ACTION ALERT

Centro De Intercambio Y Solidaridad, -CIS- May 2008

“MONSEÑOR OSCAR ARNULFO ROMERO COMMUNITY” IN TONACATEPEQUE

THREATENED WITH EVICTION

v Support their struggle to purchase the land where they live.

v Help with emergency aid for rain damage, and for a family whose home burned down

The community, located in the Department of San Salvador and the Municipality of Tonacatepeque, chose the name “Monsignor Oscar Arnulfo Romero” because Msgr. Romero was their source of hope in their darkest hours: during war, and after Hurricane Mitch (1998) and the earthquakes of 2001. The community took refuge in Romero’s radical option for the poor.

No history is simple in El Salvador and this community has its story, too. The Oscar Arnulfo Romero community made up of 98 families, originating from San Vicente, Usulután, Soyapango, San Martin, Chalatenango, among others, with the common thread that they are families without land, affected by the war, Hurricane Mitch, and the 2001 earthquakes, are poor, and excluded. They came together to settle on this land, owned by the government’s “Social Fund for Housing” (Fondo Social para la Vivienda). They chose the land to take over, knowing there would be the possibility to negotiate the settlement due to the Constitution which guarantees dignified housing (Art. 119). The “Social Fund for Housing” is set up precisely to respond to this need.

When the community members illegally settled on the land on March 28, 2005, they were met violently by the riot policy and four community members were thrown in jail. Nonetheless, with nowhere else to go, the community was persistent in its action and would not be deterred. One year later, March 24, 2006, it was recognized as a legal association in Tonacatepeque by the FMLN-led City Council and was legally recognized on April 26, 2006 when its bi-laws were published in the Official Diary of the Salvadoran Government. The Government’s “Social Fund for Housing” recognized their settlement as legitimate when it offered them the option of purchasing the land in 2006. FUNDASAL (Salvadoran Foundation for Development and Basic Housing), the oldest and most respected housing NGO in El Salvador, offered to finance the purchase of 6 manzanas of land (about 10.38 acres).

The community, with strong will and organization, worked together to get water and electricity installed in their tin-and-cardboard houses. They went to the Government water utility, ANDA, which agreed to install water in the community in 2006. The private electric company also agreed to install electrical lines, after the community went through all the legal and paper work. In July 2006 the Social Fund for Housing promised the community members that they could stay on the land if they could come up with $8,671.94 per manzana which was verified in a meeting in October 2007. In November 2007, FUNDASAL agreed to finance the purchase of 6 manzanas for $52,031.64; the community would pay them back at a manageable rate with no interest and doing the technical measurements and legal divisions of the land. Things were looking good for the future of this humble community and their organization was paying off.

The community’s problems began when ARENA won the municipal elections and took power on May 1, 2006. Since then, Mayor Gilberto Erroa has led an attack on the community and is pressuring them to change their name. The mayor says he will give them land, water and electricity if they change their name. On principle the community is not willing to change their name; in addition, they see it as a trap, since they have legal recognition under that name, they would lose legal backing if they changed their name. The community had an agreement the water utility ANDA and the electric company to provide utilities which the community would pay for. Both utilities agreed, but as part of the legal process in El Salvador, they need the signature of local authorities -- in this case, the Mayor. The Mayor, Gilberto Erroa, refused to sign the permission, calling the families in the community “usurpers and illegals”. A false charge, given that by this time their possession of the land had been recognized by various government and non-governmental entities.

At the same time the Mayor got a commitment from 18 of the 98 families to support the ARENA party and change the name of the community to “Nuevo Manantial”. The Mayor rewarded them for splitting from the Monsignor Romero community by providing them with a water fountain and promising that they could stay on the land, while the other families would be evicted. He formed a parallel community council and refused to authorize the board members of the legal community council.

After the October 2007 meeting with FUNDASAL and the Social Fund for Housing, FUNDASAL wrote a letter in November of 2007 committing to pay for the land. However, the Social Fund for Housing replied that it had decided to sell the land to the Salvadoran Institute for Agrarian Reform (ISTA). The Administrative Manager of FUNDASAL, Miguel Francisco Galdamez Rojas in a letter dated February 15, 2008, states that in a meeting on February 1, 2008, the decision was taken by the Board of Directors to sell the land to ISTA. An article in the El Salvador’s daily paper, “El Diario de Hoy” dated March 27, 2007, cites ISTA’s central manager as saying that 1) it will buy 8 manzanas of the land and distribute it to poor families, and 2) It will pay $1.35 million for the land, quite a sizable amount larger that the value quoted by the Social Fund for Housing. The same article states that ISTA will give the land to poor families that can prove their stay on the land. Yet the 80 families that have been living on the land for 3 years have not been invited to meetings attended by ISTA representative Benjamin Juarez and Mayor Erroa. The community has been repeatedly threatened with eviction. The Mayor has no legal say over the land and at least to date ISTA is not the legal owner of the land. The arbitrary acts of ISTA representative Benjamin Juarez and Mayor Erroa, given that the Constitution of El Salvador protects the possession and right to property. In a meeting with the Community Board of Directors and leadership of ISTA on May 22^nd, in fact, Ing. Mauricio Rivera in charge of purchasing land for ISTA clarified that ISTA did not have the money to purchase the land and it was not the intention of ISTA to acquire land in dispute or evict the poor.

The community members approached the CIS looking for support for their cause. The CIS has made a commitment to accompanying the community in its struggle for their land, legal status, water, and electricity. The community has joined the CIS community network for Cooperation and Solidarity. Communities have pledged to accompany the families if they are threatened with eviction. The CIS has agreed seek legal support for the community. At the current moment, the community is in negotiations with the different actors in their case: Social Fund for Housing, FUNDASAL, the Mayor and City Council of Tonacatepeque, ISTA, and the Commission for Justice and Human Rights of the Legislative Assembly.

The 98 families of “Monsignor Oscar Arnulfo Romero Community” need your support:

1. The community board of directors has asked for letters, phone calls or faxes (preferably in Spanish) to the Fondo Social para la Vivienda President and executive Director, Ing. Enrique Oñate and to the Legislative Assembly, calling for:

The FONDO SOCIAL PARA LA VIVIENDA to sell the 6 manzanas occupied by 98 families of Comunidad Oscar Arnulfo Romero in Toncatepeque to FUNDASAL, IMMEDIATELY, and comply with their mission to “finance agile and efficient housing solutions, providing favorable and sustainable credit conditions, satisfying the social necessity for workers and other population groups, to contribute to elevate their living conditions and reduce the habitational deficit” (http://www.fsv.gob.sv)

Presidente y Director Ejecutiva Fondo Social de Vivienda

Ing. Enrique Oñate

Calle Rubén Darío y 17 Ave. Sur, #901

San Salvador

Telephone: 011-503-2231-2000; 011-503-2222-3119; 2281-0988

Fax: 011-503-2271-2910

Also – write the Comision de Justicia y Derechos Humanos (Commission for Justice and Human Rights), of the Legislative Assembly, asking them to use their good offices to resolve the conflict over land in the Romero Community and to guarantee that the Fondo Social para la Vivienda sell the land to FUNDASAL so it can offer housing to family’s in need.

Asamblea Legislativa, Centro de Gobierno

Edeficio de Comisiones, Comision de Justicia y Derechos Humanos

Presidente: Diputada Irma Amaya

San Salvador, El Salvador

Fax: 011-503-2281-9526

E-mail: comision_justicia@asamblea.gob.sv

***Please send copies of correspondence to: cis_elsalvador@yahoo.com

Additionally,

2. The community has asked CIS for financial support for families living in precarious conditions. Now that the rain has started (May 1 – Nov. 1), people’s homes are leaking, and they would like tin to reinforce their homes until they have permission to build permanent homes. A sheet of tin is $13. If we give five sheets of tin per family, the total cost is $65 per family. There are 98 families in the community. The families in the most precarious conditions will be prioritized.

3. When CIS and a delegation from Dominican University in Chicago visited the community on May 15, the home of a single mother, Nolvia Segura Rico, and her 8 and 10 year old daughter and son, burned to the ground. They lost everything except the clothing on their back. The community has requested $766 to rebuild her home and $515 for a small stove, table and chairs, a bed and a bunk bed. The CIS is collecting used clothing, blankets, and basic food at the CIS for the family as well. A candle fell over, which would not have happened if the mayor would have authorized access to electricity. Additionally, the community could not put the fire out due to Mayor Erroa’s denial of potable water in the community.

Tax deductible donations can be sent in U.S. dollars to: Los Olivos CIS / PO BOX 76 / Westmont, IL 60559-0076. Make a note “Romero Community”.