http://www.nacla.org/art_display.php?art=2730

By Jason Wallach

Despite a vigorous nationwide search and a handful oftraffic-snarling protests, Edward Francisco Contreras is still missing. The21-year-old student activist disappeared February 7, and his father and friendssay they have made little headway in finding him.  

According to Contrerass fellow activists, few of whomwanted their real or full names published, agents from the homicide division ofthe national police stopped a bus Contreras was riding outside the San Salvador suburb ofSanta Tecla and arrested him without explanation. They say the officers at theAteos police station originally said he had been detained there, but since thenno police agency will acknowledge that Contreras was ever in its custody.

After that, we have no other information, says Carlosof the Popular Youth Bloc (BPJ in Spanish), of which Contreras was a member.We have to find out if they were really police officers. We know that deathsquads exist [again] and that they are already functioning.  

Contrerass compañeros in the BPJ decry his disappearanceas an example of growing repression against the student movement. TodaysSalvadoran university activistsinheritors of the militant organizations bornin the 1970shave focused on campus-based issues like university funding andequitable admission policies, but most groups also maintain close ties to ElSalvadors vibrant social movements. They are as likely to march againstincreased electricity rates as they are to protest tuition hikes.

A week after Contreras went missing, the Brigade ofRevolutionary Students and the BPJ cordoned traffic for blocks around the National University. Hundreds of studentsparticipated in the five-hour action demanding Contrerass release, cloggingmorning rush-hour traffic and drawing significant attention to the case.  

Following the protest, questions emerged about whetherContrerass disappearance resulted not from his student activism but from hisbeing a key witness in a murder trial. According to a prominent student leader,Contreras worked as a bus fare collector and watched for weeks as a feuddeveloped between dueling drivers. Later, a driver with whom Contreras workedwas shot dead, and Contreras was set to testify in court.

On March 9, the left-leaning daily Diario Co-Latinopublished an interview with an anonymous BPJ member who said organized crimecould be behind Contrerass disappearance, apparently referring to the busdriver feud.  

Transit company bosses wield enormous power in El Salvador,and many speculate that they are behind a large portion of the countrysdrug-trafficking business. Could Contreras be a victim of a hit to prevent histestimony in court and to stop a transit boss from falling? If so, he hasbecome yet another statistic in this nation, where an average 12 people dieviolently every day. Human rights defenders estimate that 5% of murders in El Salvador arecontract killings.

Whatever the facts surrounding Contrerass mysteriousarrest, his disappearance has made El Salvadors student movementrealize that no one is safe and that a return to the political repression thatuniversity organizations experienced during the 1980s may not be far away.After a January march against ElSalvadors recently approved Special LawAgainst Acts of Terrorismwhich many think could open the door to furtherrepression10 BPJ members were tracked down by police and arrested. All werereleased days later without charge.  

Last month, the president of the UN Working Group onForced Disappearances, Santiago Corcuera, visited El Salvador and stated flatly thatforced disappearances are a continued and permanent occurrence. El Salvadorshuman rights ombudswoman, Beatrice de Carrillo, and the Legal Assistance Officeof the Archbishop of San Salvador have, in separate reports, echoed claims thatextermination groups tied to people with power are operating in thecountry. President Tony Saca and Public Security Director Roberto Ávila havelargely ignored these claims.

Back on campus, Oswaldo Nataren of the Roque DaltonUniversity Front says he fears disappearance but contemplates his hopes for El Salvadorsstudent movement. We must overcome our differences and build unity amongstudents, he says. If not, the government will take advantage of ourdivisions.

Jason Wallach is a member of the Upsidedown world.orgeditorial collective and the communications coordinator for Christians forPeace in El Salvador.