by Linda Joanna Salinas, Bay Area CISPES
   
     Being part of CISPES' March election observation delegation to El Salvador gave me new direction in my organizing and a new level of political concienziatura (consciousness). The Americas have been resisting colonization for over 500 years, and the recent changes are the fruits of this struggle. El Salvador is one of the areas that have had the blood fall from its people’s veins in the struggle against imperialism. The recent victory of the FMLN is due to the freedom fighters of the generations before that had faith in their compañeros to continue the fight.
     A lot of the work to support the FMLN came from the social movements. As delegates, we saw them organizing themselves to inform other people to counter the right wing-controlled media and to denounce any fraud. They were the ones getting out the vote, but more importantly, protecting the vote of el pueblo. The movements that have been challenging the repression were the ones that got the FMLN into office and will carry the responsibility to keep the new government accountable to the people. They know that the FMLN has a large and long battle in front of it. Though the party won 35 legislative seats and the presidency, this is only a piece of the constant struggle to slowly transform a country to be accountable to its people, rather than foreign investors. I heard many people say that the change will not come from the asemblea (Legislative Assembly), but from the grassroots.
     Our delegation was able to meet with so many people that had so much heart, who do this work out of need, but more than anything out of love for the people. The Las Hermosas workers are a perfect example of this.  They decided to organize a union and have refused to take a deal in which only the leaders would be paid but not the rest of their compañeras. They believe either “we all eat, or none.” This was not an isolated story, but something that was seen in the many people we met that fought not just for themselves, but for each other. The people of El Salvador are continuing the fight of the generations before and fighting for the generations after, so they can live in a land that they work and that will belong to them and their children.    
     Nevertheless, the people and land of El Salvador continue to be exploited by Free Trade Agreements like CAFTA. The people we met explained that the beauty and resources of this small country are being polluted and destroyed at an alarming rate. The Rio Lempa, the largest and cleanest water source in El Salvador, is being exploited and will die within 60 years. Stories like this, and of the workers of the Las Hermosas factory, highlight the need for the solidarity movement in the United States.  
     As people that live in United States, we have the responsibility to challenge our government’s involvement in other countries and the policies it creates. We know that el pueblo Salvadoreño is fighting the Free Trade Agreements its former government has made, and we need to partner with them and challenge U.S. trade policy.    
     In addition to trade policy, the U.S. intervenes in El Salvador through the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA), where the U.S. trains Salvadoran police to battle “terrorism.” Exactly what type of terrorism is the Salvadoran government fighting?  What does it mean to be a “home grown terrorist”? Will the police be used to repress leftist social movements when they take to the streets to make their voices heard against corruption and injustice? I know that CISPES will continue to work with the leftist movements of El Salvador to denounce the injustices of the U.S. and the Salvadoran right wing.
     I felt blessed and privileged to be able to experience even a small piece of El Salvador’s, and this continent’s, transformation. The CISPES delegation gave me, a first generation Salvadoreña born in the USA, the opportunity to connect my organizing and political work to my roots. I came back from El Salvador revitalized by the spirit of the people, and determined to keep educating, mobilizing and organizing.

¡Hasta La Victoria! ¡Siempre!