CISPES ACTION ALERT....

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CISPES ACTION ALERT
May 5, 2008
Take Action to Denounce U.S. Intervention in El Salvador and Attacks against CISPES
From May 5-9 CISPES chapters around the country are taking action to denounce U.S. government inquiries into the work of CISPES and to raise awareness about the U.S. role in ongoing human rights abuses and problems leading up to the 2009 elections in El Salvador.
In January CISPES received a letter from the Department of Justice saying that the U.S. government suspects the organization of being an "agent of a foreign principal", which would require CISPES to register under the "Foreign Agent Registration Act." The justification was a claim that the leftist FMLN party in El Salvador had hired CISPES to do public relations and fundraising support for its presidential campaign in the U.S., but little credible evidence was provided. You can read more about the CISPES DoJ case here.
Bush and the right-wing Salvadoran ARENA party want to stop CISPES from providing effective solidarity. We understand that this threat is meant to frighten us into changing the nature of our work, such as our campaign against the US-sponsored International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA), against the draconian Salvadoran anti-terrorism law, and in favor of the right to free and fair elections in El Salvador. They want to make us think twice about standing with the FMLN as a leading opponent of US dominance in Latin America. While we take the government's threat seriously, we have no intention of toning down our solidarity work.
Please take a moment to defend CISPES' solidarity work by denouncing the government's attempts to stop our organizing efforts! Organize and join CISPES' work against the ILEA, which has brought further human rights abuses to El Salvador! Speak out against the anti-terrorist law, which is targeting and criminalizing the social movement! Demand free and fair elections in El Salvador! Your action is critical in defending the right to organize, in solidarity with those who are struggling to have REAL democracy in El Salvador.
Take Action!
1. Ask your organization to sign on the solidarity letter "Tell the Department of Justice to Lay Off CISPES!" posted on the website of the Latin America Solidarity Coalition – LASC. Go here to sign on: www.lasolidarity.org.
2. Call your Congressional Representative and demand that they challenge funding for the ILEA, both through the Merida Initiative and the Foreign Operation Appropriations bill, by encouraging Western Hemisphere Subcommittee Chairman Elliot Engel to hold a hearing (see below or go to www.cispes.org/ilea for talking points).
3. Sign onto CISPES' People's Pledge to Defend the Right to Free & Fair Elections in El Salvador (go to www.cispes.org/documents/pledge2009.pdf to download the pledge)
Stop Repression in El Salvador and shut down the ILEA: Background
This year, the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) is being funded through both the Foreign Operations Appropriations bill and the so-called Merida Initiative, the latter of which will be voted on in the coming weeks in the U.S. Congress. The U.S.-sponsored ILEA has been operating in El Salvador over two years and has been criticized by social movement organizations and human rights groups as another potential School of the Americas (SOA), under a new name and in a new location. Since the opening of this institution, human rights abuses have increased in El Salvador, from attacks on peaceful protesters by the National Civilian Police (PNC) to the documented role of the PNC in at least 8 extra-judicial killings in one year.
When CISPES started its campaign against the ILEA Congress was in the dark about this institution; now after public education, protests, and visits to Congress by CISPES activists, people are starting to be aware of the issues of repression in El Salvador and the nature of the ILEAIn the coming months before the June vote on the Foreign Operation Appropriations bill we hope to continue to educate Congress by pushing for a Congressional hearing and challenging Congress to increase oversight of the ILEA, as part of our campaign to shut down the police academy!
Call the House Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 or toll free at 888-355-3588
When you call:
1) Ask the operator for your Representative, and then ask to speak to your Representative's foreign affairs legislative assistant, chief of staff or legislative director.
2) Tell them you are a constituent and want to know your congressperson's position on the ILEA. If they don't know what the ILEA is, inform your rep.
3) Using the description above and the talking points on the CISPES webpage (www.cispes.org/ilea), explain why the ILEA is another worrisome project of U.S. training of Latin American police forces and why groups in El Salvador are demanding that it be closed.
4) After you make your points, ask the aid what their position is on this issue. If they are unsure, urge them to call congressmen Engel's office to request a hearing on the ILEA at the Western Hemisphere Subcommittee in order to provide them with more information about the situation of the National Civilian Police, human rights abuses in El Salvador, and the ILEA.
5) If the Rep. agrees to help work on the ILEA issue, send an email to CISPES (elizabeth@cispes.org) with the name of the person you spoke with and your Rep's name, and we will send their office more details about the ILEA and our campaign.