El Salvador 2005 Journal X

Groups like the CDC are the real opposition in El Salvador. They produce a weekly radio show and are regularly quoted in the newspaper. They also place ads on TV. Interestingly, the Canadian Ambassador did not know about this organization.

Privatization is a major focus for the CDC. Since the 1990’s privatization of services has become the trend in Latin America. Senior’s pensions, electricity, telecommunications, transportation have all been privatized in El Salvador. Health care was threatened and now water is a major concern. Control of water is now passing to local control. There is real concern that municipalities will be pressured to look for needed capital from the private sector.

The CDC has conducted price comparisons with other Latin American countries on a number of services. In cases where privatization has taken hold the cost of services has risen. For example, the price for power (154 Kw/hr) in El Salvador is $20.43. In Costa Rica the price is $9.35. In Honduras the price for the same amount of power is $10.22. Power in Costa Rica and Honduras is public. As privatization has increased so has the cost of living. In twelve years, the cost of living has gone up $300.00 per month. The average minimum wage during the same period has gone up $58.00. People are working just to survive.

The CDC will continue to work to build the social network necessary to educate Salvadorans on their situation. It is a daunting task, but they realize that the only way to confront this unfair situation is for people to become aware of the causes of the economic squeeze they now find themselves in.

El Salvador 2005 Journal IX

Access to services is a human right. As women’s groups trained by the Consensus Table work to pressure local governments through the budget process and training programs, it is hoped that progress for women will be possible.




A sample of one of the gender policy documents published by the Consensus Table

We continued our education by spending the afternoon with CDC – Centro Para La Defensa del Consumidor. Knowledge is power and this agency has done a great deal of work to protect the Salvadoran consumer through research and data gathering. They maintain that once organized, people can struggle successfully for their own rights.

They work to support the protection of human rights by pressuring government agencies to respect the rights of the people. They work at the grassroots level with links to national and international organizations on issues like genetic engineering, health care, CAFTA (free trade), and water.

CDC teaches people to become more vigilant. ANDA, the country’s water agency has been infamous for its over billing of the people. CDC has trained people to read their water bills accurately. They have revealed that ANDA has over billed its consumers by over $20 million dollars. This effort was organized through ‘fairs’ where people were invited to bring their water bills for analysis. During these sessions the corruption of ANDA was exposed.



This is a poster from CDC. It shows a woman with her water bill. The headline relates how ANDA, the government water agency has defrauded the people of $20 million dollars by overcharging on its bills.