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A transport worker strike in El Salvador has brought the capital city and other areas to a halt in response to escalating gang violence and intimidation that the government of President Salvador Sanchez Ceren has condemned as a right-wing scheme to destabilize the government in the Central American country.
Reports say that El Salvador's most powerful gangs forced bus drivers and other transport workers to go on strike on Monday as part of a violent campaign to put pressure on the government.
At least six transport workers were found dead on Monday morning, allegedly killed by gang members seeking extortion and pressuring the government through increased violence to respond to gangs' calls for negotiations and to ease up on heavy-handed punishment for gang members.
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Miles de afectados en segundo día de paro de transporte. http://t.co/Q0W3eisRXV pic.twitter.com/oXkRjwzLw0 RT@elsalvadorcom
— Debate con Nacho (@DebateconNacho)
July 28, 2015
“Thousands affected in the second day of the transport strike.”
But according to Prensa Latina, organized crime elements have targeted bus drivers and other transport workers to extort money for decades, suggesting that Monday's strike likely has other motivations.
The left-wing ruling FMLN party accused right-wing political groups on Monday of being behind the strike, saying that these factions have refused to accept changes brought in by progressive FMLN governments, including the current democratically elected government of President Sanchez Ceren.
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“I think [the strike] is a bit of a desperate measure to put pressure on the government, to destabilize the government,” said FMLN Secretary General Medardo Gonzalez, drawing links between the strike and other recent events. “I am convinced that these measures are not isolated.”
Presidential Communications Secretary Eugenio Chicas said Tuesday that the strike represents a form of “sabotage against public transportation,” adding that the strike has had much more of an impact on the general population than it has had on the government.
El paro de transporte en #ElSalvador, según Salomón. pic.twitter.com/4ZkLcF7eOe
— La Prensa Gráfica (@prensagrafica)
July 28, 2015
“Transport strike in El Salvador, according to Salomon.” Image: “We are all victims.”
In a statement last week, the left-wing ruling FMLN party said that the country has “been witness to an aggressive campaign by the oligarchic right-wing, represented politically by the ARENA party and disguised as small supposed civil society groups” that has used “rumors and lies, distorting reality through its media to sow uncertainty [and] misinformation” to undermine democratic institutions and “cover up the work of the government that benefits the population.”
Achievements of the FMLN government of Sanchez Ceren have included significant drops in poverty, economic growth, and increased investment in education, health care, and infrastructure projects.
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In light of the strike, the government has put in place a contingency plan to mitigate the impact on commuters in the capital city San Salvador and others left without access to public transportation.
The strike comes as the right-wing ARENA party seeks legislative approval of new legislation to give military personnel a salary bonus for extra work supporting police in fighting crime, which analysts have interpreted as an attempt to sow division and insubordination in the Armed Forces.
On his Twitter account, President Sanchez Ceren called on ARENA to halt the attempt to disrupt the institutional order within the Armed Forces.
Pido a @ARENAOFICIAL cese sus llamados para afectar la institucionalidad de la @FUERZARMADASV
— Salvador Sánchez C. (@sanchezceren)
July 28, 2015
“I call on ARENA to cease their calls to affect the institutional order of the Armed Forces."
Reports say the surge in gang violence in recent weeks and gang threats against transport workers is part of an effort to pressure the government to negotiate reduced punishments for gang members.
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But gang violence is nothing new to the small Central American country, and the current government has refused to engage in dialogue with gangs, which is why analysts and government officials point to other forces behind the strike.
Government spokesperson Eugenio Chicas has called on all sectors to come together against gangs and gang violence in El Salvador, saying that the country will not bend to the will of organized crime groups.
No vamos a negociar con los grupos criminales, los vamos a perseguir y llevar a la cárcel.
— Salvador Sánchez C. (@sanchezceren)
July 28, 2015
“We are not going to negotiate with criminal groups, we are going to pursue them and bring them to jail.”
El Salvador is home to some of the highest murder rates in Latin America, and authorities link the majority of murders to gang violence. The country recorded 677 homicides in June alone, one of the most violent months on record since over a decade of civil war came to an end in 1992. With deep corruption and impunity, less than 5 percent of murders result in a conviction.
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For more than a decade, the government tried to crack down on gang violence with iron-fist policies. President Salvador Sanchez Ceren, who entered office in 2014, raised fears about more tough-on-crime policies, but also rejected the idea of negotiating with gang members.
Local authorities estimate there are some 60,000 gang members in the streets and close to 13,000 in jail in El Salvador, a country of 6.34 million people.
