Tag Archives: El Salvador

May 4, 2012

CUBA CENTRAL News Blast: Governor Scott steps on a rake; the Cuba Transition Project loses the plot

Last week, we reported on Governor Rick Scott’s decision to sign legislation to stop Florida’s municipalities and state agencies from doing business with companies that have dealings with Syria and – the intended target – Cuba.  At the time, we called him “cynical” for signing legislation that is probably unconstitutional and bad… read more »

May 4, 2012

About face delcared on gang violence in El Salvador

Associated Press- Rival Salvadoran gangs yesterday announced an expansion of the terms of a truce as the Central American country grapples with a plague of violent crime that threatens to sweep the nation. Representatives from El Salvador’s notorious Mara Salvatrucha and Mara 18 gangs told the media that the country’s… read more »

May 1, 2012

Informe Mensual: El Salvador, Abril del 2012

Si bien la Cumbre de las Américas estuvo colmada de frustraciones para el Presidente Obama, en el caso del jefe de Estado de El Salvador, Mauricio Funes, este acontecimiento de dos días resultó ser todo un éxito. En su discurso ante los participantes de la Cumbre, el Presidente Funes pudo anunciar por primera vez durante los casi tres años de su administración que el sábado 14 de abril hubo “cero homicidios” en este país. Esto obedece a un frágil acuerdo de cese al fuego entre las dos pandillas más grandes del país, la MS y Barrio 18.

May 1, 2012

El Salvador Monthly Update: April

Although the Summit of the Americas was fraught with frustrations for President Obama, for El Salvador’s head of state, Mauricio Funes, the two-day event was a success. In his address to Summit participants, President Funes was able to announce “zero homicides” in El Salvador on Saturday, April 14th, for the first time in the nearly three years of his administration, a consequence of the fragile cease-fire agreement between the country’s two largest gangs, MS and Barrio 18. Not only was President Funes seated at the right hand of the U.S. president during official meetings, when the two leaders met privately, Funes received assurances of continued U.S. support on economic and security issues. Just three days later, El Salvador accepted the “voluntary transfer” of two Guantanamo prisoners as refugees.

April 25, 2012

Building on success: How El Salvador is trying to keep gang violence down

Hannah Stone, Christian Science Monitor-After a truce between warring gangs cut murders in El Salvador by half last month, the government is moving to consolidate its security gains through work opportunities for ex-gang members – but this will prove more difficult than brokering the peace deal. Last week, El Salvador’s government announced… read more »

April 22, 2012

Salvadorans hope dedication of square spurs more recognition

Sam Quinones, LA Times- Under cloudless skies and a radiant sun, a couple of hundred Salvadorans dressed in white gathered early Saturday to name an intersection near downtown Los Angeles in honor of Msgr. Oscar A. Romero, a Catholic archbishop who was slain in 1980 during El Salvador’s civil war… read more »

April 20, 2012

CUBA CENTRAL News Blast: Frustration or Rebellion? Cuba’s In or the Summit’s Out, Region Tells President Obama

Last Sunday, the Sixth Summit of the Americas ended without a formal declaration but with the United States chastised and isolated by its regional allies. Nearly everything has been said about the Summit – setting aside for a moment the Secret Service scandal – and nearly everyone has said it. … read more »

April 19, 2012

Guantanamo Prisoners Released In El Salvador

Ben Fox, AP- Two men from western China who had been held for nearly a decade without charge at the Guantanamo Bay prison amid a diplomatic struggle to find them homes, have been resettled in El Salvador, the U.S. military said Thursday. The men, ethnic Uighurs from a region of… read more »

April 15, 2012

El Salvador marks murder-free day

Reuters- No one was murdered in El Salvador on Saturday in what was the first homicide-free day in nearly three years for the Central American country plagued by violent drug gangs, according to officials. “After years when the number of murders reached alarming levels of up to 18 per day,… read more »

April 13, 2012

CUBA CENTRAL Newsblast: Flashback/Fast Forward: Obama, Cuban Docs, and the Summit of the Americas

As President Obama makes his way to Colombia for the Summit of the Americas – “to tout his trade record and convince millions of Hispanic voters back home he cares about the region,” as Reuters tartly reported – we found ourselves thinking back three years when he last attended this… read more »