Items worth reading

There was a lot of coverage of El Salvador this week. I recommend the following articles:

• Business Week had coverage of the CAFTA ratification fight in the US Congress and an interview with Tony Saca. The consensus is that the Bush administration still does not have enough votes to ratify the treaty.
  
• Children and Youth in Organized Violence is an international research project concerning children in violent organized structures such as gangs. The project issued a global research paper which has an lengthy section concerning the "maras" of El Salvador which offers many insights into gang culture in the country.
  
• The Santa Barbara Independent carries a long article chronicling the visits of an American doctor to some of the poorest areas of El Salvador.