Floor of the National Legislative Assembly – July 21, 2008

After meeting with the President of the National Legislative Assembly, Ruben Orellana, we visited the floor of the National Assembly, they were not in session while we were there but we got to see their work area.



Every time a member wants to cast a vote on the floor, they have to supply a fingerprint as proof of identity. At each member’s desk there is a small box with a fingerprint pad so no one can vote for another member and every member is accountable for each of their votes. It is really cool.






Pictured left to right: Josh, Valerie, Joe, Christy, Hugo Martinez, Marianne, Adam, Marshand, Pedro

National Legislative Assembly – July 21, 2008

Today’s meeting with the President of the National Legislative Assembly, Ruben Orellana, was very impressive. President Orellana provided an overview of the National Legislative Assembly, a unicameral representative legislative body consisting of 84 members responsible for making the laws of the country. The members are elected by a direct popular vote; 64 members have proportional representation and are elected by the country’s 14 corresponding departments (like our states) and 20 members are elected on the basis of a single national constituency.

Adam lead the meeting for the delegation.


We all got to sign the guest book documenting our visit while President Orellana looked on.


Pictured left to right: Pedro Pineda, HugoMartinez, Marshand, Adam, Christy, Valerie, Ruben Orellana, Marianne, Joe, Josh, Roberto d’Aubuisson


Ruben Orellana presented Adam a gift for the delegation.

San Salvadoran Foundation for Economic and Social Development (FUSADES) – July 21, 2008

On Monday morning, our first meeting day in El Salvador, we met with the San Salvadoran Foundation for Economic and Social Development (FUSADES). I am pictured in the lobby of FUSADES; it is a very modern facility.


Executive Director Alvaro Ernesto Guatemala gave us an overview of government, economics, social and culture in El Salvador. This presentation and meeting was the perfect way to start our work week.


Since the end of the armed conflict in 1991 and the signing of the peace accords in 1991, the economy has moved away from the government orientation with no growth experienced to a market orientation with lots of growth. Major reforms in El Salvador since 1999 have focused on stimulating growth through macroeconomic stability to tie down inflation which has been accomplished through conservative fiscal and monetary policy, tariff reductions, free trades agreements, banking reform through privatization and tax reform which added an income and value-added tax. In addition, economic institutions are being protected through privatization, competitiveness laws and consumer protection. El Salvador boasts the lowest inflation rates in Central America over the last two decades, in part because the official currency is the U.S. dollar.



FUSADES is a nonprofit foundation started in 1983 by business owners with initial funding and support came from seven years of USAID. Currently, FUSADES is self supporting and does not receive funds from government or the private sector.

EL Salvador- Quick Overview

Capital: San Salvador
Population: 7 million (approximately 2 million El Salvadorans are currently living abroad)
Official Language: Spanish
Currency: U.S. Dollar (since 2001)
Government Type: Republic
President: Elias Antonio (Tony) Saca
Primary Religion: Roman Catholic
Literacy rate: 83 percent male, 78 percent female
Education: 30 percent of high school age students attend school, 90 percent of grade 1-9 students attend school, but quality is admittedly poor
Economic: most stable economy and lowest inflation rate in Central America

El Salvador is geographically the smallest country in Central America and is the most densely populated and most industrialized.

Approximately 90 percent of urban residents have access to potable water, compared to 80 percent in rural areas.
Approximately 98 percent of urban residents have direct connect access to electricity, compared to 50 percent in rural areas.

Downtown San Salvador. These photos are taken out the window on a bus tour, we did not have the opportunity to get out and explore.



Marketplace downtown San Salvador.



Transportation in downtown, in addition, there are 5,000 buses that run routes in San Salvador.

Day at the Beach – July 20, 2008

Today is our weekend, or vacation day, this week. We met at 8 am to go to a resort at Costa del Sol, an hour from San Salvador on the Pacific coast, for the day with the promise of a beach, boat tour, and all the food you can manage (just what I need after a week in Nicaragua where all food is fried). Valerie and I shared a fresh coconut, not the one Adam helped Marshand pick!



We were given a boat tour of the mangroves and saw some wildlife, a lot of birds and some four-eyed fish, which jumped across the water. Our guide pointed them out to us several times. We are a little skeptical of the four-eyed fish, because none of us have had time to research its authenticity. These are some of the houses we saw on the boat tour.


The beach is dark sand and enormous. The Pacific water down here is warm, unlike the cold water off the California coast. The water was rough with huge waves and very dark. We all waded in the water and Adam, Joe, and Marianne decided to go swimming. Valerie and I stayed on the beach to watch everyone’s stuff. While we were talking and discussing how cool the ocean was and how much we loved being at the beach, an enormous wave came in very quickly and covered us and all our delegations belongings with water and dark sand. We were at least 100 feet from the previous wave line and just got this one huge surge. All our clothes and towels were dirty and wet. Valerie decided the wave was not cool and retreated to the pool; I returned to the beach to read a book but ended up napping. It was wonderful.

An interesting thing happened while I was napping on the beach… I was awaken by shuffling in the sand, when I looked up I saw a cow and her baby walking about 15 feet in front of me… on the beach! I wish I had my camera, but I left it by the pool in the unlikely event of another surge.

A pool of water was left on the beach during low tide; cattle were grazing by it.

Arriving in San Salvador, El Salvador – July 19, 2008

This is super cool…., when we got to San Salvador, Congressman Hugo Martinez (FMLN) and ACYPL officials met us at the gate and we were brought through the diplomats area. We gave our passports to an agent and they got them stamped and collected our luggage while we sat through a briefing. It was crazy! We were admitted to the country without going through customs in person. I want to be a diplomat!


Once we collected our luggage, we were brought to the hotel to check in. We saw two gang busts on the streets between the airport and the hotel. Security personnel are everywhere. And everyone, national police, mayor's police, and private security, has a firearm and walk the sidewalks in front of the areas they are to protect. It really does not seem that unusual anymore.


San Salvador is like we time warped back to 2008. It is amazing the contract between the two countries whose capitals are separated by a 35 minute flight. Nicaragua is so poor and has so little infrastructure that is a barely functioning free market while San Salvador is thriving. You easily could mistake San Salvador for an American suburb because of the commercial industry and huge shopping malls, the only difference is the fact that ever single street sign, billboard, side walk, building wall, and storefront was tagged with graffiti.

Trip to El Salvador– July 19, 2008

Today is a travel day for the delegation. We had our flight from Managua to San Salvador canceled; having a flight canceled is never easy. Fortunately, we were rescheduled for a relatively similar time frame on Copa Airlines and it did not disrupt our afternoon and evening plans in San Salvador. The flight was only 35 minutes.

Getting dropped off at the airport in Managua.


Copa Airlines accommodates the delegation.


I got to sit by Valerie on the flight to San Salvador.


Pacific coast of El Salvador.


Arriving at the airport in El Salvador.