Center for Democracy in the Americas

A PDF version of the El Salvador Update is available here. A PDF version of the April 2013 Peacemaking Chronology is available here. Versión en formato PDF aquí. If you would like to receive the Monthly El Salvador Update via email, contact: ElSalvadorUpdate@democracyinamericas.org.  Summary: In the midst of political bickering, economic… read more »

A PDF version of the El Salvador Update is available here. A PDF version of the March 2013 Peacemaking Chronology is available here. Versión en formato PDF aquí. If you would like to receive the Monthly El Salvador Update via email, contact: ElSalvadorUpdate@democracyinamericas.org.  Summary: March was a month of anniversaries in… read more »

When peace agreements are signed and the guns are finally silenced, the cries for justice from victims and survivors are often drowned out by demands to “forgive and forget.”  After civil war in places like El Salvador, the search for truth is considered, domestically and internationally, as a threat to… read more »

It has been nearly a year since El Salvador’s nascent and still-controversial gang truce started. During the night of March 8-9, 2012, under the cover of darkness, gang leaders were transferred from maximum to minimum security prisons, and so began the peace process that continues to this day. Within days, the homicide rate dropped dramatically. As a result, El Salvador is no longer on the list of the world’s most violent counties and security no longer leads the list of Salvadorans’ concerns.

January 16th was the 21st anniversary of the signing of the Peace Accords that ended El Salvador’s 12-year civil war. Once again, it was a time for reflection on the successes and limitations of the agreement and its implementation. In the context of a very difficult economic and fiscal environment, and the evolving gang truce and peace process, the principal post-war critique from the left remains: despite the Funes Administrations’ efforts to comply with the spirit of that historic document, the fundamental causes of the war – poverty and exclusion – remain. “Peace doesn’t just mean the absence of war,” Vice-President Sánchez Cerén declared, “as long as there is injustice and inequality in the country, there will be violence in the country.”

The historic truce between El Salvador’s powerful and violent street gangs, Mara Salvatrucha (MS) and Barrio 18 has lasted nearly one year. During that time homicides have been reduced from 14 per day before March 8th, 2012 to about five per day in December. El Salvador is no longer the… read more »

A PDF version of the El Salvador Update is available here. A PDF version of the December Peacemaking Chronology is available here. Versión en formato PDF aquí. Summary: 2012 in Review On January 16th 2012, Salvadorans celebrated the 20th anniversary of the peace agreement that ended El Salvador’s civil war. Most,… read more »

Salvadorans were relieved by President Barack Obama’s re-election, thus ensuring the continuation of the strategic partnership between the Obama and Funes administrations. “I am pleased,” President Funes commented, because “this gives continuity to the programs we are developing.” Foreign Minister Hugo Martínez expressed the hope of the government that President Obama “focuses on the issue of comprehensive immigration reform” in January. Versión en español en formato PDF aquí.

Eight months into the truce between Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Barrio 18, El Salvador’s homicide rate has been drastically reduced and the developing peace process has begun to engage Salvadoran society.

Out of the blue, the U.S. Treasury Department made an announcement on October 11th designating MS-13 as a dangerous transnational criminal organization on par with the world’s largest and most sophisticated criminal enterprises. However, according to President Funes and his security team, the decision will not affect El Salvador’s peace process. Still, the underlying motivations behind the decision and the consequences for El Salvador are uncertain.

On October 11th, the U.S. Treasury Department announced that the Mara Salvatrucha (MS) street gang had been added to its list of dangerous transnational criminal organizations. The decision surprised Salvadoran officials, who have witnessed an extraordinary reduction in homicides as the result of a cease-fire agreement between MS and the… read more »