CISPES will be taking a delegation to El Salvador this summer: “Living the Change: El Salvador’s Revolution in Progress!” from June 17-27, 2011. 

In March 2009, the Salvadoran people elected the country’s first progressive government, ending twenty years of right-wing rule. The leftist Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) has become the country’s leading political party, continuing to develop public health, education and economic programs to meet the needs of the majority and strengthening participatory democratic models. 

There are two pressing reasons for our delegation this summer.The first is that those of us who seek to build a stronger, more unitedmovement for social and economic justice in the US have a lot to learn from the successful organizing of the Salvadoran social movement! 

For example, soon after President Obama announced a pay freeze for federal employees, President Funes in El Salvador announced a significant pay increase for public sector workers, quite a different response to the economic crisis El Salvador faces. 

 The second reason is that the people of El Salvador still need our solidarity! From lawsuits brought by North Americanmining companies under the rules of US trade agreements to destabilization threats from the right-wing – especially concerning in light of the coup d’etat in Honduras – to on-going death threats against community journalists and environmental defenders, we are still being called to stand with our partners in El Salvador. This trip will also be an important opportunity to learn more about the new forms of U.S. economic and security “aid” announced during President Obama’s recent trip to El Salvador from those who will be directly impacted.