Hechos (facts)

I have been meaning to put these thoughts down in the blog for some time, and I encountered them again the other day.

A month ago Rick Jones from Catholic Relief Services came to talk to our praxis seminar. He’s the director in charge of services in Central America, or at least El Salvy. Here are some facts he gave off.

• 2001 earthquake left 1.8 million homeless
• 2005 volcano and floods left 75,000 displaced
• El Salvador is the second most deforested country in the world
• All rivers/groundwater is contaminated
• The biggest causes of death for children under five are diahrrea and respiratory infections, which result from the contamination of the water and other environmental problems such as air pollution
• 174 women die for every 10,000 births (in the US the stat is 3 or 4 women). Most give birth alone now since midwives were outlawed in order to get people to travel to the clinics, which can sometimes be hours away.
• 50% of the population work 14 hours a day and earn $3-5 per day. Others earn less and others don’t have work.
• The government wants these people to begin to pay taxes, when they don’t even tax the big businesses. There is no property tax or sales tax in El Salvador.
• Because of the lack of taxing, E.S.. loses $950 million a year in taxes that can be used to support the pueblo. Banco Cuscatlan alone could pay at least $25-30 million in taxes, but they don’t because the owner of the bank is a friend of the government.
• Maquila (sweat shop) and outsourcing is going downhill – China is cheaper.
• Cloth, thread and machines are all sent from the states, so the only job offered to the people is the assembly.
• Remasas (remittances) from those who immigrate to the states without documentation (who some call “illegal”, but no human is illegal) make up 18% of the GDP, giving the country $3 BILLION a year. This amount is 6x lager than the forgeign reserves sent to the country.
• Most farmers are over 45, since majority of the 18-45 year old men have left for the US.
• Salvadoran gangs (MS-13 and 18^th Street) actually started in the US, (not in El Salvador) to defend themselves against Mexican gangs. Formed from men with no sense of identity and little more than a 5^th grade education, gives them a sense of identity and power.
• E.S. has implied the Iron Fist Policy and the Super Iron Fist Policy after the first one caused a 25% jump of homicides within one year of its implication. The Super Policy caused a 35% jump. We’re looking at the wrong problems – e.g. baggy pants can get you into jail for 72 hours.
• Jails here are a grad school for gangs. Not only do you get more respect for being in jail, but you’ll come out doing drug. The jails are separated by gangs, sometimes they’ll mix the gangs just so they kill each other.
• EL SALVADOR IS THE SECOND MOST VIOLENT COUNTRY IN THE WORLD NEXT TO IRAQ. There are 57 homicides per every 100,000 people. There is a war in Colombia and we’re still ahead of them in terms of violence.
• There is no internal affairs division in the police, so you cannot imagine how corrupt it is. There were 7 cases in 6 months of extrajudiciary execution.
• Loans…oh geez.
• The country wants to take a $436 million loan from the World Bank/IMF when they could have $950 due in taxes every year if they implied it.
• 40% of the GNP goes to pay off previous loans
• 98% of the GNP goes to pay off loans and SS
• 48% of the wealth in this country is distributed between 6-8 families who make up 10% of the population.