by Juliana Birnbaum Fox
Salvadorian Assemblymember Blanca Flor A. Bonilla (in white) after meeting with El Salvador’s vice consul in SF. (photo by Marvin J. Ramirez)
A four-month long resistance by residents of Cutumay Camones, El Salvador to the illegal construction of a dump that could poison the community’s water supply has been met with increasingly violent attacks by military and police. On Nov. 22, more than 300 riot police were sent and helicopters sprayed tear gas on protesters, likely contributing to the death of 14-year-old William Alfredo Ventura, who died of respiratory complications. The use of force against demonstrators has escalated significantly since the opening of the U.S.-sponsored ILEA (International Law Enforcement Academy) in El Salvador in 2005.
Blanca Flor Bonilla, a deputy to the Legislative Assembly in El Salvador, joined activists from CISPES, the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador, to condemn the escalating violence. A small group gathered outside the Salvadoran consulate in San Francisco on Nov. 29 for a press conference to denounce the repression of community protest by the Salvadoran National Police under the administration of President Antonio Saca.
The conference was timed to coincide with Saca’s visit to Washington DC on the same day, where he met with President Bush and received a medal of honor from the International Republican Institute for “promoting freedom and democracy” in Latin America. According to White House Spokesperson Dana Perino, the leaders met to discuss “the recent initiative to enhance security cooperation with Central America.”
Assemblywoman Bonilla claimed that the medal was a reward for Saca’s policy of selling off most of El Salvador’s government-run utilities to transnational corporations.
“Thirty-nine people, including children under the age of 18, have been arrested and are under police custody,” CISPES’ statement claimed. “We stand with the people of Cutumay Camones in demanding the immediate release of all community members captured last week. We demand the end to the construction of the garbage dump. Further, we implicate the United States government for condoning, if not directly instructing, these actions by training police at the ILEA.”
The attacks in Cutumay Camones follow similar clashes in Suchitoto, where mass arrests took place against people protesting water privatization. The “Suchitoto 13” face charges of terrorism for organizing a protest and blockading a road last July to stop the president’s announcement of his plan to privatize El Salvador’s water.
“President Saca has agreed that police used excessive force, and some cops were suspended,” Bonilla said. She went on to say that the removal of single officers is insuffficient, as the military and police continue to defend private interests by repressing the community, and the construction of the garbage dump has gone forward.
Bonilla also drew attention to the plight of undocumented workers from El Salvador, who are being deported at a rate of 120 to 180 daily.
“In April we visited the detention centers in San Antonio and Nuevo Laredo – on both sides of the border – and verified that there isn’t enough consulate presence. They make them sign deportation forms in English, and then they deport them, without giving them a chance to consult with an attorney.”
