PRESS RELEASE

Event: Protest against Hypocrisy of Antonio Saca, President of El Salvador;

When: Monday,November 3 at 10:30 am
Where: WoodrowWilson Center,1300 PennsylvaniaAve

Community in Washington denounces political violence,economic exploitation by Saca government

Head of Salvadoran Political Party tied to Death Squads Talks ofPeace and Prosperity in WashingtonDC

Washington DC: Salvadorans and social justice alliesprotested today their indignation at the presence of the President of ElSalvador, Elias Antonio Saca, in WashingtonDC. On Monday Saca will participate in an eventat the Woodrow Wilson Centerabout Peace and Prosperity, but some members of the Salvadoran community callthis an insult to the Salvadoran reality since Saca has only caused morepoverty and violence in the country. Under the Saca administration the economic crisis has worsened,death-squad style groups have re-emerged, and public protest has beencriminalized.

Accordingto the US-based Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador(CISPES), the economic polices of free trade and privatization pushed forwardby the US government and implemented under the Saca administration havedeepened the poverty of millions of people. Because of these policies, some 500 to 700 Salvadorans are forced toleave the country every day in order to survive; the result is that one inthree Salvadorans live outside of their own country.

Its curious that Saca is coming to Washingtonnow to talk about TPS so few months before the municipal, legislative andpresidential elections in El Salvador,said Rosa Lozano, a Salvadoran who lives in Washington. It seems that Saca is only coming to put on a political show to promoteRodrigo Ávila, the presidential candidate from the ARENA party. The most recent polls in El Salvadorshow that if the elections were tomorrow, the candidate from the FMLN party,Mauricio Funes, would win.

According to CISPES, there have been over twenty political assassinationsduring the past two years, including the assassination in January of this yearof Wilber Funes, the mayor of Alegría, Usulután from the FMLN party. After tenmonths, the government has still not done a thorough investigation into thisassassination.

The theme of the event isoffensive to the Salvadoran community here in Washington because this president is amilitaristic president, a president who condones violence against activists ofthe opposition, said Lozano. Saca represents the continuation of therepressive military dictatorships of the past.

Last year, the government of Saca with the support of theU.S. State Department brought charges of terrorism against 14 people whoprotested against the privatization of water and threatened to sentence themwith 60 years in jail. The Salvadoran government was denounced internationally,including by more than forty members of the U.S. Congress, for its attempt tocriminalize dissent and public protest.

There will be a protest with banners and images of the victims ofcurrent political violence in El Salvador

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