78. Discovering El Salvador

A complete assessment of the country - By Pierre, with Sulma
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- After spending more than three weeks across the country, I take stock. A review that is meant to be exhaustive and that will gather all the essential information to understand the culture of El Salvador.
History
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- The history of El Salvador differs little from that of Nicaragua until the nineteenth century. Apart from a greater Maya presence, a complicated Spanish colonization that took a dozen years and finally the independence demanded by the inhabitants of the region towards the Great Empire of Mexico and obtained in 1821.
- As a result, governments were succeeding to each other in a very fertile country, which was specialized in the production and the trade of the coffee. From the beginning of the twentieth century, the state was dominated by dictatorships and coups always supported by the army. In the 1930s, a communist movement took shape, becoming very popular with disadvantaged populations. This displeased the government and led to major massacres in the villages. Between 1979 and 1992, the political ups and downs led El Salvador to civil war. Thus the Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) was made up of all the guerrilla groups. On the other hand, the United States joined the government in place to fight against these groups supported by communist regimes (Cuba in particular). Seventy-five thousand people "disappeared" during this sad period when the massacres of civilians by the battalions of the Salvadoran army, led by the Americans, are commonplace. Archbishop Monseigneur Romero became indignant and became "the voice of the voiceless". Consequence: he was assassinated during one of his public masses...
- In 1992, President Cristiani and the leaders of the FMLN signed the Chapultepec Peace Agreement (Mexico), prepared by the United Nations. Since then, the country has seen a noticeable improvement in social conditions, exports and investments. The only problem is very strong crime, we will come back to it.
- From 1989 to 2004, the Republican Nationalist Alliance (ARENA), the right very close to the United States, remained in power until 2009. Funes was the first president from the FMLN, now a political party turned to socialism. He began his term by highlighting the corruption of his predecessors. That year, a dissident from ARENA founded his own party: the Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA), a party at the center of progressive conservatives, which became the third party in the country.
- What emerged from my discussions with the locals was that they are fed up with corrupt politicians, all of whom apply the same agenda, with no alternative. For my part, I wonder how to explain the omnipresence of candidates in parliamentary and municipal elections, scheduled two months later. The number of political posters easily exceeds the number of other commercial advertisements! Where is the money in this country and where is it going next? In every locality, every three years, activists harass people with their propaganda. Here is a video to testify. Enervating, no?
- https://youtu.be/duY9t_-rv6Q
- Recently, the government has created a Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN) that is working to combat global warming (which causes devastating hurricanes in the country). The MARN carries out prevention with the population but also with the governments in place and especially the financial management of the country, investments, ... A very ambitious strategy which we expect to see more visible results in this article.
Crime and Maras
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- The Mara Salvatrucha, also called MS-13 or Mara, is the gang that dominates the whole country! Originally, in the late 1980s, it was a gang fighting for the protection of Salvadoran refugees in Los Angeles. It was known to be very violent and the US police started arresting the maras. The members were sent back to El Salvador, settled and dispersed there. Now, there are tens of thousands in the whole continent of America.
- Violence is the first lesson they learn at MS-13. The initiation of the new members consists, for the men, to endure a beating in rule for thirteen long seconds. Women have the choice of being gang-raped by six male members of the gang for more than a minute or being treated in the same way as a man. Age does not count in the violence of initiation. Some members have been in the gang since the age of four.
- My feedback from locals: everyone knows people from the MS-13. Each business, dwelling, profession pays to them a monthly fee. At the second default of paying, it's the death for all the family and friends.
- Why are they still so numerous? Simple: each member has the right to a minimum of two hundred dollars a month (half a SMIC for the country, good enough to live well in rural areas). All it takes is an error, a false wrong idea and the person is caught in the process. What happens if you leave the MS-13? It's death for all the family and friends, and the person too if they get their hands on it!
- And for the careerists? To become leaders in the MS-13, there are two minimum conditions to be met: murder and rape, regardless of the age of the victim (even a seven-year-old girl).
- The banks, the politicians, therefore the army, are obliged to deal with them. It is hard to reduce their influence! So people protect themselves: barriers, broken glass at the top of the walls, armed security agents, ... And also dogs and roosters! The latter barking and singing at every opportunity and at any time, alerting the whole neighborhood. It wish you good luck to sleep in El Salvador without earplugs.
- But how to get rid of this wound of MS-13 that has contaminated its neighbors: the maras are now parasitizing Honduras, and partially Guatemala.
- And yet, we have seen many police officers and lots of checks along the roads. What are they looking for ? If they are able to fight the crime temporarily at a given moment, they (obviously) do not act to put an end to organized crime ...
- I take this opportunity to point out that tourists, who we are, are safe from these troubles.
The circulation
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- Another cause of death in the country: the number of accidents on the roads is very important. I saw three of them, including one mortal. Speed is a scourge in the country. Yet speed bumps are built on all major roads. But the condition of small roads dented, even dirt roads, is only temporarily to slow these drivers. Mexican drivers are often reckless, in a hurry and distracted by the phone while driving.
The buses
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- Not having traveled very far, the most exorbitant price I paid in the country was three dollars. The country being small, the distances are short. It takes six to eight hours by bus to cross the country from North to South.
- The equipment: these are old American buses that end their lives in El Salvador - and pollute the country.
- Street vendors are always present. Whether at the start, between two stops or at the end, it is difficult to escape them.
- https://youtu.be/O1RyYORWXoc
- https://youtu.be/u07SXWqAkwU
Pollution
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- The second big problem in Canada after crime is, in my opinion, the lack of respect for the environment.
- At the beach of El Tunco, all the cleaning of the hostel is done with the jet of water. They do not rub, they only water the dirty areas longer and intensely.
- People throw their garbage everywhere: here is a great view of the country on an imposing rock formation. The Spaniards, at the sight of a cave, have named this place the devil’s door.
- They chose the word well to describe this hell that we have left the locals in the weekend. The difference with Nicaragua is that no one ever cleans the environment. I suspect that Nicaraguan volunteers, NGOs and ecologists manage to regularly clean the tourist areas.
- There is no recycling in the country, even at the capital level, which is quite depressing. MARN has work!
Education
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- One of my big questions was to understand why people (or at least young people) did not speak a minimum of English. The reason is simple: the public school only provides them one hour of English a week. In addition, they claim it is poor quality classes and young people have few opportunities to practice oral English.
- To have a deeper understanding of their schedules, young people in primary school have classes either morning or afternoon (three or four hours). Teachers are responsible for two classes a day. In college, they spend six to seven hours a day, but still only one hour of English weekly.
Money
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- The currency in El Salvador is the dollar. In 2001, President Flores decided to follow the Argentine and Venezuelan example and to adopt the dollar as a currency, a way to fight against inflation and ... to become even more dependent on the United States ...
- The average salary would be three hundred dollars (or two hundred and fifty euros).
- It must be kept in mind that the brain drain to the United States is hitting the country hard. Ten thousand dollars (or six thousand) to return illegally to the United States and receive a salary three, ten times or more! They are two million five hundred thousand, or forty percent of the country, exiled to improve their living conditions.
- Fortunately, the current president of the United States wants to send back to El Salvador part of his labor power! Rather, Remesas, which means sending money from the United States to El Salvador, is worth more than $ 4 billion, or sixteen percent of GDP. The country's wealth comes from its expats in the United States! (My source in French)
- https://www.lecalj.com/2017/08/20/el-salvador-bilan-provisoire-de-25-annees-de-paix/
Population
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- We received a very warm welcome from Salvadorans, always there to help others.
- They even gave me a microphone during a karaoke on "Cuarenta y veinte". I remembered two or three words of this song!
- https://youtu.be/N1XV6JYIHp0
- A good plan to know the daily life in the country is to use Couchsurfing. This allows to sleep at home free, and in exchange I usually bring a gift or I cook a small dish! During the evenings, it is an opportunity to discuss and discover the way of life of the inhabitants, and these are often unique moments!
Wall paintings
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- Many buildings in the country have large paintings related to their function or location. A feast for the eyes !
Climate
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- Great sunny weather all over the country on the month of January! The dry season is really optimal for traveling to El Salvador.
- Oh, I almost forgot: it rained an hour in Santa Ana. It was necessary to immortalize the moment:
- https://youtu.be/iqvWGwQ1bc0
The pupusas
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- In El Salvador, pupusas are at all menus and are hard to miss. Crafted with a dough made from corn flour or rice, the pupusas are filled with cheese and one or more ingredients of your choice: chicken, pork, beans, squash or revuelta which is a clever mix of pork, beans and cheese. Once fried and served in the plastic plates, you can add tomato sauce and a "curtido" vegetable seasoning consisting of a mix of carrots, chilli, cabbage, cucumber and especially onions. Video preparation:
- https://youtu.be/v9zAAm6rJXY
Other meals from El Salvador
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- To vary of pupusas, there is the "yuca frita", which is the fried cassava, often served as a dish but also for dessert accompanied by nuegados. The nuegados are sort of the nougats of El Salvador, and it's delicious if you like the sweet sauces!
- A traditional breakfast is an omelette, accompanied by crushed flageolets and fried plane trees.
- And horchata, a peanut-based drink mixed with rice, red pepper seeds, squash seeds, cinnamon, a little sesame. Everything is crushed, mixed and melted; and finally we add sugar and water.
A few words from El Salvador
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- Because learning a single Spanish for each Spanish speaking country is not enough, I had to distinguish some subtleties of the Spanish language in El Salvador and here they are:
- Vamos to jode! - Let's go !
- Los Guacamos - The Salvadorans (and not the salvadoreños)
- What ondas? Al suave - How are you ? Quiet / All is well!
- A bolado - A trick
- A bicho / a cipote = a child / a kid
The destinations that marked us!
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- Now discover the corners to add to your next trip! Do not forget Alegría and the Santa Ana area already mentioned in previous articles.
The beaches of El Salvador
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- They are numerous, pretty and so quiet! I tried to surf off the sandy beach of El Cuco village. Then I took some big waves in El Tunco, the meeting place for backpackers and Salvadorians on weekends. The latter (in photo) has a long pebble beach, which ends with about ten meters of sand. At the entrance of the beach is this big rock, symbol of the village, on which fishermen throw their net on the fish rejected by the strong waves!
- Last beach visited: los Cobanos, a friendly fishing village with long beaches. On the other hand, the sea is shallow and full of rocks. I had the opportunity to see beautiful blue fish, whelks, hermit crabs and crabs.
- Here is the video playlist with my surfing attempts, other surfers with more success and the animals on the beach:
- https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLpkaK0yJ22Ow0s-cTVRc8lumfUlrCmc5f
San Salvador
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- The city is a big capital made up of colonias (neighborhoods) more or less secure. In the heart of the capital, the National Palace and the Cathedral:
- https://youtu.be/0rKEevkFQxc
- What we remember from the capital is above all Alan's hospitality and his charming apartment.
- We recommend to visit the crater of the volcano of San Salvador rather than the paying park Boquerón. Just follow the path to the viewpoint north of the Ojo de Aqua on MAPS.ME. The volcano of San Salvador is five hundred meters deep and the descent into the crater is possible! Really steep, it is sometimes necessary to climb the rocks to reach the center of the volcano. It takes three hours for the round trip, the ascent is more than a formality after the descent.
- https://youtu.be/bpAgjD-wub8
- Sulma always has some energy to make jumps!
- https://youtu.be/WSeZ-RoJu6M
Suchitoto
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- The colonial city of the country has a huge lake Suchitlán since the construction of the dam in the 1970s. It is a friendly city where we can see two waterfalls: the waterfall El Cubo, ridiculous in this season and .. .
The waterfall of Los Tercios
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- And especially the waterfall of Los Tercios composed of large blocks of stone shaped obelisk is a work of art in its natural state. Dry in this season, we were able to climb almost totally the rock mount!
Mount Guazapa
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- Nearby Suchitoto, this mountain range was a high place, called El Zapote, of the peasant resistance against the military dictatorship of the 1970s. On the way, remains of stone walls, buzóns - an underground hiding place to spy on the enemy, cemeteries erected following the massacre of schoolchildren or other civilians. We meet on the road two sexagenarians with their dogs preparing and collecting wood. We engage in conversation and they give us details about the war: they were born on Mount Guazapa so their childhood was very affected by the war, their father and many of their acquaintances were killed as they were part of the rebel forces. At the time, there were plenty of independent rebel groups that each had their own area of influence. They were grouped in the east of the country, in the mountains and hills more inaccessible to control by arms. It was in 1980 that the FMLN brought them together to face the military government helped by the United States.
- As a result of this undergrowth, comes a farm. The farmer shows us the path behind his maize plot, which leads to the mountainside between Cerrito and Caballito. It tells us the presence of snakes on the way and that it is not cleared. For lack of a machete - I do not have it yet my backpack - we have to give up. A video to immortalize the view:
- https://youtu.be/I6DKnsDcqrY
El Pital
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- The highest peak of El Salvador rises to 2700 meters. Located on the border with Honduras, Sulma and I found ourselves lost to the barbed wire between the two countries. We remember the green setting and the incredible elevation of the access road to the summit. Oh, a lizard!
- https://youtu.be/C_lyYYBofA4
- For Salvadorans, it is very cold. But nothing too worrying for us, who only needed a sweater for the night. Long live the dry season!
- At our hotel, I remain fascinated by the aras ...
- https://youtu.be/uqT0SXHysrQ
- Less dangerous activity, I try to make the parakeets talk, with a minimum of success:
- https://youtu.be/YY3uC7GXi20
Dirt road between Citalá and Metapán
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- The road is worth the candle! Almost unpaved, it crosses the passes and the valleys between the mountains. Among the passengers of the bus, I met a family who speaks a very rural Spanish, surely mixed with a Mayan language. Authentic !
Metapán
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- Independent city in the north east of the country, whose affiliated tourist attractions are this beautiful city center and Montecristo Park. The park is accessible only to those who find a four wheels vehicle to take them to this great nature reserve at the points of the three borders between Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.
Lake Güija
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- A peaceful lake around which it is possible to make a good hike. We wandered around the island of "Las Figuras", which disappears underwater during the wet season. A nice nice spot on the border of Guatemala!
El Salvador is a complex country that can not be summed up in one article
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- In this article, I try to be very exhaustive on the different aspects of this country, nevertheless nothing will replace the immersion in the country! Find yourself confronting the hospitality of people and their welcome, discuss their way of life and culture, eat pupusas to paroxysm, ... all this is obviously part of the trip!

Here the comments of the article!

From franca - 08/01/2020 18:26
Good, Pierre, thanks. I fly to El Salvador on the 3rd of Feb. I go now to your article on Guatemala which will be the second country to visit -I hope

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