TOM KARLIN RETURNS FROM EL SALVADOR TO BRING US NEWS OF HOPE, CONCERN, AND RESPONSIBILITY

** Interview with Nick Leider and Fr. Bill Bichsel, S.J. **

Channel (Tacoma, WA)
May 2005

Tom Karlin, a member of St. Leo’s Church and Tacoma Catholic Worker, was part of a local delegation to El Salvador in March 2005 sponsored by the Foundation for Self-Sufficiency in Central America (www.fssca.net). As part of the Romero Memorial Tree Project, Tom and family members planted mangroves to honor donors’ loved ones and to commemorate the life of Archbishop Romero, who was assassinated in 1980. He and his traveling companions will be giving reports back to some local congregations, especially in these spring months as Congress prepares to vote on CAFTA. If your organization would like a presentation, please contact Tom at 253-627-2857.

The following is an interview held at Tacoma Catholic Worker, where members Nick Leider and Fr. Bill Bichsel, S.J. met with Tom to discuss how to shine the light of faith on issues of justice for workers.

Q: Many of us know El Salvador as a small Central American country ravaged by war and poverty, entangled with U.S. foreign policy. How are Salvadorans keeping hope alive?

A: As you know, our trip to El Salvador marked the 25th anniversary of the martyrdom of Oscar Romero. To honor the memory of this man of peace and nonviolence, delegations from all over the world came to southern El Salvador to begin a tree-planting project of over a million trees throughout the country, starting in the Zone of Peace region.

I think it is important to reflect on what Romero said shortly before he was assassinated. “If they kill me, I will rise again in the Salvadoran people . . . my hope is that my blood will be like a seed of liberty.” Romero was a prophet. He walked with his people; he suffered with them and died with them. He also said, “As a Christian, I don’t believe in death without resurrection.” It was palpably evident to us that the poor multitudes derive hope from the example and memory and sense of presence of Romero in their life’s daily struggles.

On the day of the massive rally in San Salvador April 2nd, we stood in the midst of a multitude -- tens of thousands -- in front of a giant, newly painted canvas mural 60 feet wide and 90 feet tall, hanging between the Cathedral towers. The people were chanting “¡Se siente, se siente, Romero está presente!” (“We feel it, we feel it, Romero is present!”) Indeed, we felt it with them. Such a sense of solidarity!

It became clear to me that Hope and Resurrection are not realities to be experienced only at some future time, but are in the here and now. The memory and life of Romero is alive in the people, and his witness has the effect of Salvadorans resiliently innovating projects to build a better future such as the Zone of Peace

We toured the Zone, where 35,000 low-income farmers and fishers, through grassroots representative organizing, devolop self-sustaining agriculture, reforestation, and reconciliation. Former guerillas and army members, among others, work together to form business collectives and to teach nonviolence as an organizing principle of community life. The Coordinadora has organized many other projects such as womens’ co-ops and the reintegration of deported Los Angeles gang members.

Q: What are the current and future challenges of El Salvador?

A: The impact of large multinational corporations on this small country is visibly shocking. These companies heavily pollute the land with deadly pesticides and toxic waste; glut markets with cheap imports that prevent local businesses and collectives from developing a sustainable economy; and proliferate sweatshops known as “Maquilas” that rely on the repressive hand of the military to prevent workers from organizing for economic justice and democracy.

The Salvadoran ARENA party continues to use strategies prevalent in the brutal dictatorship that assassinated Archbishop Romero. That regime relied on military leaders trained by the U.S. Army’s School of the Americas at Fort Benning, Georgia. Multinational corporations know about this repression and flock to exploit poverty wages and low environmental standards. Now ARENA and these corporations are collaborating to push through CAFTA.

Q: What is CAFTA?

A: CAFTA stands for Central American Free Trade Agreement. First of all, we have to ask ourselves what does “Free Trade” mean. It certainly does not mean fair trade for the Salvadoran people. It does mean “Free Access” to exploit Central American resources and cheap labor and inadequate environmental protection.

Do you remember NAFTA? CAFTA is the extension of NAFTA to Central America. CAFTA would further give rights to multi-national corporations to pollute, glut markets, and create sweatshops in El Salvador. Practically every Salvadoran we spoke to, from peasant to city worker to faith and community leaders, raised the specter of CAFTA as the most dangerous threat to El Salvador.

Salvadorans saw the impact of NAFTA on Mexico, devastating that economy. We see the impact on Mexico here in Pierce County and in the U.S overall with the immigration of millions of Mexicans -- peasants forced off their farms by cheap corn dumping, and unemployed city workers leaving to look for a better life than the sweatshop Maquilas.

Q: What can we do about CAFTA?

A: Besides working to stop CAFTA, we must ask ourselves who are the corporations pushing CAFTA, and how do they get the money and power to purchase such tremendous influence over the U.S. administration and a large portion of Congress. If I hold stock in any corporation that exploits, it is safe to say I am part of the problem. Let’s look at ways we can be part of the solution.

In our presentations, we will make available information on Socially Responsible Corporations for investment and also show ways to support NGO’s (non-governmental organizations) through outright grants or giving no-interest loans to organizations that help build zones of peace at home and abroad.

Salvadorans want us to recruit our elected leaders to stop CAFTA. Our own local U.S. Rep. Adam Smith is the most decisive leader in America on the CAFTA issue. Smith is currently being heavily lobbied by corporate interests. He also needs to hear from us, his constituents, our deep concern about the effect those corporate interests are having on the common people both here and abroad.

Q: What was the most striking aspect of your visit?

A: The day before we left, we had the privilege to be part of a discussion with community leaders from several Central American countries. The topic of discussion was about the tragic past, the hopeful present, and the uncertain and fearful future.

Despite innovative projects such as the Zone of Peace, some economists say that both income inequality and concentration of wealth appear to have increased since the civil war ended in 1992. Salvadorans and others are deeply concerned about CAFTA. One of the community leaders speaking to us, a Panamanian priest, closed his remarks by saying, “CAFTA is a project of death.” I felt a tremendous sense of responsibility to bring this message back to my neighbors in U.S. Rep. Adam Smith’s district.

We must stand by the people who survived war, massacres, torture and abandonment. Romero wrote, “The full liberation of the Salvadoran people, not to mention personal conversions, demands a thorough change in the social, political and economic system.” You and I can help by addressing how American foreign policy and lifestyle impact our Third World neighbors, especially in this decision time for Central America.