Chapel Post

3/13: SHARE URGENT ACTION ALERT!

Contact State Department to Stop US Intervention in Sunday's Salvadoran Presidential Elections

Last Monday the SHARE Foundation urged you to contact Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to support US neutrality in the Salvadoran Presidential elections.

NOW more than ever your ACTION IS NEEDED! On Tuesday March 11, three Republican Congresspeople spoke on the floor of the House of Representatives threatening that if the FMLN wins remittances sent to El Salvador should be cut off and Salvadorans should lose their immigration status.


Below are their statements:

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA) said, "El Salvador's election is on Sunday. If an ally of Al-Queda and Iran comes to power in El Salvador, the national security interests of the United States will require certain immigration restrictions and controls over the flow of the $4 billion of annual remittances sent from the U.S. back home to El Salvador.

Let me note, that my purpose is not to punish Salvadorans, but if a pro-terrorist government takes power, it will be imperative to review our policies in order to protect the national security of the United States."

Rep. Trent Franks (R-AZ) said, "…should the pro-terrorist FMLN party replace the current government in El Salvador, the United States, in the interests of national security, would be required to reevaluate our policy toward El Salvador, including cash remittance and immigration policies to compensate for the fact there will no longer be a reliable counterpart in the Salvadoran government."

Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN) stated, "They get 4 billion dollar a year in money coming from the United States into their country to help out the people who live down there. And that money in my opinion, will be cut dramatically if they elect a leftist government. Those monies that are coming from here to there, I am confident will be cut, and I hope the people of El Salvador are aware of that because it will have a tremendous impact on individuals and their economy."

These extremist arguments are reminiscent of the statements that the Salvadoran Minister of Foreign Affairs, Marisol Argueta, issued in October 2008 when she was lobbying for US intervention during a visit to Washington DC. These statements also are a repetition of the interventionist statements issued by US officials in the 2004elections.

In addition, according to the Salvadoran newspapers, 46 Republican Congresspeople recently sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton calling a potential FMLN win a security threat to the United States.

Although these Representatives' pronouncements have little significance in the US, they have a tremendous impact in El Salvador as the statements have made headlines in the Salvadoran media. The threats are perceived as US intervention and generate fear among Salvadoran voters. It is important to understand that these statements carry considerable weight in El Salvador as about a quarter of the population has migrated to the United States and the remittances they send constitute about 20% of the country's GDP.

PLEASE ACT NOW! Call the State Department or e-mail Christopher Webster, Director of the Office of Central American Affairs at the State Department, and urge him to issue a public statement reassuring the Salvadoran people that the United States will remain neutral in the Salvadoran Presidential elections and the US government is committed to working with any political party that has been elected freely and fairly by the Salvadoran people.

Click here to contact Director Webster
Or call the Office of Central American Affairs:
Director Christopher Webster 202-647-4087
Deputy Director David Wolfe 202-647-3543
El Salvador Desk Officer Hillary Thompson 202-647-4161
For more information, contact
sharedc@share-elsalvador.org
PLEASE CONTACT THE STATE DEPARTMENT BY FRIDAY, MARCH 13

Posted by Pastor Jeff at 6:09 PM