTA_FTAA/maydaypics.html
)
May 3, 2004
On Saturday May 1st, International Labor Day, the
streets of El Salvador were filled with the
celebration of workers’ struggles and resistance.
Tens of thousands of people joined the march that
demanded respect for workers’ rights, the rejection
of CAFTA, the return of Salvadoran troops from Iraq,
freedom for imprisoned union leaders, and a raise in
the minimum wage. Marchers came from a multitude of
sectors: there were electrical workers, public
employees, teachers, doctors, health care workers,
airport workers, university workers, and sex workers.
Following the unions were women’s groups, campesinos,
popular movement organizations, students, and
grassroots committees, accompanied by the leadership,
of the FMLN. Many marchers carried signs rejecting
the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), the
WTO and the IMF. They chanted, "No queremos, ni nos
da la gana, ser otra colonia, nortemanericana!" (We
don’t want, and we’re not at all interested in, being
another North American colony!)
The march ended in the Plaza Cívica in downtown El
Salvador, with speeches from leaders of unions,
popular movement organizations, and the FMLN.
Salvador Sánchez Cerén, Secretary General of the FMLN,
called on the people of El Salvador to join the
popular movement in resisting the ARENA government’s
authoritarianism. The right-wing party was able to
blackmail the population with threats of economic
disaster in the March presidential elections, and the
massive repression of the STISSS’s protest on
Wednesday demonstrates the ruling party’s intention of
using the electoral victory as a blank check to crush
workers’ rights. The speakers at the May Day event
urged the population to resist ARENA’s politics of
poverty and repression, especially as Tony Saca
prepares to take over the presidency.
The massive and enthusiastic turnout for the march
was particularly important since it came just three
days after the violent police repression of a peaceful
protest by the healthcare workers’ union (STISSS).
Wednesday’s violence did not deter people from joining
the march, but instead served as an impulse for the
population to recommit to the resistance of the
privatization of health care. They came out despite
the fact that hoards of police were on hand to
intimidate protesters; there were reports that buses
bringing protesters were blocked by police from
entering the center of the city. Also, for the first
time, reporters from the right-wing press, which have
received vehement criticism for their role in the
ARENA government's fear campaign during the elections,
were virtually "embedded", receiving large police
escorts throughout the march.
The wave of union banners in the march were
punctuated by signs and chants demanding the release
of Ricardo Monge, Secretary General of the STISSS, and
the rest of the detained protestors. As of the
writing of this report, only the seven youth who were
detained during the protest had finally been
released. The 30 adults remain in detainment,
including Ricardo Monge. Monge was transferred to
another detention center in Santa Tecla on Sunday and
is being held apart from the rest of the group. All
of the detained protestors will have a hearing on
Tuesday morning to decide whether they will be
released or held in detainment until they go to
trial. Ricardo Monge is being charged with resisting
arrest, damaging private property, illicit
association, and terrorism, among other things. Since
he was already detained by the time the
police-provoked violence occurred, he is being accused
of being the "intellectual author" of the protest that
occupied the Cathedral last Wednesday. Said Guadalupe
Erazo, one of the leaders of the Popular Social Bloc
(BPS) which called for the march, "only with unity and
the combativeness of the popular movement will we be
able to defeat the repressive and subservient policies
of this ARENA government."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Informe del Bloque Popular Social por La Democracia
Real (BPS)
SAN SALVADOR, 1 de mayo de 2004
Decenas de miles de trabajadores y sectores populares
marcharon esta mañana desde la Plaza del Salvador del
Mundo hasta la Plaza Cívica, en respuesta a la
convocatoria del Bloque Popular Social de El Salvador.
Marta Marín, dirigente nacional del Bloque Popular
Social y del STISSS señaló que " con esta marcha le
estamos demostrando a Paco Flores y a Toño Saca que
no le tenemos miedo, estamos en pie de lucha y vamos a
lograr la libertad de nuestros 35 compañeros
capturados, de Ricardo Monge y de Javier Ayala"
Agregó que " hacemos un llamado a todas las
organizaciones populares a manifestarse exigiendo la
libertad de los capturados y rechazando las
acusaciones del fiscal Belisario Artiga, quien no
captura a los corruptos de ARENA pero persigue con
saña a los trabajadores."
Por su parte, Carlos Rodríguez, dirigente campesino,
indicó que " los campesinos estamos cansados de la
demagogia gubernamental, exigimos se concedan créditos
para los agricultores y que se fortalezca la
agricultura pero en especial luchamos por una reforma
agria, radical y profunda que resuelva el problema de
la tierra."
Asimismo José María Amaya, dirigente comunal subrayó
que " esta demostración multitudinaria se la dedicamos
a Elías Antonio Saca para que sepa con quien se
tendrá que enfrentar a partir del 1 de junio, un
movimiento popular masivo y combativo, que en primer
lugar exige hoy la liberación de nuestros compañeros
del STISSS que están encarcelados."
Finalmente la dirigente campesina Guadalupe Erazo
opinó que " con la unidad y la combatividad del
movimiento popular vamos a derrotar las políticas
represivas y entreguistas de este gobierno arenero,
que envía a nuestros jóvenes como soldados a morir en
Irak por su incapacidad para crear fuentes de trabajo
para la juventud."
Añadió que "no les tenemos miedo, estamos dispuestos a
llevar esta lucha hasta las últimas consecuencias,
porque luchamos por el derecho a la vida para
nuestros hijos, porque luchamos por la paz y por un
país mejor."
__________________________________
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