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A friend and I were contemplating a trip to El Sal, but have stopped contemplating it since reading this article. Colombia seems to be problematic as well:

Sunday, January 15, 2006
El Salvador's pain -- murder rate highest in Latin America
The statistics on the homicide rate in El Salvador in 2005 compared with the rest of Latin America are truly shocking. As reported today by La Prensa Grafica, the country's murder rate of 54 murders per 100,000 in population is by far the highest in Latin America. No other country has a rate higher than 40 per 100,000:

The causes are many -- gangs, poverty, the proliferation of guns, an ineffective court system, organized crime, family violence, and more -- and the solutions are elusive. The only thing which is clear is that this tragic situation requires efforts at all levels of society from the government, to the churches, to the schools, to the media, to business and community leaders.

The auxiliary bishop of San Salvador, Gregorio Rosa Chavez, declared today, that to solve the problem of the violence in El Salvador it will be necessary "to depoliticize it" and to see it in more global terms. "Laws we have enough, but there is not a culture of respect for the law, and when the approach in the law is repressive, it is a sign of weakness, a sign that that the law does not respect the person, that our laws do not show a belief that we are a rational people", the bishop said, in a press conference in the Metropolitan Cathedral. He added that "it is necessary to de-dramatize the subject and to de-politicize it, that is to say, to see it in more global terms, and to search for the types of politicians and types of policies we need to come out ahead".

Meanwhile Salvadoran president Tony Saca has presented a new initiative to the Legislative Assembly to "reform" the criminal laws to strengthen the sanctions against those who commit the crimes of extortion or kidnapping.


# posted by Tim : 1:16 PM
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Comments:
I’m not sure what Gregorio Rosa Chavez hopes to accomplish with his comments. He asks us to de-politicize the problem of crime in El Salvador and then offers the insightful recommendation that we see the problem in global terms and “search for the types of politicians and types of policies we need to come out ahead". Perhaps he is not specific about which politicians and policies would solve the problem because he doesn’t want to politicize the problem.

His comments criticizing the government’s repressive response are fine, but vague (perhaps he is vague to avoid looking political). However, what are needed are not vague accusations but good social science, specific policy proposals, and healthy debate. Having family who experienced government repression in the 1980’s, I am disposed to believe accusations of government repression today. However, it strikes me that no one seems to be making any efforts to document this repression.

One gets the impression from an earlier article cited in Tim’s blog that people like Matt Eisen and Antonio Rodriguez are encountering police repression on a daily basis. Maybe we should send these guys a video camera.

Notice that Nicaragua is not listed in the murder statistics. Nicaragua has much lower crime rate despite similar history and worse poverty compared to El Salvador. Has anyone seriously looked into the causes of this?
# posted by Miguel Lerdo : 10:25 AM
Chavez knows exactly what he is talking about. It's all about respect. People might follow laws out of fear but that can only go so far. Without respect, as Chavez was stating, people will take advantage the first chance they get and break the law because that's simply human nature. If they are not respected, they naturally and most certainly will not respect back. It's that simple. Besides, when people live constantly in such horrible conditions and in extreme poverty, what are you surprised that they act against the law? Being poor for so long can drive anyone crazy. If I lived my entire miserable life on a dollar a day in a smelly slum with no future and no hope, I'd most like pick up a machete and cut off some heads myself. It's only natural. The key is first and foremost education - look at Castro's policy of educating his people. Now that's smart.
# posted by tony rochman : 4:38 PM
One of the biggest problems is that the "people" that are now making decisions were not educated properly. The masses in El Salvador that are old enough to vote and make change went though the civil wars that required survival and let education go. Education and time will make a difference and nothing else will.
# posted by Anonymous : 8:27 AM
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