Charity promotes democracy in El Salvador
Key elections have been held in El Salvador, highlighting the issue of democracy in the Central American country.
The non-governmental organisation, Swiss Labour Assistance (SLA), has long been helping to promote gender equality and empower unions and farmers groups.
The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) is also active in El Salvador, providing humanitarian aid.
Parliamentary and municipal elections took place on Sunday and follow on from the victory of Tony Saca of the right-wing Arena party in the 2004 presidential elections.
El Salvador, one of the smallest and most densely populated countries in Central America, is recovering from a civil war and several natural disasters.
Two major events have shaped the run-up to the elections: the death of Schafik Handal, leader of left-wing opposition party FMLN in January, and the signing of a free trade pact (Cafta) – a first for a Central American state – with the United States last month.
El Salvador is said to be the US’ closest ally in Latin America, with several hundred troops in Iraq.
Karin de Fries, the NGO’s coordinator for EL Salvador, says the political situation became polarised between the FMLN and Arena during the last presidential elections. The ballots should give an indicator of the two parties’ strength.
“In this context we have the free trade agreement with the US and this is a big social fight because it affects the survival of a lot of people in the countryside and in the markets,” de Fries told swissinfo. “The FMLN is the only party to have said they don’t want the deal.”
It was reported on Monday that Saca had already claimed victory for Arena, but early results showed a tie with FMLN for the 84-seat congress.
Democracy building
The SLA has been in the country since the end of the conflict in 1992. Supporting democracy has been one of its main aims, said de Fries.
Ahead of the elections, support has been given to women’s organisations to ensure that women use their vote.
“They meet every two weeks and discuss why women should vote because there’s been a 12-year civil war and before that a dictatorship, so the purpose is to construct a different culture of participation and resolving conflict.”
This is part of the SLA’s drive to empower women in the country, in which a macho and violent culture persists.
But not all the SLA’s work is the realm of politics. It has also lent support to trade unions, especially in the health and water sector.
The NGO also supports smallholdings by promoting access to land deeds for farmers – land ownership is still a major issue in the country- and by promoting the diversification of crops, including growing organic products and using local seeds.
De Freis said that this process had already borne some fruit and was also a good way of encouraging the population to have their say in the political process and in local issues.
Concerning the future of the country, de Fries said she hoped that the profile of El Salvador and its neighbours would be raised, especially in light of the movements for change.
“There are interesting processes going on in favour of the majority of the people and social organisations,” she said.
swissinfo, Isobel Leybold-Johnson
The El Salvador civil war ended in 1992.
Around 70,000 people died in the conflict and $2-billion in damage was caused.
Poverty, social inequality and unemployment are still rife. Crime is also a major concern.
Much of the population is dependent on remittances sent from El Salvadorans in the United States.
Coffee and sugar cane are the main crops and the country uses the US dollar as its currency.
Central America has been designated an SDC priority area, with a budget of SFr40.7 million for 2005. Around 20% goes to EL Salvador.
El Salvador receives humanitarian aid to help it deal with the aftermath of natural disasters such as Hurricane Mitch in 1998 and the two earthquakes in 2001.
This includes reconstruction of production capabilities, provision of fresh drinking water and rebuilding infrastructure.
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