<html>
<body>
<font size=3>Interview: Members of University Front of Roque Dalton from
the National University of El Salvador<br><br>
Written by Erica Thompson <br>
Thursday, 04 June 2009 <br>
<a href="http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1891/1/" eudora="autourl">
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1891/1/<br><br>
</a>For the first time in almost 20 years, El Salvador has reappeared in
mainstream headline news throughout the Americas for two main reasons:
recent electoral victories of the leftist FMLN party and, conversely,
Washington’s growing domination of Central America’s security apparatus
through the Mérida Initiative and the El Salvador-based International Law
Enforcement Academy (ILEA). </font><font size=2>[1] [2]<br><br>
</font><font size=3>Corporate media’s two-dimensional depiction of
Salvadoran youth leads us to believe that most are caught up in a vicious
cycle of gang violence; it has failed to convey the full picture, which
involves hundreds of youth moving thousands more into political activism
and shepherding a new generation of leftist thinkers in El Salvador.
<br><br>
After organizing consistently in recent years to denounce State
repression and cost of living increases imposed by the right wing
government, various youth sectors played an integral role in the FMLN’s
presidential campaign and helped the party secure significant electoral
victories at the polls in January and March of this year.<br><br>
The Frente Universitario Roque Dalton (FURD) has been in the forefront of
student organizing in San Salvador. In 2006, the organization endured an
intense fear campaign by the right wing ARENA (National Republican
Alliance) government in 2006 that ordered an attack and invasion of the
University by the National Civilian Police, branded some FURD members
“terrorists”, and propagated false claims that students had been
stockpiling weapons at the school.<br><br>
Formed in 2002, the FURD works with students, campus workers, and
professors to unify these sectors under the common goal of University
reform. They envision a University that reflects, critiques, and
transforms Salvadoran society. A compañera and I recently spoke with
several members of the FURD to get a better understanding of the group’s
work within the National University of El Salvador and its vision for the
country.<br><br>
Upside Down World: Tell us first about the purpose of the FURD.<br><br>
Jackie: The FURD was founded as a means to organize youth at the
University to transform its goals and purpose. We consider ourselves
autonomous youth, an autonomous organization. What interests us, as an
organization, is the possibility that the University will return people
to the path of commitment - to a society that really identifies the
University as a place where people are developing new critiques and
solutions. So our goal is to build an organization that engages young
people who believe we can change society through our work within the
University.<br><br>
Oswaldo: The FURD is a space we use to analyze, debate, share, propose
and question. We question the conditions we experience as young people.
Some students come to the University when they’re 17 years old and might
study here until the age of 29 or 30. That’s ten years of study, activism
and social development. We come to this space to be able to know each
other and to explore each other’s experiences in society. Later we plan
to create projects that help other youth do the same. <br><br>
Sonia: We all come from different places and realities, different
conditions. It’s really beautiful… the FURD is a family. We debate, we
share and we laugh. Many here in the organization are from different
places and have varying backgrounds that we can put into practice within
the organization. We have a holistic formation because we take time to
understand each other. Each of us arrived with different motives but when
we came to know the organization, how it worked and organized, we were
able to unify around similar ideas and a common means of
struggle.<br><br>
UDW: What are some of the critiques your organization has of the
University’s method and curriculum and what are some of the changes
you’re working to implement? <br><br>
Sonia: Most urgently, the university needs a change in structure and to
develop more creative programs. I will call it "The Purpose of the
University" for the moment. In fact, the University should have
three main goals on which it rests all of its stock and its entire policy
- that students receive quality instruction, have opportunities to do
extensive research, and are given support to do more outreach. In order
to actually achieve this, all of the University’s programs or areas of
study have to be integrated and encouraged to give life to the University
as a whole, if it is to serve society. That is the role of the
University, after all.<br><br>
The University should be geared to meet these goals and create programs
that truly seek the integration of various perspectives. The University
has to be fairly comprehensive in terms of the careers it steers people
toward. Every student has something to contribute to society. To the
extent that we succeed in describing what each program brings to the
University, we achieve a social mission and that is that we begin to
outline a model or proposal for the University that can help it truly
carry out its purpose. <br><br>
Jackie: One factor that has been forgotten - because the point is that
young people come to study here - is that the purpose of the University
it is not to merely create professionals. If one does not truly get
involved at the University, they will not know or be able to be involved
in what is happening in society. Colleges used to play a very important
role in societal events, not only inside the University but outside too,
nationally. Universities had a role in solving problems people were
experiencing at the time. <br><br>
Now the University creates professionals who go out and do nothing more
but work. We need to reawaken the commitment we have to others - not only
to ourselves. Many people have forgotten that we have to be interested in
this country in its entirety, not just dependent upon the system for our
own needs. Then we only live superficially and never create a more
objective look into what is happening and consider, as a young person,
what we can truly give to society.<br><br>
Mauricio: It’s true, what this compañera is saying. When youth enter the
University, they don’t understand the importance of solidarity and social
integration; they’re only looking for a title. So it’s difficult to
organize at the University and that’s why we only receive one percent of
the national budget. This is a very important factor that hinders the
development of the University. The reality is the market absorbs people
and since private universities have a much larger budget and are more
modernized, we are at a market disadvantage in competing with
them.<br><br>
UDW: What do you think of the media’s portrayal of Salvadoran
youth?<br><br>
Sonia: It’s really unfortunate. The media sensationalizes youth with
tattoos and tries to convince people that the majority of youth live
violent lives or belong to the gangs. I recently heard about an 18
year-old who went to jail for killing someone. What is interesting is
that this particular person was a rich kid, an artist. Much of the
violent crime in El Salvador is committed by upper-class youth but the
media doesn’t explore this tendency. Many believe that poor people are to
blame. <br><br>
Jackie: There is no positive media representation of our communities, the
barrios, the neighborhoods we come from. When they do come to our
communities, they look down upon them. They claim that our communities
are saturated in violence, danger and drugs. There is very little space
in the media and the public for youth participation. All of this power is
concentrated in the hands of the Right. When there is a little space it
is because of our own efforts and demands.<br><br>
Oswaldo: As politically conscious youth, we have a lot of distractions.
We’re bombarded with issues and are also victimized, criminalized and
faced with the threat of violence. There is a lot of insecurity that
threatens us outside of the University. We can easily be killed. We carry
a lot of fear when we’re in the street or on the bus because youth are
the main victims of crime in El Salvador. At the same time we are thought
of as criminals. Random young people without fault are often blamed for
the deaths of compañer@s, friends and gang members. This is a very
complicated society and rarely does the media shed light on our
situation.<br><br>
UDW: Prior to the elections, El Salvador hosted two summits exploring the
condition of youth both nationally and regionally. What did you think of
the issues and discussions that were raised?<br><br>
Jackie: The Youth Summit was solely focused on students from private
colleges and the themes discussed were far too general. They didn’t talk
about the lived reality of the majority of Salvadoran youth. At no moment
did we see a student from a public institution say, “These are the
problems I face.” Many students at the National University have to work
AND study and support our families. Sometimes we don’t eat because we
don’t have money. We would like to know why the youth have not been
entrusted to be the directive force of the summits and to put our own
issues forward. <br><br>
Sonia: The regional summit of Latin American states is always a more
formal affair. It is something that has long been established by Heads of
State to act as a screen for true debate. There is only one theme – the
general state of Latin American youth – and we never expect these
discussions to go anywhere. In the University, we organized what was
called an Alternative Summit in which we discussed several themes that
involved youth and extended this into discussion about how we can support
society in terms of labor, education and culture.<br><br>
For all of these themes, we tried to generate debate so that we could
create a solid proposal that would be in the interest of all youth who
live different realities: there are rural youth who depend on small
farming communities, there are privileged youth who have their lives
already figured out, and there are urban youth who have to struggle to
survive. There should be thorough research on all of these sectors so
that we can come to an agreement based on the proposals of each.
<br><br>
Mauricio: The organizers of these State-sponsored summits refuse to
invite youth from the National University or from social movement
organizations; they won’t do it because then they would have to hear our
stories and have a critical debate with us on our issues. Instead, the
organizers talk with youth who might not have a real political and social
consciousness, youth who don’t know the rural reality; nor do they live
in San Martin or other dangerous neighborhoods in urban areas.<br><br>
Sonia: The summit profiled youth who already have all their lives
planned, whose studies are guaranteed, and who will live off of large
inheritances. The problem is that they put these faces out to the world
to show that the youth of El Salvador are doing well. But if they really
came and started to explore our communities, they would see that many
people aren’t able to access more advanced education programs. If someone
has only a basic education, they will probably not work in the formal
sector. A youth who only has studied through ninth grade has little
opportunity; you have to be lawyer, a doctor or a professor to even be
considered for a much smaller position. <br><br>
So this is the problem: we see ourselves represented by people who really
don’t know the situations of youth in El Salvador. Personally, I would
like to see the State guarantee good conditions for youth to generate
professions. But if they just parade out these capitalist-conforming
youth, no one will see the need to create something in which we really
have a space in the culture, in education, in labor. It’s just a
smokescreen. <br><br>
Jackie: Few youth organizations exist and there is far too little support
for those groups to expand their bases. Furthermore, young Salvadorans,
overall, have had very few opportunities to develop a political analysis.
What often happens is that older generations in society, including people
on the Left, want to support youth but they also want to impose their
ideas on our thinking, processes and agendas.<br><br>
UDW: What are some of the challenges you think the Funes Administration
will face in their first term? <br><br>
Jackie: These elections are historic because they present a scenario of
probable change. As a social organization we are promoters of this
change. The party, in a certain manner, has been converted into an
instrument of the needs the population. <br><br>
Social organizations are a very important element in El Salvador’s
transition. We are going to be the promoters of this change the FMLN is
advocating and we will also be the ones to sustain the change, not those
who are at the top of the party or within the party, the functionaries or
future functionaries. Power originates in the people, in the social
organizations - not a blind people, rather a conscious people. Conscious
people will channel the transformation.<br><br>
One challenge that the new government faces is to truly turn over power
to the people so that the people can defend what they have achieved. The
FMLN must help people to understand how the consequences we’ve faced have
been generated by political, economic, and repressive means. Through an
education where people are truly empowered, the lights won’t come from
above; rather the lights from below will rise upwards. This is a big
challenge for the FMLN. Hopefully they will be able to visualize this.
<br><br>
Sonia: I believe that what the compañer@s have said really corresponds to
the people of each nation. The people really do have power but we know
how the situation is - that governments don’t give the people the
opportunity to lead. This is one of the challenges that we anticipate in
the case of Mauricio Funes. <br><br>
The real challenge before the FMLN is to know the people - to know the
real needs - because only from there can they start to transform society.
If the government doesn’t know the people, it will be really difficult to
generate these conditions, which is what has happened with the different
governments we’ve had. <br><br>
We can see that the militant members of the FMLN have more consciousness
because they were part of the armed conflict and have been through each
part of this long, difficult transition. More people, little by little,
are developing this level of consciousness. <br><br>
Jackie: It’s a project. We needed a good project and now the FMLN has
presented us with one. We need to be conscious that we can generate
change. <br><br>
UDW: What are the first, most critical issues the FMLN government should
focus on?<br><br>
Jackie: I think the FMLN should have a few areas of focus right now. The
first proposal the party highlighted is this idea of returning to
self-sustainability by creating investment in agriculture and giving us
the ability to produce from the land… for El Salvador to become an
agricultural country. Another idea is to completely reform education in a
way that will give the new generation of youth the potential to think
differently. This is what I understand to be the basis of our work for
the next couple of years - to generate sustainability by means of
internal production and to reform the education system. <br><br>
Sonia: If we have a good, holistic education system and are
self-sustaining, we can generate work because we will be a producing
country once again. A good educational system, on its own, will generate
much more employment. For example, we could have more painters, actors,
and ballerinas and open more of these kinds of opportunities. Our culture
would grow again. We could generate employment by creating art centers
and other places for painters to show and sell their work; of course we
will make social art too.<br><br>
Not only do we need these new opportunities for our own culture to emerge
but under these conditions, we will have to avoid other countries’
cultures, well, transnational cultures from coming in. We are going to
draw up our own plans for education and the regeneration of agriculture -
corn, beans, rice, sugar, coffee, all of this. <br><br>
If we recuperate these agricultural activities, we will find ways to live
sustainably. We are a country that lives from grains and should not be
exporting them to other countries. It’s really a shame. The platform of
the FMLN proposed the stimulation of the agricultural sector. We can
visualize it but, as we said, it can’t be guaranteed without their
support. <br><br>
Finally, we will see what happens in the United States and what Obama’s
approach to El Salvador will be. Will it just be a continuation of the
pattern of U.S. dominance and exploitation?<br><br>
[1] Mérida Initiative (or Plan Mexico) <br>
<a href="http://americas.irc-online.org/am/5605">
http://americas.irc-online.org/am/5605</a><br><br>
[2] International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) and FBI in El
Salvador<br>
<a href="http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=347&Itemid=29">
http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=347&Itemid=29</a>
<br><br>
This is Part Five in a series of interviews with members of the
Salvadoran Social movement titled "What We Want: Voices from the
Salvadoran Left."<br><br>
Erica Thompson is a media correspondent for CISPES, the Committee in
Solidarity with the People of El Salvador. She can be reached at
<a href="mailto:erica.thompson76@gmail.com">erica.thompson76@gmail.com</a>
. To organize with CISPES to stop U.S. intervention in El Salvador
or find more information:
<a href="http://www.cispes.org/">www.cispes.org</a>. <br><br>
Thank you Amanda Blake and Alexis Stoumbelis for many hours of work in
transcribing this important interview with the FURD. <br><br>
<br><br>
</font><x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<font size=3 color="#FF0000">Freedom Archives<br>
522 Valencia Street<br>
San Francisco, CA 94110<br><br>
</font><font size=3 color="#008000">415 863-9977<br><br>
</font><font size=3 color="#0000FF">
<a href="http://www.freedomarchives.org/" eudora="autourl">
www.Freedomarchives.org</a></font><font size=3> </font></body>
</html>