This “Diary of the Worm” author has returned from El Salvador, the land of barb wire and flowers. It will take some time and reflection to digest my experiences, but for now I can state that El Salvador is a land of contrast. On one had we have all the death and torture of the people by the American financed military government during the long civil war. Yet we have the survivors rising up from the remains of the many martyrs with hope and promise. We have a newly elected president from the party of the FMLN, who were the guerrillas in the civil war. Yet the neo-liberal party of the death squads still holds sway in the legislature and courts. We have uniforms for USA state employees and Disney workers made in sweatshops by woman working for $5.79 for a nine hour work day. We have a country rich in fertile land importing food from other countries. We have the American dollar from the richest country in the world as the currency of this poor country. We have a sweet and loving people yet gangs roam the streets. El Salvador is a land full of rivers and on the ocean, yet people thirst for drinkable water.
El Salvador is a country still seeking its own identity. The USA has dominated this country as can been seen in the fast food chains and shopping malls. Yet when a professional in one of the largest public hospitals for the poor was asked the one thing she would ask of the USA, it was not medicine or equipment sorely needed, but a plea for the USA to “not interfere.” First Europe and then the USA has bled this country and used and misused it. Now amidst this small country of contrast the cry goes out “Do Not Interfere”. Let them be.
The barb wire is everywhere to keep the gangs and criminals out. Yet there are flowers growing freely in this land of sun and water. Reviewing the pictures, my notes and reflection on experiences, I will try to learn from this land of contrast, barb wire and flowers.
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