Hello everyone! What a blast El Salvador turned out to be. Filming for my webisode Season two, episode one was an amazing experience. I met many fascinating people, each clamoring with “come back, come back and bring more people with you.”
Let’s start off with a bit of a juxtaposition I experienced when in El Salvador. Everywhere I went, I found the highways to be in excellent condition, rarely marked with potholes. There is a significant amount of infrastructure development and much work remains to bring regions outside the main tourist, commercial areas, up to par. Modern shopping malls alongside European and American chains dot the capital city, including a rather unusual Starbucks inside a shopping mall. The most recent renovation included the Mexican movie chain Cinepolis that offers 4D viewing experience.
Nothing surprising about an American coffeehouse inside a shopping mall, but what missed the final video cut in “Surfing In El Salvador” was the fact that this Starbucks is literally “housed” inside a mansion inside a shopping mall. You see, when the shopping mall constructed, there was a considerable groundswell of support for preserving remains of the La Casona mansion from the 1950s and this was in the middle the new ground floor of the Gallerias Shopping Center. It was worth preserving as the family that lived there was of Palestinian origin, something El Salvador recognizes as many Palestinians migrated to El Salvador over a hundred years prior, in the early 1900s.
Rather than destroy the mansion for an indoor courtyard, mall developers responded to the citizens by not only keeping the mansion, but hollowing out the core, solidifying the framework and installing an American coffee chain, Starbucks.
There are many independently owned coffee houses in El Salvador, after all, this is the region where coffee is grown, meticulously maintained and harvested painstakingly by hand. I’ve had the pleasure of trying European-styled coffee in area restaurants with beans literally picked in the surrounding hills, dried, halved and baked (not burnt) at proper temperatures. I assure you, there is a significant flavor difference from mass-produced coffee. Some things simply are worth the wait. This is one of them.
Shortly after I returned to the United States, the country experienced its most brutal wave of extreme gang-on-gang violence, stretching from March 25th to the 27th of 2022. Less than 72 hours later, nearly 90 people lay dead, victims of retaliation that some believe, have ties to the current President in the form of negotiation truce with rival gangs.
What surprised me the most was the rapid response of the country’s president, the Bukele administration. Approaching the violence with an extreme heavy hand, national police entered neighborhoods known to be hot spots for gangs and violence, rounding up nearly ten thousand additional citizens and potential gang members. These individuals, some gang members, and some no doubt, swept up erroneously during these massive raids, clearly offer a show of support for zero tolerance towards violence.
In the ensuing weeks leading after these massive raids, various news outlets responded with cries of punitive populism and significant human rights violations found elsewhere around the world. The truth is, whether it is an overreach on behalf of the current administration policies, or not, there is evidence suggestive that Salvadorans are appreciative of his efforts. Gangs have long terrorized neighborhoods surrounding the capital and recruit new members from out in the countryside.
Violence does ebb and flow in Central America as does elsewhere around the world. However, it remains to be seen what exactly, was the ‘trigger point’ that resulted in multiple deaths in a relatively short period of time. One would need to go back thirty years to find similar numbers.
Does this affect any future trips I may take to El Salvador? Absolutely not. In the places I visited, security was noticeable, professional, alert and readily available. Does seeing such a prevalence of security detail concern me? No. Quite the opposite. When I enter a shopping mall, a bank, movie theater, pharmacy, gas station, there are commissioned and armed officers, some local, others department level, and others, federal-level police officers. All have a job duty and that is to protect visitors, citizens and yes, tourists, alike. I often lament the fact that I bet in the United States, if shopping malls, churches, stores, banks, ad nauseum, could enter cooperative agreements and hire commissioned police officers, the risks of massive shootings might decrease.
In large American metropolitan schools and some places in Europe (and elsewhere), it is routine to see school security resource officers and commissioned city police patrol the corridors of these learning institutions.
An ounce of prevention is certainly worth the alternative and it offers a semblance of security. If President Bukele continues to offer an alternative to sporadic, gang violence and murders, it’s a step in the right direction, short of Marshall law. The citizens of El Salvador have consistently stated they want significant change in their lives.
Rounding up presumptive gang members en masse is President Bukele’s most overt way of communicating to Salvadorans regarding this issue. He’s got their back and that, is the juxtaposition in contrast to other countries with little regards to maintaining civil order.