Booker T. Washington High School
Model United Nations Club
Country Briefing: El Salvador
El Salvador is the smallest central American country and the only one without a Caribbean coastline. It has a population of 6 million, making it the most densely populated country in the western hemisphere. With a GNP per capita of $2,040, it is also one of the poorest. 48% of the people live below the poverty line. 94% of the population is of mixed Spanish and Indian descent, ¾ of the people are Roman Catholics and 40% of the people are below the age of 15.
History: El Salvador has long been home to indigenous populations speaking Nahua, a language related to that of the Aztecs. The Spanish came in the 16th century, and built a civilization based on the encomienda system – meaning that grants of land and slaves (Africans and Indians) were given to conquistadors to establish plantations. Independence from Spain came in 1821, and government fell to the powerful landowning class. They continued the policy of developing cash crops like cacao, indigo, sugar and coffee for export. These were labor-intensive crops, so the primary purpose of the state apparatus became the maintenance of effective police forces and an army to control a potentially restive peasant population. As the population grew in the 20th century, so did peasant unrest and the paranoia of the government. In 1927, the government unleashed the army on peasants to pre-empt a suspected communist revolution, leading the army to kill up to 3% of the population. This event, known as “La Matanza,” heightened class animosity but secured the dominance of the ruling elite. By the middle of the century a collection of 14 families controlled most of the nation’s wealth. Shifts in power occurred, but usually in the form of military coups that saw power transfer merely from one wealthy group of elites to another. Throughout this period, the United States took measures to in insure that its interests were protected, by supporting governments that were friendly to American businesses in the country. In the 1970s, this social and economic inequity spawned an armed communist revolution led by a group known as the FMLN. In 1979 another communist movement in Nicaragua, the Sandinistas, won its revolution and began providing the FMLN material support. The United States responded by giving El Salvador massive amounts of military aid, and by training a generation of Salvadoran officers in the School of the Americas, a facility in Georgia that has been criticized for the human rights abuses of its graduates. The war in the 1980s was exceedingly cruel, with both sides engaging in murder, assassination and terrorization of the population. By the 1990s, the FMLN’s armed revolt had waned, and the government achieved some measure of stability. El Salvador now holds elections, with both the conservative ARENA party and the FMLN taking part. Natural disasters such as the hurricane of 1998 and earthquakes in 2001, as well as low coffee prices and the regional recession, have slowed economic growth to 1.4%. This is below the population growth rate of 1.85%, which means that Salvadoran families are getting poorer. Many of them now depend on remittances – money sent back home by Salvadoran immigrants in America – to make ends meet. It also means that El Salvador is particularly vulnerable to any restrictions placed on immigration and money transfers with the United States.
Diplomatic Agenda: El Salvador has built close ties to the United States in the last twenty years, and views those ties as key to its future. It remains one of the largest recipients of US aid in the region. In the security field, it depends on continued support of the Salvadoran military. El Salvador also cooperates with the US in its efforts to interdict drugs and combat foreign terrorist organizations, both growing threats to Salvadoran sovereignty. On the humanitarian front, El Salvador’s greatest concern is its continuing poverty, which causes thousands of Salvadorans to emigrate northward each year. El Salvador is fighting to win greater access for these emigrants to citizenship in the US and better treatment wherever they go. Another untouched issue is the legacy of the civil war years. The government and the FMLN both were responsible for untold war crimes and human rights atrocities, including torture and executions. There can be no real peace and reconciliation until the truth of those years is told, but none of the political parties active today are willing to take the issue on as they all face some responsibility. In economics, El Salvador desperately needs foreign direct investment (FDI), bank loans and increased trade to develop the economy, build local industry and raise living standards. The government actively supports the Mexican “Pueblo Panama” plan for Central American development, and is seeking access to NAFTA status with the United States. Finally, El Salvador’s position on environmental issues is complicated. A growing population makes for increasing stress on the landscape. Hillsides are being cleared to make room for settlement and farming, creating new problems of erosion and mudslides. El Salvador is simply too poor to do much about these problems at this time, and must hope for the best.