Repression continues as parents of FMLN leader are brutally murdered in Suchitoto

The elderly Manzanares couple and their daughter Marina, known during the war as Mariposa, had received death threats in recent months because of their political work. On Sunday, the parents were brutally murdered after they were beaten, stabbed, and burnt by a group of heavily armed men dressed in civilian clothing who then proceeded to scatter oil all over the floor to cover up any evidence.

The gruesome killings are the latest in a string of repression and violence against activists. While Mariposa’s parents owned a small store, nothing of value was stolen, re-enforcing a hypothesis that the killings were inspired by political motives. “They stole everything that was red. FMLN t-shirts and posters, the ones of Schafik [Handal], also the ones of Monseñor Romero and the t-shirts that they kept of my brother Paco Cutumay,” said Mariposa. (Paco Cutumay was lead singer for Cutumay Camones, a popular Salvadoran musical group that accompanied the national liberation movement. He was killed in 1993.) The Salvadoran mainstream press, usually one to pour over the details surrounding El Salvador’s daily body count, has provided minimal coverage on the double homicide and attributed it to robbery.

“What we are pointing to is that there is a modus operandi, characteristic of the structures that were known as the death squads. In other words, torture, disfiguration, savageness and in which the only apparent motivation is the active participation in politics during the last years on behalf of the Manzanares family for the recovery of our historic memory,” FMLN press secretary, Sigfrido Reyes said at Monday’s emergency press conference.

In mid-February, Juana de Manzanares received an anonymous called in which a male voice warned her to buy black clothing for the mourning she would have to keep soon because of the death of her daughter. Two weeks before, Mariposa received a call in the middle of the night by a man, saying “Bitch, Communist, your head will soon roll!” At that time, she publicly said “I’m convinced that these types of threats will be a part of the terror campaign that ARENA will undertake against the people and the revolutionary militants. We continue to be here, en pie de lucha!” Mariposa’s parents were buried today with a massive outpour of accompaniment and a march in Suchitoto denouncing the murders and demanding a prompt investigation.

Unions and social movement protest transportation hikes

The Salvadoran Union Front (FSS) together with other social movement organizations protested On June 30 at the Salvadoran Ministry of Labor demanding an increase to the minimum wage and the ratification of ILO Conventions 87 and 98. Francisco Garcia, FSS leader, argued that the increase in electricity, bus fare, and water prices form part of a packet prepared by the executive branch that affects the Salvadoran population even more. Organization representatives urged the government to increase the monthly minimum wage to $316.00, up from $158.00.

On Saturday, July 1, the bus fare hike went into effect; only 3 weeks after a government mandated 14% electricity rate increase. At least 2 buses were burned in protest of the measure. For the majority of Salvadorans, these increases are a blow to the family economy. A worker who earns the monthly minimum wage of $158.00 and takes 4 buses a day now spends 19% of their salary on transportation, up from 15%. The price of other goods and services has also risen. Meanwhile, a proposal to increase the minimum wage, which hasn’t budged in three years, is frozen in the Legislative Assembly. The Government says it is “consulting” on the issue.

On Monday, the Salvadoran Lutheran church called for peaceful protest against the fare hike. High school students in Santa Ana and numerous communities in Soyapango are protesting the raises on a daily basis, with a larger mobilization expected Friday. Today, high school students in San Salvador have stopped traffic at main intersections to demand reduced fare for students. Some bus drivers have refused to charge the new rate. Meanwhile, the Salvadoran Minister of Public Works accused the FMLN of manipulating the bus burnings and denounced a “return to the terrorism of the past.” But BPS leader Guadalupe Erazo responded. “These measures favor the interests of private companies to the detriment of the Salvadoran people.” In the latest increases, Salvadorans are feeling the impacts of neoliberal economics: the privatization of electric energy and the elimination of transportation subsidies.

The Salvadoran Government has also refused to sign-on to ILO Conventions 87 and 98, which respect a worker’s right to free union association and collective bargaining, respectively. SGP Plus benefits, which allow El Salvador to export to the European Union tariff-free, will expire at the end of the year if the Salvadoran Government does not approve the Agreements. The Salvadoran left has pointed to national financial elites’ mandate as the cause behind the government stalling of the Conventions.

More Updates:
http://www.cispes.org/english/Updates_and_Analysis/index.html