Producer/Host: Meredith DeFrancesco
Environmental and Social Justice: El Salvador Social Movement
Key Discussion Points:
a) We sat down with two members of the Salvadoran social movement, Bernardo Belloso of CRIPDES and Zulma Tobar of US El Salvador Sister Cities, to talk about some of the issues confronting the organized rural communities in El Salvador.
b) These include the growth of the sugar cane industry and the impacts on health from agrochemicals and excessive use of water, national efforts to privatize water and climate change. In 2016, El Salvador became the first country to ban metallic mining, a result of massive social movement efforts.
c) Since 1991, Bangor, through local organization PICA (http://www.pica.ws/) and US El Salvador Sister Cities, has had a sistering relationship with the Salvadoran community Carasque, one of the 300 rural communities organized through CRIPDES. MOFGA (Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association is sistered with the Salvadoran sustainable agricultural organization, CORDES. (www.mofga.org/Publications/The-Maine-Organic-Farmer-Gardener/Spring-2015/Sustainable-Agriculture-in-El-Salvador). WERU Community Radio is sistered with community radio station Radio Sumpul in the organized community Guarjilla. (www.radiosumpul.org/)
Guests:
Zulma Tobar, US El Salvador Sister Cities www.elsalvadorsolidarity.org/
Bernardo Belloso, CRIPDES www.cripdes.net/ www.elsalvadorsolidarity.org/cripdes/
Thanks to Andrea Mercardo for translation.