ENGAGING DIASPORA COMMUNITIES: El SALVADOR

UNCLAS SAN SALVADOR 000901

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SUBJECT: ENGAGING DIASPORA COMMUNITIES: El SALVADOR

REF: STATE 86401

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1. (U) Post's responses to reftel queries are below. Certain topics
have been combined to minimize redundancy.

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OVERVIEW
--------------


2. (SBU) Summary. An estimated three million Salvadorans reside
abroad, with approximately 90 percent of them in the U.S. Salvadorans
are a readily-identifiable community that maintains strong ties to
their home country, and are strongly encouraged to do so by the
government of El Salvador (GOES) as part of its development strategy.
The economic impact of the diaspora community on El Salvador is
significant. The Salvadoran diaspora has had an active role in shaping
the bilateral relationship and is actively involved in Salvadoran
politics. On the negative side, as many as 50,000 Salvadorans in the
U.S. are believed to be engaged in gang-related criminal activities.
End Summary.


3. (SBU) An estimated three million Salvadorans reside abroad, with
approximately 90 percent (roughly 30 percent of El Salvador's
population) of them in the U.S. El Salvador's population of 5.8
million contributes the third-largest Latino population (after Mexico
and Puerto Rico) to the U.S., comprising 2.9 percent of foreign-born
residents. The Salvadoran diaspora in the U.S. is a
readily-identifiable community that maintains strong ties to its home
country, and is encouraged to do so by the government of El Salvador
(GOES) as part of its development strategy. Individual Salvadorans
often maintain strong family ties, and remittances make up nearly
one-fifth of the GDP of El Salvador. In addition, there are numerous
"hometown associations" (HTAs) that promote Salvadoran culture,
maintain community ties among Salvadorans living in the U.S., and
provide assistance to communities in El Salvador. The impact of the
diaspora is such that Salvadorans often jokingly refer to the U.S. as
the "fifteenth department (province)" of El Salvador, and there is even
a "Salvador Diaspora" song available on the Internet at
http://www.last.fm/music/Rex+Riddem+featuring +Carlos+Scorpi%C3%A0o/_/Sa
vador+Diaspora.


4. (SBU) On the negative side, as many as 50,000 Salvadorans in the
U.S. are believed to be engaged in gang-related criminal activities,
especially in the areas of Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Houston, the
Washington D.C. metropolitan area, and Charlotte, NC. The origins and
persistence of gang violence in El Salvador are traceable to California
prisons and two-way travel of gang members.


5. (U) The largest concentrations of Salvadorans in the U.S. are found
in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Santa Ana, California; the
Washington, D.C. metropolitan area; New York City and Long Island, New
York; Houston and Dallas, Texas; Charlotte, North Carolina; and the
cities of Miami, Boston, and Chicago. Emergent communities also exist
in Las Vegas, Nevada; Greensboro and Raleigh, North Carolina; and
Atlanta, Georgia. Los Angeles, the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area,
Houston, and Charlotte rank in order as the top four cities with
Salvadoran populations. Salvadorans comprise the largest immigrant
group in the Washington, D.C. area, numbering more than 100,000 people.

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EL SALVADOR'S OUTREACH TO THE DIASPORA
--------------


6. (U) The diaspora community receives significant attention from the
GOES, which maintains active outreach efforts. Both Presidential
candidates met with Salvadoran communities and raised funds from them
during their campaigns last year. In 2004, former President Antonio
Saca created a special position in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for
Salvadorans living abroad, and convened a Presidential Forum on the
diaspora. The outcome was a focus by the GOES on eight areas: human
rights and legal assistance for migrants; migratory stability and
family re-unification; remittances and local development; social and
humanitarian assistance; economic integration; improvement of consular
services; linkage with diaspora communities; and citizen participation
and national identity.


7. (U) The Embassy of El Salvador in Washington, D.C. has a Salvadoran
Community section that actively communicates with Salvadorans residing
in the U.S., and coordinates activities among the 16 Salvadoran
consulates in the U.S. and between the two countries. The Embassy's
outreach includes assistance with immigration issues, including
Temporary Protective Status, which many Salvadorans enjoy, and
documentation of those with no legal immigration status. The Saca
administration (2004-2009, conservative ARENA) had intensively
campaigned in the U.S. for the renewal of TPS, which was approved by
the Bush administration in 2008.

8. (U) El SalvadorQs U.S. consulates are located in the cities of
Boston, MA; Las Vegas, NV; Brentwood, NY; Los Angeles, CA; Chicago, IL;
Nogales, AZ; Coral Gables, FL; New York, NY; Dallas, TX; San Francisco,
CA; Duluth, GA; Santa Ana, CA; Elizabeth, NJ; Washington, DC; Houston,
TX; and Woodbridge, VA.


9. (U) The Salvadoran Embassy communicates frequently with the U.S.
Congress, the White House, and local community authorities to promote
the liberalization immigration rules and laws. In addition, the GOES
promotes "nostalgic" products through commercial fairs, as well as
investment of remittances into housing projects in El Salvador.
Salvadoran banks operate branches in several cities in the U.S.


10. (U) The Funes administration has continued the efforts of its
predecessor, and sees the diaspora as a partner in its development
strategy, as a source of direct funding and investment, particularly
with regard to reaching the Latino market in the US. It would also
like to see businesses in El Salvador attract more remittance money
through accounts paid for by relatives in the U.S.


11. (U) Recently, the International Organization for Migration (IOM)
and the El Salvadoran Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Labor and
Social Security signed a framework agreement aimed at closer
cooperation in the fields of labor migration and migration management.

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DIASPORA ORGANIZATIONS
--------------


12. (U) Diaspora organizations, often referred to as hometown
associations (HTAs),play an important role in the diaspora community.
In addition to building local community ties, they promote investment
of remittances in community projects, retirement programs, health
services, housing, and tourism. They also lobby the GOES to enable the
diaspora community to vote from abroad and to provide better consular
services, legal assistance and migratory stability. The nature of
Salvadoran HTAs has been described in detail by Manuel Orozco and
Eugenia Garcia-Zanello of the Inter-American Dialogue, a leading U.S.
policy analysis center. Orozco teaches Central American Regional
Studies at the Foreign Service Institute, and is the leading scholar on
remittances and the diaspora.


13. (U) Although only four percent of Salvadorans in the U.S. belong
to an HTA, some 200 well-organized Salvadoran HTAs distributed
throughout the country work in conjunction with Salvadoran community
organizations to raise funds (generally less than 15,000 USD a year) to
support projects in El Salvador, as well as for activities supporting
Salvadoran culture in the United States. The HTAs maintain contacts
with association members and family in the hometown, and work on a
range of projects in both countries, generally in the areas of health
and education. (Source: "Hometown Associations: Transnationalism,
Philanthropy, and Development" by Manuel Orozco and Eugenia
Garcia-Zanello, 2009, available at
http://www.thedialogue.org/PublicationFiles/H ometown%20Associations,%20
ransnationalism,%20Philanthropy,%20and%20Deve lopment.pdf)


14. (U) In addition, USAID, United Nations organizations such as UNDP,
and organizations such as FLACSO-El Salvador (Latin American Faculty on
Social Sciences, an intergovernmental, regional and autonomous
organization) do extensive work on the impact of the Salvadoran
diaspora. A good information source is UNDP's Human Development Report
on Salvadoran migration, by economist and researcher William Pleytez,
available at: http://www.pnud.org.sv/migraciones/content/vi ew/9/105/.
A study on Salvadoran migrant workers by FIDH (for its French
acronym),a human-rights NGO, is available at
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cmw/docs /ngos/MPDM_ElSalvador9.pdf


15. (U) Other important organizations are the Catholic, Episcopalian,
and Lutheran churches as well as evangelical Protestant and numerous
other U.S. church organizations performing missionary work and
providing humanitarian aid in El Salvador.

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ECONOMIC IMPACT
--------------


16. (U) The economic impact of the diaspora community on El Salvador
is significant. The diaspora actively engages in long-term investment
in country, including micro-enterprise development, job creation,
entrepreneurship, and institutional capacity building. A recent study
of this activity is "Exporting People and Recruiting Remittances: A
Development Strategy for El Salvador?" by Sarah Gammage (DOI:
10.1177/0094582X06294112, Latin American Perspectives 2006; 33; 75),
available in an online version at:
http://lap.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/3 3/6/75.


17. (U) In 2008, the Central Bank estimated that remittances totaled
3.8 billion USD, representing the equivalent of nearly one-fifth of El
Salvador's GDP, although it recently announced that remittances dropped
11 percent during the first seven months of 2009. Nevertheless,
remittances are an important source of income for an estimated 22.3
percent of families in El Salvador. Most remittance payments are used
for personal consumption by poorer populations in El Salvador, but some
payments are likely passed to savings or used for investment. The
multiplier effect of these remittances likely sustains a significant
economic base including jobs and, generally, informal sector business
opportunities.


18. (U) Many wealthy Salvadorans spend significant periods of time in
the U.S. and own property or investments in the United States, which
may be re-invested in El Salvador, as the GOES does not place
restrictions on the flow of capital to or from its dollarized economy.
The GOES's Fondo de Inversion Social para el Desarrollo Local (FISDL)
(Social Investment Fund for Local Development) lists numerous
development projects on its website, located at
http://www.fisdl.gob.sv/.


19. (U) According to a USAID study, diaspora investment has been
ongoing since the 1940s, and includes notable successes, such as the
founding of Gigante Express, the largest remittance transfer agency in
Central America. However, mid-scale entrepreneurs are more typical of
the current generation of immigrants, though both benefit from the
"transnational field of vision" that results from migration, as well as
personal contacts and familiarity with migrant consumer patterns."
(Source: "Diaspora Direct Investment (DDI): The Untapped Resource for
Development," USAID publication by Thomas Debass and Michael Ardovino,
May 19, 2009.) According to Orozco, 10 percent of exports to the
United States from El Salvador and various other Latin American
countries are nostalgic goods. Demand for these goods has also
motivated some migrants to invest in home-country export businesses.


20. (U) In July 2004 USAID/El Salvador began an ambitious
donor-diaspora partnership project, ALCANCE (Alianza de Comunidades
Apoyando la Ninez y su Continuacion en la Educacion). At the time it
was the largest USAID-funded public-private partnership involving
diasporas in Latin America and the Caribbean, bringing together 21
HTAs, the Pan-American Development Foundation (PADF),the
non-governmental organization World Vision, a Salvadoran educational
organization, local HTA counterparts, and financing from two banks.
The objectives of the project were threefold: improve education among
poor, rural primary schoolchildren, leverage immigrant resources, and
develop sustainable mechanisms for transnational support for rural
education in El Salvador. (Source: "Remittances, Diasporas, and
Economic Development Issues, Lessons Learned, and Recommendations for
Donor Interventions," USAID publication by Eve Hamilton and Manuel
Orozco in collaboration with Laura Chin and Kathryn Sell, November
2006.)


21. (U) Science and technology have not been a significant focus of
diaspora activity.


22. (U) Since indigenous groups represent less than one percent of El
Salvador's population , it is unlikely that the diaspora community has
been significantly engaged in meeting the health, education and welfare
needs of indigenous peoples.

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DEMOCRACY PROMOTION
--------------


23. (SBU) The diaspora community is actively involved in Salvadoran
politics. In addition to the large diaspora community in the U.S., more
than 20,000 American citizens live and work full-time in El Salvador.
This translates into a broad spectrum of political involvement. For
instance, both presidential candidates met with Salvadoran communities
in the U.S. during their campaigns, and these communities were sources
of campaign funds. Ana Sol Gutierrez, a Maryland state delegate
representing a large Salvadoran community in the D.C. metropolitan
area, is very active in promoting a mechanism for Salvadorans abroad to
vote absentee in Salvadoran elections. (Note: Currently, Salvadorans
residing abroad may vote in elections, but they must return to El
Salvador to do so. End Note.) An example of recent efforts to promote
Salvadoran participation in U. S. politics appeared in a September 24,
2009, Washington Post article, "Salvadorans Seek a Voice To Match Their
Numbers; Summit Aims to Raise Political Visibility," available at:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ article/2009/09/23/AR20090
2304494_pf.html. [Comment: Despite the misleading nature of the
opening paragraph, the article contains useful information on
Salvadorans in the U.S. Salvadorans of all political inclinations fled
the country because of security and economic concerns resulting from
the civil conflict. Some who fled to the U.S. during the civil
conflict returned to El Salvador after the signing of the Peace
Accords. End Comment.]


24. (U) The Funes administration has continued the outreach efforts of
his predecessor, and plans to expand them given the support he received
in the 2009 elections from the Salvadoran community in the U.S.
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PUBLIC DIPLOMACY & OUTREACH
--------------


25. (U) The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC),the U.S. Trade and
Development Agency (USTDA) and the Overseas Private Investment
Corporation (OPIC) are working with El Salvador to facilitate
investment and economic development opportunities in El Salvador's
Northern Zone. MCC has actively sought to engage the Salvadoran
diaspora throughout the Compact development and implementation process,
including the diaspora population that has strong ties to the Northern
Zone, the focal region for the 461 million USD MCC Compact.


26. (U) FOMILENIO (MCA-El Salvador, established by the GOES to
implement the program),the GOES and MCC also coordinated four outreach
events in Washington D.C., New York and Los Angeles to inform local
Salvadorans of business opportunities that the MCC Compact brings to
the Northern Region of the country. Margarita Escobar, the former Vice
Foreign Minister for Salvadorans Living Abroad, played an active role
in planning for the events and providing Salvadoran consular officers
with information on the MCC compact to pass along to diaspora
populations. For more information, see
http://www.mcc.gov/mcc/countries/elsalvador/s v-documents/mcc-ustda-and-
pic-working-with-el-salvador-to-pro.shtml,
http://licitacions.copca.com/tenders/adminSho wBuyer.do~buyerId=1414819,
and http://www.mca.gob.sv/fomilenio/.


27. (U) A recent collaboration between the USG, the GOES, FUSADES
(Salvadoran think tank) and Salvadoran entrepreneurs facilitated
investments and partnerships related to the MCC. Salvadoran business
leaders may now use a new web portal (www.epridex.org) providing
up-to-date information to suppliers and investors regarding business
opportunities, incentive plans, the fiscal operating environment and
tax laws applicable to El Salvador's Northern Zone. These efforts were
featured in a 2008 article in The Washington Post, available at
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ article/2008/03/13/AR20080
1302147.html.


28. (U) Aside from visa inquiries, post receives requests from NGOs
advocating specific issues, generally dealing with human rights and
elections issues. To a limited extent, post has received inquiries
from private citizens seeking to capitalize on activities that may be
complementary to the MCC Compact projects.


29. (U) The Salvadoran diaspora follows events back home closely. The
internet is the best means of contact, including Salvadoran media web
pages. For more recent arrivals, the preferred methods would be local
Spanish language newspapers, radio, and television. Other media
include churches, school groups for Spanish parents, and immigration
NGOs.


30. (U) Useful tools for post would include databases on Slvadoran
diaspora community organizations, as wel a set of maps identifying
Salvadoran population in the United States, and locations of major
hoe town associations. It would also be helpful to ncorporate
Salvadoran-Americans into the U.S. Spaker and IV programs.

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CONACT INFORMATION
--------------


31. (U) Government of El Salvador:

Embassy of El Salvador:
Vilma Herrera
Embajada de El Salvador
Seccio Comunidad Salvadorena
1400 16th Street, NW, Suite 100
Washington D.C. 20036
Tel. (202) 595-7524
Fax (202) 232-3763
vherrera@elsalvador.org
Web site:
http://www.elsalvador.org/embajadas/eeuu/home .nsf/comunidad

Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA)
General Direction of Assistance to the Salvadoran Community Abroad
Contact: Juan Jose Garcia, Vice Minister for Salvadorans Living Abroad
Calle El Pedregal, Blvd. Cancilleria. 500 mts. al poniente del Campus
II de la Universidad "Jose Matias Delgado"
Ciudad Merliot, Antiguo Cuscatlan
El Salvador, Centroamerica
Telephone: 2231-1000, 2289-4952
E-mail: jgarcia@rree.gob.sv
Web site:
http://www.rree.gob.sv/sitio/sitiowebrree.nsf /pages/scancilleria_vicemi
istro2


32. (U) A list of Salvadoran organizations in the U.S. registered with
the Embassy of El Salvador is available at
http://www.elsalvador.org/embajadas/eeuu/home .nsf/comunidad.



33. (U) The most prominent Salvadoran organizations include:

ASOSAL (Asociacion Salvadorena de Los Angeles)
Founded in 1991, ASOSAL provides legal assistance to Salvadoran and
Latin American migrants in Los Angeles, and promotes community
development and cultural identity programs.
Web: http://asosal.org/Asosal.English.htm

CARECEN (Centro de Recursos Centroamericanos)- El Salvador
A non-profit humanitarian organization, founded in 1981, in Washington
D.C., CARECEN's mission is to provide assistance, legal protection and
social services to the Central American community in Washington D.C.
Web: http://www.freewebs.com/carecenelsalvador/ind ex.htm
Catholic Relief Services: http://crs.org/El%2DSalvador/

Center for Exchange and Solidarity
Web: http://www.cis-elsalvador.org/en/history-and- mission.html

Centro Romero (Chicago)
Several Centros Romero were established in the U.S. and Canada during
the civil war 1980s, when many Salvadorans began migrating north.
Centros Romero are community-based organizations that serve the refugee
immigrant population in the U.S.
Web: http://www.centroromero.org/HomePage.asp

El Piche
A Los Angeles organization founded in 1995, El Piche focuses on social
and development cooperation.
Web: http://www.elpiche.com

FLACSO-El Salvador (Latin American Faculty on Social Sciences)
FLACSO is an intergovernmental, regional and autonomous organization,
established in 1957 by the Latin American and Caribbean governments in
coordination with UNESCO. FLACSO-El Salvador started operations in El
Salvador in 1992.
Web: http://www.flacso.org.sv/

FUSADES (Salvadoran Foundation for Economic and Social Development)
FUSADES was established in 1983 by a group of local entrepreneurs with
financial support from USAID. During the 1990s, it was the primary
"think tank" for the ARENA administrations.
Web: http://www.fusades.org.sv/

INTIPUCA
INTIPUCA focuses on improving economic conditions and social events in
their home town.
Web: http://intipucacity.com/

Landmine survivor network:
http://www.survivorcorps.org/NetCommunity/Pag e.aspx?pid=319

Lutheran Church
Web:
http://www.elca.org/Who-We-Are/Our-Three-Expr essions/Churchwide-Organiz
tion/Global-Mission/Where-We-Work/Latin-Ameri ca-Caribbean/El-Salvador.a
px

Population Service International:
Web: http://www.psi.org/where_we_work/central_amer ica.html

SALEF (The Salvadoran American Leadership and Educational Fund)
A Los Angeles group that promotes economic development and democracy in
El Salvador, SALEF focuses on youth and provides scholarships.
Contact: Carlos Antonio H. Vaquerano
Telephone: 213 480-1052
chvaquerano@salef.org
Web: http://www.salef.org/salef/about.html

SANN (Red Nacional Salvadorena Americana)
SANN is a network of 15 NGOs founded in 1992 "dedicated to building a
fair, dignified, and sustainable life for our immigrant community,
Latin American and Caribbean, here in the United States and in Central
America."
Web: http://www.sannetwork.org/

Save the Children
Web:
http://www.savethechildren.org/countries/lati n-america-caribbean/el-sal
ador.html

SEEM (Salvadorenos en El Mundo)
SEEM is an organization created to help the Salvadoran people and
migrant peoples in general. They have representatives in many cities in
the U.S., Europe, Mexico, Canada and El Salvador and focus on
migration, democracy, and political issues.
Web: http://www.salvadorenosenelmundo.org/

SHARE Foundation
SHARE supports historically impoverished communities constructing
long-term sustainable solutions to the problems of poverty,
underdevelopment and social injustice.
Web: http://www.share-elsalvador.org/

National Office
598 Bosworth St. No. 1
San Francisco, CA 94131
Telephone: (415) 239-2595
Fax: (415) 239-0785
sharesf@share-elsalvador.org

El Salvador Office
Jardines de Miramonte, Calle
Los Sisimiles No.48, San Salvador
Telephone: (503) 2260-4325
Fax: (503) 2261-2352
sharees@share-elsalvador.org

Washington DC Office
415 Michigan Ave. NE
Washington, D.C. 20017
Telephone: (202)319-5540
Fax: (202) 319-5541
sharedc@share-elsalvador.org

BLAU