April 9, 2003

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador - Eleven years after the signing of peace agreements ending a war that left more than 75,000 people dead, it is possible to state that the war ended but the root problems remain, Dr. Angel Ibarra, a key presenter at the Lutheran World Federation (LWF) Pre-Assembly Consultation (PAC) for the Latin American and Caribbean region, said.

Speaking on the social and church trends and prospects in El Salvador and Central America, Ibarra, director of the ecological association, Unidad Ecologica Salvadorena (UNES), noted that the national political climate improved, the Human Rights Defense Office was created, political repression ended and people are free to participate in elections. But, all of this is not enough and does not meet the expectations of the people who pushed for the end of a brutal war that racked the country between 1980 and 1992, he said.

"On the contrary, I believe that the situation has worsened," Ibarra told ALC. Neoliberal policies are now in place, many state companies have been privatized, the government no longer attends to the basic needs of the population, thousands of workers have been fired and poverty has increased," he said. More than 600,000 out of 6 million Salvadorans depend on emergency relief for survival, he noted.

After the peace agreements there was a "honey moon" period but that stage is over, Ibarra explained. Today the social movements, including unions are raising their voice in protest, conscious that the model of a liberal economic policy will not resolve the serious economic and social problems affecting vast sectors of the country.

The former dean of the Lutheran university in El Salvador said it was essential for each country to strengthen its civil movements, and the continental social alliance, created in the framework of the World Social Forum.

Ibarra argued that neoliberalism is a US project intended to extend the country's monopoly from Alaska to Patagonia, pushing for free trade agreements and guaranteeing investment for its firms, with little concern for the local social and environmental aspects. In an asymmetric relationship, the United States applies measures to protect its market and demands that all Southern markets be completely open, he said.

"We must oppose this agenda and all attempts to dominate and we must create an awareness that 'another world is possible,' as we learned in the Social Forum in Porto Alegre," Ibarra stressed. In conclusion, he underscored the contribution of Lutheran churches in this effort and cautioned that while "the road may not be easy and there are many obstacles, we cannot 'heal' the world if we do not oppose 'this' globalization."

ALC - Latin American and Caribbean News Agency (Lutheran World Information)