Funes visits Chavez in Venezuela
Mauricio Funes paid a courtesy call on Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela today. Chavez spoke of Funes' election as a victory for the Salvadoran people. Funes thanked Chavez for Venezuela's support of El Salvador. It's worth noting that Funes visited Brazil's president Lula, whom Funes regularly cites as a model, in the first week after his election, but is only now visiting Chavez, the iconoclastic left-wing leader of Venezuela.
UPDATE:
There is a fuller description of Funes' trip to Venezuela in English at this link.
Comments
I'm sure that Neville Chamberlain had his rationalization also.
Salvadoran mass murderers such as Jose Garcia, Eugenio Casanova, and Nicolas Carranza, were found guilty in U.S. courts of crimes against humanity and torture, which Reagan and his apologists--apparently anonymous among them--failed to recognize. Inaccuracy and insincerity about history serve no one's interest.
Hitler is always the convienant straw man in excusing the crimes of criminal murderers who happen to be on the payroll (CIA), as Carranza was to the tune of $90,000 a year.
Anonymous should review the historic struggle of indigenous people in the Americas for some respect and reparations from their heretofore white overseers, before making facile comparisons of little substance.
Whatever you think of his style and methods, there is no pile of bodies to be laid at his feet. US `special friend` Uribes of Colombia on the other hand is up to his neck in death. Journalists, unionists and peasants murdered wholesale by the army and Rt wing paramilitaries, who naturally received their special training courtesy of the US and their weapons bought with US funding.
When people strive for adequate wages and a share in the national wealth, it is a good thing, a natural development in civilisation. Why oppose it with arrests and murders ? That`s when it becomes a `Left wing insurgency` . Why hate Chavez, who does seem committed to helping his people, particularly when compared to say GW Bush et al ?
Nicolas Carranza as a matter of historical record was convicted of crimes against humanity, a charge less formerly known as mass murder. Therefore, he is a mass murderer. Although Garcia and Casanova were convicted for command responsibility in torture, cases could easily be made against them for command responsiblility in crimes against humanity such as shooting down hundreds of unarmed demonstrators on the streets of San Salvador, and other cities, in late 1979-early 1980, among other heinous crimes (see yesterday's Diario Latino for Chaletecos looking for justice in the November 9, 1982 Las Aradas massacre).
According to the UN Comision de la Verdad, the ratio of human rights violations in El Salvador was about 5/1, FAES/FMLN.
The unrepresentative elections held in El Salvador in the 1980s, built on a bloody U.S./El Salvador, human rights and Geneva Conventions violating counter-insurgency strategy, pushed the FMLN to take some measures in repudiation of the early 80's demonstration-elections, where the death-squad ARENA, and sadly the Christian Democratic--fronting for flawed and bloodily imposed agrarian reform--, parties shared power.
Carpio killed himself, after Ana Maria's murder, and Juan Jose Dalton and other family members are free to call upon British prosecutors to charge Villalobos in Roque Dalton's death.
To the shame of many U.S. citizens,
the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and the U.S. Military Group became in the 1980s--from the standpoint of armaments and airmobile tactics--central to the Salvadoran military's strategy of mass murder, although FAES' human rights violating strategy stemmed from the events of 1932 and earlier.
The Salvadoran Human Rights Commission (CDHES)--as well as the Socorro Juridico del Arzobisbado--have abundant documentation from the era pointing the finger of blame for the most egregious violation of the laws of war (Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions, anyone?), as well as massive human rights violations, at the FAES and their disreputable "security forces"--GN,PH, PN--thankfully annihilated for the most part by the FMLN.
I suggest skeptics review that documentation to supplement partial views they may hold about culpability of responsible parties in the tragic events in El Salvador in the last quarter of the twentieth century.
Why couldn't the Salvadoran army dissolve itself, as the army of Costa Rica was dissolved 60 years ago. Too busy parasiting off the people and killing civilians, cuando le ronca la gana, I guess.
As for the Amnesty Law passed in early 1993, conveniently passed by ARENA with no organized opposition (before the 1994 elections) from the FMLN, here's commentary on the Amnesty Law taken from a 2001 U.S. Institute for Peace analysis of the Peace Accords:
"Immediately following passage of the amnesty law, Salvadoran NGOs petitioned the
Supreme Court to find it unconstitutional. The Court dismissed their challenges by
terming the amnesty a political question not subject to judicial review. The Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has found that El Salvador’s sweeping
amnesty law contravenes its obligation to investigate, prosecute, and sanction those
responsible for human rights violations under the American Convention on Human
Rights. The IACHR has specifically stated that the Truth Commission process did not
relieve El Salvador of these obligations.
However, reliance by the international community and domestic courts on the jurisprudence
of the Inter-American Court and Commission on Human Rights implies
that a state cannot use an amnesty law to abrogate its obligation to investigate, prosecute,
and punish serious violations of human rights, and that a Truth Commission is not an
adequate substitute. Recent treaties have placed specific obligations on states to investigate
and prosecute those responsible for torture, forced disappearances, and violence against
women.
Courts in Argentina and Chile, for example, taking account of international law developments,
have both recently ruled that forced disappearance is a continuing crime for
which responsibility cannot be extinguished even if the fate or whereabouts of the victim
has not been established. In October 2000, the Salvadoran Supreme Court finally ruled on
the constitutional challenges to provisions of the 1993 amnesty law. Although the Court
found that the amnesty law was not unconstitutional per se as it could be applied in a
manner consistent with other constitutional provisions, the court rejected its predecessor’s
position that the amnesty law was not subject to its constitutional control. The
Supreme Court’s decision clarifies that lower courts must analyze any cases involving
crimes that might be subject to amnesty to determine whether the amnesty can constitutionally
be applied to the case at issue."
As Socrates said to the Sophists, more to chew on.
How boring to ask for justice in their deaths or for the suffering of their family members!
Sneering militarist chest-thumpers should consider if their arrogance is well-placed in dissembling arguments on behalf of the abuses of the Salvadoran Military, security forces, and para-military death squads?
The victims of historic May massacres: May 9th 1979, at the National Cathedral steps and May 14th, 1980 at the Sumpul River, cry out for justice!
"Progress" for Latin America is not synonymous with U.S. economic interests, nor with backing the local economic elites ruling with blood and iron.
As for several postings here, I agree with those who know the real history of Latin America. Any and all crazy screws who trashed their countries at the behest of foreigners were backed, trained, and supported by the US. If you wouldn't sell-out your country, just wait for the US sponsored coup.
It was not in the US interest to have strong neighboring countries ... where's the US gonna get cheap labor and substandard industrial procedures if people are actually educated and modern?
I hope Funes administration will be able to bring about an entrepreneurial environment, educational reforms, and job creation for Salvadorans.
History can prove a point and whats the harm in being repetitive if all you guys are still discussing stuff? He's free to post what he wants I think it's rather interesting from what I have read.
1) Where has the manufacturing sector of the U.S. economy disappeared to? It has disappeared to low wage countries offering wages workers are unable to survive on (thus, forcing them to become undocumented workers in higher wage countries), and that US economic sector has been replaced with the "financial industry". We see now the economic effects of that debacle.
For those agricultural laborers and service sector workers cited, the US in fact does not offer visas and minimum wage. Up to 750,000 undocumented mostly Latino harvesters work in the Western US seasonally. Because of the US historic disrespect for this essential workforce, a minsicule few thousand visas (not H2b agricultural work visas) are available to put food on the Gringo's table. I don't see much political inside the beltway momentum now in favor of the AGjobs bill languishing in Congress, which will legalize those millions of undocumented workers. Republicans lash out at the undocumented Latino community every chance they get, sensing a useful vote-getting scapegoat, beating their chests at how they are protecting Americans from "terrorist" or "criminal" broccoli pickers!
2. "The Silly Victim mentality": Let's see, when a brutal counterinsurgency war is imposed that forces you and your family into refugee or internally displaced status by driving you from your home and away from land that could have been used to feed your family (El Salvador: Chalatenango, San Vicente, Morazan, La Paz, Usulutan) or out of your homes in the cities by right-wing death squads(Cuscatcingo, Soyapango, etc.) because you or your family members might hold poltical views different from the "Protection Racket State" gang, then you are poltically persecuted and must seek asylum in another country. That was the reality for many Salvadorans, Guatemalans, and other Central Americans in the 1970s, 1980s. Ronald Reagan didn't recognize the "blowback" effect on immigration policy from his nifty counterinsurgency wars and the denial in general of asylum status, until his successor was forced by the American Baptist Churches class action suit agreement that forced reajudication of thousands of improperly rejected asylum applications and by the Temporary Protected Status for Salvadorans.
Fancy free trade agreements in the 1990s further drove Mesoamerican people off the land by making imported corn cheaper to buy than growing native corn (NAFTA's impact on Mexico)
Those "silly victim mentality" people seeking justice through universal jurisdiction to bring perpetrators of crimes against humanity to justice? Oh, how silly of them!! Even sillier, some "silly" victims have been successful. Just ask Carranza, Casanova, and Garcia how much they've had to fork over in civil damages?
By the way, "the stupidity of war and of the ensuing human tragedy resulting from a generalized insanity running a muck" is not an acceptable perpetrator's defense in a war crimes or crimes against humanity trial.
Also, a general amnesty in El Salvador was not agreed to--especially for torturers/murderers from the GN, PH, and PN--in the "peace agreement", but was passed by the ARENA dominated legislature in 1993. Whether that holds up remains to be seen.
4. And spare us the "Mother Hen" USA and her little Latin American chicks analogies. Those are demeaning and patronizing.
African-Americans talk about reparations for slavery and Native Americans talk about reparations for genocide.
The arrogance of power prefers to sweep concepts of justice under the historical rug. There are too many people with their testimonies--the Cry of the People--for their voices not to be heard.
Throughout most of El Salvador's history, the Salvadoran Armed Forces walked all over the constitution(s). Who says the 1983 constitution is written in stone? Why not write a constitution dissolving the Salvadoran Armed Forces? Aw schucks, too much gringo money invested? Imagine all that fancy Internal Security doctrine taught at Fort Benning to safeguard El Salvador's rich, being put into the trash bin of history.
Thank you for visiting the "Gates of Hell" or as you call it " Hell Hole" , We named it El Salvador so more people like you could come here and visit, and go back to the States, be judgemental about it and feel good about themselves.
Even though what you saw in El Salvador is not close to the pictures in your church bulletin, we hope that you had a good time.
El Salvador was not what you were expecting, but you were not exactly what we were expecting either. we were hoping missionaries with the face of Angelina Jolie, body of Carmen Electra, and the voice of Beyonce,
Simple as that!!! and I am sorry but we can not give you your money back!!!
We, still used rivers as sewers not because we don't want to do something about it...but because we want to demostrate in a practical illustration how trickle down economy works...the Rich guy is on the mountain top sending his excrements down to the last poor guy in the lower altitudes in the beach...
What you saw and called garbage dump it was my house, we love to build houses with that stuff. and it's not because we can not build with my salary that is $250-300 per month, but because we like the garbage decor with used pallet accent, and trash bag look. We love that stuff...
When you see my cousin Pedro sneaking in the US, he wants to do better for himself...maybe he could hope to mow your loawn, or clean your house, or make your food.
Hopefully as you came to give us something perhaps the Word of God,or the Love of God...or the Wisdom of God (and by doing that you appeased your conciense) Hopefully We, Salvadoreans gave you something in return...May God
show his mercy!!!
*to be continued....
I knew that Bernie Madoff was close to you, but I didn't know that he was your uncle.
Old Lady doing the ponzi tricks. My cousin Jose that the pudding was kind of rotten like your teeth, but enough with your beautiful smile. Jose also told that you promise to pay him for the work that he did $4.00 per hour, when all was set and done you pay him $10 dollars and called INS. I admire your lovely honesty, and yes I'll be very careful in the rio Acelhuate next time I go fishing, perhaps I'll find the dentures that you lost when you came to El Salvador....
A 54.6 million dollar verdict against two retired Salvadoran generals accused of torture in their home country two decades ago was reversed this week by a federal appeals court which ruled that the victim’s claims failed to meet a 10-year statute-of-limitations rule. We speak with one of the plaintiffs in the case who was tortured in El Salvador and one the lawyers in the suit.
Get your facts straight!
If you can't get your recent history straight, then who knows what you'll attempt to foist on unsuspecting readers about the great beneficence of states in the 19th century!
The previous post's cited court decision was reversed: the details are below. The $54.6 million judgement stands.
The following was abstracted from the website of the Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA), the lead plaintiff's counsel in the civil suit.
"In January 2006, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals upheld our [CJA] $54.6 million jury verdict against Generals Jose Guillermo Garcia and Carlos Eugenio Vides Casanova, two former Ministers of Defense who oversaw the worst period of human rights abuses in El Salvador's history. The case was originally filed by CJA on behalf of Juan Romagoza, Neris Gonzalez and Carlos Mauricio in 1999. In 2002, after a four week trial, a West Palm Beach jury found the generals responsible for the torture of the three plaintiffs.
Romagoza Arce is one of the first cases in which a jury in a fully contested trial found perpetrators liable for human rights abuses solely under the doctrine of command responsibility. The command responsibility doctrine, used in the Nuremberg trials after World War II, provides that commanders may be held responsible for abuses committed by their subordinates if the commanders knew or should have known that abuses were taking place, and failed to take all reasonable measures to prevent the abuses or punish the perpetrators.
In July 2006, with the judgment final, Defendant Vides Casanova was forced to relinquish over $300,000 of his own funds. This collection represents one of the first human rights cases in U.S. history in which survivors have recovered money from those found responsible for abuses. Almost all of the proceeds have been donated to charity by our heroic clients."
more info at www.cja.org about the Garcia, Casanova, and Carranza cases.
Ah the memories of El Salvador for those "battle hardened men": burning flesh, gang rapes, "la capucha con cal", electric shocks to the genitals, strangulation, disembowlment, dismemberment, hung from their thumbs, fingernail extraction,...and that most beloved of all by the neo-con (unreconstructed Reaganites) advocates of Enhanced Interrogation...that namby-pamby Waterboarding.
Training texts for that next generation of depraved sadists waiting in the wings to fill the shoes of "battle hardened men" such as Carranza, Casanova, and Garcia, could be written for even later generations of "enhanced interrogators".
The techniques would be mostly al estilo Salvadoreno, but with that special help only Gringos can provide: from their "enhanced torture" trainers at the Fort Benning, GA located School of the Americas, aka, School of the Assasins.
To bad Florida is rotten with these types. Strange Fruit seem to hang together. Not unusual though, since this is where the Orlando de Sola crowd hatched its most nefarious mass murder schemes of their fellow Salvadorans.
Perhaps de Sola and his buddies will have their special day before a Florida jury empaneled to try those with "command responsibility" for crimes against humanity, or at least those who paid the blood money.
"I believe in the doctrines of life that Sun Tzu shared with us over two thousand years ago, and I firmly believe in the stupidity of war as a viable means to move forward."
Congratulations, you've probably ascended many ranks by being wo stupid!
As for the "last decisive battle of the Cold War," many historians believe the Salvadoran and Guatemalan rebellions/revolutions/civil wars had more in common with the Mexican Revolution! Were Francisco Madero, Pancho Villa, and Emiliano Zapata commies too?
To start with, I suppose that I should recommend to the above writer that he start with the memoirs of Vietnamese General Võ Nguyên Giáp, who using the enlightened thought of Sun Tzu and only had at his disposal what were basically peasant troops, completely defeated and routed the most modern and powerful, best equipped army in the world. This great victory was the result of human persistence, tactical brilliance, and the enlightened thought of Sun Tzu. War is definitely the stupid man's alternative to conflict resolution, and I'm sure the the military, industrial and financial complexes are in "tall cotton" as long as there are wars and idiots willing to use the as an extension of their hegemonic foreign policies. I hope that one day I too can congratulate the above writer for his enlightenment.
Heroes? Torture? "Harsh Interrogation Techniques" "GITMO" does Abu Ghraib, sound a bell for you, pal? If not, then how about G.W. Bush, Cheney and that cabal. I hope this Is that more helpful? Oh well, as for Pancho Villa, Emiliano Zapata, Francisco Madero, and Porfirio Diaz, Etc . You must know that the Bolshevik Revolution when the Czar and his family were murdered happened in Russia, in 1917, not in Mexico. Trotsky was the hard liner who was assassinated in Mexico by order of Vladimir Lenin. I hope this small history lesson is helpful. Ciao..
Oh, and as far as your suggested drink, although a bit early, a Tequilita sound nice. Thanks.
Sorry for any misunderstandings!
Agradezco la paciencia
Realidad es que dichas consecuencias no pueden ser muy alentadoras.
Lito Cader
Asuncion Mita