El Salvador News Roundup March 30, 2023
Because I firmly believe, that no cerote should be left behind!
Hey amigis,
Since I talk a big game about the Salvadoran diaspora being uninformed, and how a lot of our kin has been seduced by the sweet, sweet nothings promised by Pupusa Mussolini (Nayib Bukele) – I’m doing a weekly news round up on Thursdays to combat media illiteracy in our community. (Maybe not every Thursday, but on Thursdays.)
On El Salvador’s Death Prisons:
EL PAÍS: The rampant abuse in El Salvador’s prisons: ‘They beat him to death in the cell and dragged him out like an animal’
Two former inmates give an exclusive interview on the brutal treatment inside Nayib Bukele’s prisons, which include not seeing the sun for almost a year and watching a fellow inmate get beaten to death for complaining about hunger and lack of medical care. The interviewees were release due to lack of evidence — meaning they weren’t guilty, but were tortured anyways. That’s how it currently works in Mano Dura El Salvador.WNYC Studios: Has Mass Incarceration Made El Salvador Safer? (PODCAST)
Salvadoran Dartmouth professor Jorge Cuéllar talks to Melissa Harris-Perry about the origins of El Salvador’s prisons going back to the civil war of the 1980s. It’s 23 minutes and worth the listen.
Revista Elementos: Informes confidenciales PNC comprueban que gobierno ocultó homicidios durante régimen de excepción
This article talks about how confidential reports prove that police covered up homicides during the on-going state of exception in El Salvador. This is what a lot of advocates have been saying — that Bukele’s regime has been lying about the murder rate going down and has been hiding the bodies. Article is en español.
On Abortion Rights in El Salvador
The Guardian: ‘Historic moment’ as El Salvador abortion case fuels hopes for expanded access across Latin America
The case of Beatriz, a woman who was denied an abortion during her high-risk pregnancy in 2013, is being heard by the Inter-American court of human rights (IACHR). This could finally decriminalize abortions in the country and set a precedent for the Americas. (It’s worth noting Nayib Bukele’s regime has done nothing to move the needle on this issue)
On the Migrant Deaths in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico
El Paso Times: Mexico releases names of migrants affected by Juárez fire
This is the only English-language outlet I found that has the list of the names and nationalities of the almost 40 people from Central and South America killed by fire in a Mexican immigration facility. The highest number were from Guatemala, with many Indigenous Maya names on that list.
The Diaspora Connection:
LA Times: How the Salvadoran diaspora became a literary juggernaut
Finally, something positive! Here’s a nice write up on up-and-coming Salvadoran American writers. We’ve had whole generations of Salvadoran writers banned, exiled and persecuted through generations of fascist regimes in El Salvador, and this new school in the diaspora is standing on the shoulder of so much unwritten history!
I’ll be back to my rants on Tuesdays.
Xoxo,
Salviprince