Also included in this update:

    * Cabañas Community and CISPES Delegation Honor Marcelo Rivera
    * Right Wing Parties Continue to Scramble and Divide
    * Domestic Workers Granted Health Care Coverage
    * Sixteen Killed in Bus Burning, FMLN Suspects Destabilization Plan
    * Social Movement, FMLN and Funes Denounce Honduran Coup Leader's Visit

In a July 13 statement after the arrest of 8 suspects in connection tothe murders of anti-mining activists from the rural department ofCabañas, El Salvador, the National Roundtable Against Metallic Mining(the Mesa) criticized the investigation for ignoring glaring ties togold mining interests in the region. On July 1, the National CivilPolice (PNC) and the Attorney General's Special Organized Crime Unit(DECO) announced the arrests of 8 individuals for the murders of DoraAlicia Sorto Recinos and her unborn child, Ramiro Rivera and FelicitaEcheverría in December of last year.  Rodolfo Delgado, the director ofthe DECO, announced that the murders were due to a family feud and thattwo families had contracted gang members to kill members of the rivalfamilies.  He went on to say that the mining conflict was not theprincipal motive for the murders and that the Attorney General wassatisfied that all the material authors and the two intellectualauthors of the crime were in custody.

In their statement, the Mesa criticized three major aspects of the investigation.  First, the Mesa rejected the hypothesis that the mining conflict was not the principal motive, pointing out that among the suspects are former paid promoters of the Canadian mining company Pacific Rim and that both Sorto and Rivera had been receiving death threats referencing their opposition to Pacific Rim's mining projects prior to their murders.  Second, the Mesa is not satisfied that all intellectual authors have been investigated and arrested.  Investigators have failed to look into or explain how two, poor campesino families would have the money to hire assassins.  Finally, the Mesa denounced the lack of convictions concerning other cases of violence against anti-mining activists including the kidnapping, torture and murder of Marcelo Rivera, death threats against the staff of Radio Victoria, as well as threats and murder attempts of other local environmentalist leaders.

Cabañas Community and CISPES Delegation Honor Marcelo Rivera

On June 24, hundreds of people gathered in the town square of San Isidro, Cabañas to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the forced disappearance and murder of Marcelo Rivera, with a public event organized by the local grassroots organizations of the Progressive Coalition for Life (Mesa Progresista por la Vida). Despite the somber occasion, vibrant performances by youth community theater, rock bands, local organizer and rap singer MC Letal and speeches from community activists kept spirits high and sent the positive message that the communities will continue organizing to defend Cabañas from Pacific Rim's proposed gold mines, in spite of the violence and impunity they face.

Members of the first CISPES Radical Roots Delegation - a delegation of Salvadoran young adults raised in the US and Canada - also participated in the commemoration, reporting on the solidarity organizing in the US against impunity in Cabañas and against Pacific Rim's multi-million dollar lawsuit against the Salvadoran government.  Delegates pledged CISPES' commitment to accompany the communities of Cabañas in this struggle and presented a banner dedicated to the anti-mining martyrs.

The next day, the delegates issued a press statement denouncing the continued impunity in Cabañas, demanding a thorough investigation into the intellectual authorship and role of Pacific Rim in the violence against anti-mining activists and then presented those demands to the offices of the Attorney General.  Delegates delivered their statement along with 200 postcards from Salvadorans living in the US, echoing the call for a thorough investigation into violence against movement leaders in Cabañas.  Read Salvadoran news coverage of the Radical Roots Delegation political action in the Diario CoLatino and La Prensa Gráfica.

Right Wing Parties Continue to Scramble and Divide

In-fighting within the Salvadoran political right has continued, since the first major split last October when one-third of ARENA's legislative deputies left the party to form the Great National Alliance, or GANA party. Last month, mayors and council members from the 13 ARENA municipalities in the department of Chalatenango publicly accused members of GANA of offering them government projects through the FISDL, the Social Investment Fund for Local Development, and large sums of money to join the new party. GANA leader and deputy Guillermo Gallegos has denied the accusations, asserting that the ARENA elected officials approached GANA of their own accord, with interest in joining the party.

The right wing Christian Democrat Party (PDC) has also been weakened by internal divisions, after losing 3 of its 5 Legislative Assembly deputies in early June. Following the expulsion of Wil Salgado - the long-time, influential mayor of San Miguel - from the PDC for insubordination, three PDC deputies promptly quit the party and declared themselves independents.  On June 30, 5 independent deputies united to create a new legislative group called "Leaders for Change", consisting of the 3 ex-PDC deputies, Orlando Arévalo - expelled in March of 2009 from the right wing Party for National Conciliation (PCN) - and Miguel Ahues, who renounced his GANA affiliation to join the group.  Arévalo himself has recently founded a new center-right party, known as the the Popular Party, and established the Civic Movement for Liberty and Democracy as the social movement to back the new party.

This high degree of internal turmoil and power struggle within the right is clearly linked to the historic victory of Mauricio Funes and the leftist Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) in the 2009 presidential elections, and the ongoing search for a viable right wing party to rival the political force of the FMLN in future elections. With the recent shifts, the current composition of the Legislative Assembly is: 35 FMLN seats, 18 ARENA, 13 GANA, 10 PCN, 5 Leaders for Change, 2 PDC and 1 Democratic Change (CD). In spite of the divisions, right wing parties continue to hold the most seats in the Legislative Assembly and can still unite to pass legislation or block FMLN proposals.

Domestic Workers Granted Health Care Coverage

On July 2, El Salvador's housekeepers, gardeners, cooks, childcare providers and other domestic workers officially became eligible for federal health care coverage, 3 months after President Funes announced this plan in April.  Domestic workers between the ages of 14 and 60 are now able to enroll in the Salvadoran Social Security Institute's (ISSS) Health and Maternity Special Regimen, a plan that provides comprehensive and affordable health care.  Employers are responsible for a tax-deductible monthly fee of $15.57; employees will pay just $6.23 a month for their coverage.  ISSS officials expect to enroll 5,000 domestic workers by December 2010, eventually providing coverage to 27,000 domestic workers by the end of President Funes' term in office.

Sixteen Killed in Bus Burning, FMLN Suspects Destabilization Plan

On Sunday, June 20th, a grisly act of violence shocked El Salvador when armed assailants shot a public transit bus full of passengers and set it on fire in Mejicanos, a municipality just outside of San Salvador; 16 people were killed.  Shortly after the bus was burned, another Mejicanos bus was fired upon, killing 2 passengers.  Within 24 hours the PNC had arrested 8 suspects, all members of the 18th Street Gang.  President Funes declared the murders an "act of terrorism", although the PNC has attributed the bus murders to gang rivalry.

In the days following the attack, newspapers and other media sources were saturated with grisly details and diverse opinions.  The GANA Legislative Assembly fraction called for passage of the death penalty and ARENA demanded that Funes fire his cabinet appointees, Minister of Public Security Manuel Melgar and PNC Director Carlos Ascencio, both FMLN members.  The FMLN denounced the act of violence as more than gang-related and raised questions about whether this incident and other recent acts of violence are part of a larger destabilization plan to undermine and counteract the new government's security policies.  Community organizations, FMLN base committees and schools organized various activities and mobilizations in Mejicanos, San Salvador and around the country to honor the victims and call for peace in the communities.

Social Movement, FMLN and Funes Denounce Honduran Coup Leader's Visit

On June 21, San Salvador's ARENA Mayor Norman Quijano received Honduran coup leader Roberto Micheletti in San Salvador, bestowing him the title of "Distinguished Visitor" at a lavish reception attended by ARENA party leadership.  Mayor Quijano told the press that the party was honoring Micheletti for his "outstanding labor in favor of democracy in his country."  Micheletti also had closed-door meetings with the business sector during his visit. The Salvadoran right wing and particularly the ARENA party have expressed strong support for the coup leader and the de facto government he created after the Honduran military kidnapped President Manuel Zelaya at gunpoint and exiled him to Costa Rica.

Micheletti's 2-day visit was kept very quiet, with the press and public unaware of the visit until hours before the reception.  Social movement groups quickly organized protests, decrying the political murders, violence and forced disappearances carried out under Micheletti's regime, and the political violence that has continued under Porfirio Lobo's controversial presidency.  The FMLN officially denounced the visit, stating: "Because of his anti-democratic behavior, violations of human rights and disrespect for international organizations, the FMLN declares Roberto Micheletti persona non grata in El Salvador." President Mauricio Funes joined the party in vehemently condemning the coup leader's presence in El Salvador.