Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Romero) all seem to get shot. Are the pacifists losers? As a competitive person, I don't
like this idea.
My 1988 visit to Central America was filled with hope. I came again after the defeat
of people's movements in both El Salvador and Nicaragua in 1991. The tide had turned,
and I wondered how the spirit of the people's movements—so exuberant just three years
before—would fare after the American-funded victories in their domestic struggles. Then,
in 2005, after 14 years of globalization, it was clear: There was only one game in town.
Refocusing on the troubadours, I heard them sing, “It's not easy to see God in the
child who cleans the windshields at a San Salvador intersection…but we must.”
Epilogue: Back to the Barrio
In December of 2010, after the publication of this topic's first edition, I returned to El Sal-
vador. While my first visit, in 1988, was to witness and understand an actual war, today
that struggle has become a political one. The problems caused by the gap between rich and
poor, which fueled the revolutions and civil wars of the recent past, now fill the docket
in parliament. And today, both headlines and peoples' minds are filled with the struggles
caused by that persistent gap—petty crime, the drug war, and gang violence.
Driving from the airport into the harsh urban scene of San Salvador, I saw a big ban-
ner proclaiming, “Nothing will intimidate El Salvador: Government and society united
against crime and violence.” Since my last visit, the already rising tide of gangs in El Sal-
vador had gotten even worse. (Many believe this is driven by Salvadorans who go to find
work in the US and bring back their shiny new gang memberships. In a sense, El Salvador
exports labor and imports gangs.) I was told it was unwise to walk around after dark, for
fear of being robbed at knifepoint by a group of young thugs. It was clear that the fear and
violence that wracks a society because of a desperate poor class is bad for the economy.
It's terrible for tourism, and, more importantly, wonderful people who would otherwise
dedicate themselves to building their nation instead dream of escaping to the USA.
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