CISPES Joins Your Calls for an End to Political Persecution

Last week, the son of Vidalina Morales, an internationally recognized environmental defender and president of the Economic and Social Development Association of Santa Marta (ADES), was arbitrarily arrested while playing soccer in the neighborhood. Vidalina immediately denounced the arrest as an act of intimidation and thankfully, he was quickly released.

But yesterday, the community issued an international alert when they learned of a military deployment in the surrounding area.

Given the government’s use of “military enclosures” to surround communities, ostensibly to target gangs but in reality, providing pretext for broad abuses and mass arrests, the presence of armed forces has created a new wave of fear, signaling to the people that more arbitrary arrests could be made at any time.

We denounce the detention of Morales, the intimidation tactics being used against the people of Santa Marta, and the re-militarization of Salvadoran society.

UN Special Rapporteur calls for the release of community leaders from Santa Marta

A day before Vidalina’s son, Manuel Gámez Morales was arrested, Mary Lawlor, a UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, tweeted a call for the release of five community leaders from Santa Marta, including the director of ADES, who were arrested in January on trumped-up charges, expressing concern regarding their ongoing detention.

Since January, CISPES has been part of a campaign with the International Allies against Mining in El Salvador to free the Santa Marta 5.

We are pushing Members of Congress to speak out against this political persecution – and your Rep needs to hear from you! Will you help us call for their release and for an end to U.S. support for militarized repression in El Salvador?

¡La lucha continua! (The struggle continues!)

-all of us at CISPES

El Tribuno del Pueblo brings you articles written by individuals or organizations, along with our own reporting. Bylined articles reflect the views of the authors. Unsigned articles reflect the views of the editorial board. Please credit the source when sharing: tribunodelpueblo.org. We’re all volunteers, no paid staff. Please donate at http://tribunodelpueblo.org to keep bringing you the voices of the movement because no human being is illegal.