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FM AMEMBASSY SAN SALVADOR
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UNCLAS SAN SALVADOR 000901 
 
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TAGS: BEXP BTIO EAID OEXC OIIP PGOV PHUM PREL SCUL SMIG TSPL
EINV, ES 
 
SUBJECT: ENGAGING DIASPORA COMMUNITIES: El SALVADOR 
 
REF: STATE 86401 
 
This message is Sensitive but Unclassified.  Please handle accordingly. 
 
¶1.  (U) Post's responses to reftel queries are below.  Certain topics 
have been combined to minimize redundancy. 
 
-------- 
OVERVIEW 
-------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) Summary.  An estimated three million Salvadorans reside 
abroad, with approximately 90 percent of them in the U.S.  Salvadorans 
are a readily-identifiable community that maintains strong ties to 
their home country, and are strongly encouraged to do so by the 
government of El Salvador (GOES) as part of its development strategy. 
The economic impact of the diaspora community on El Salvador is 
significant.  The Salvadoran diaspora has had an active role in shaping 
the bilateral relationship and is actively involved in Salvadoran 
politics.  On the negative side, as many as 50,000 Salvadorans in the 
U.S. are believed to be engaged in gang-related criminal activities. 
End Summary. 
 
¶3.  (SBU) An estimated three million Salvadorans reside abroad, with 
approximately 90 percent (roughly 30 percent of El Salvador's 
population) of them in the U.S.  El Salvador's population of 5.8 
million contributes the third-largest Latino population (after Mexico 
and Puerto Rico) to the U.S., comprising 2.9 percent of foreign-born 
residents.  The Salvadoran diaspora in the U.S. is a 
readily-identifiable community that maintains strong ties to its home 
country, and is encouraged to do so by the government of El Salvador 
(GOES) as part of its development strategy.  Individual Salvadorans 
often maintain strong family ties, and remittances make up nearly 
one-fifth of the GDP of El Salvador. In addition, there are numerous 
"hometown associations" (HTAs) that promote Salvadoran culture, 
maintain community ties among Salvadorans living in the U.S., and 
provide assistance to communities in El Salvador.  The impact of the 
diaspora is such that Salvadorans often jokingly refer to the U.S. as 
the "fifteenth department (province)" of El Salvador, and there is even 
a "Salvador Diaspora" song available on the Internet at 
http://www.last.fm/music/Rex+Riddem+featuring +Carlos+Scorpi%C3%A0o/_/Sa 
vador+Diaspora. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) On the negative side, as many as 50,000 Salvadorans in the 
U.S. are believed to be engaged in gang-related criminal activities, 
especially in the areas of Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Houston, the 
Washington D.C. metropolitan area, and Charlotte, NC.  The origins and 
persistence of gang violence in El Salvador are traceable to California 
prisons and two-way travel of gang members. 
 
¶5.  (U) The largest concentrations of Salvadorans in the U.S. are found 
in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Santa Ana, California; the 
Washington, D.C. metropolitan area; New York City and Long Island, New 
York; Houston and Dallas, Texas; Charlotte, North Carolina; and the 
cities of Miami, Boston, and Chicago.  Emergent communities also exist 
in Las Vegas, Nevada; Greensboro and Raleigh, North Carolina; and 
Atlanta, Georgia.  Los Angeles, the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, 
Houston, and Charlotte rank in order as the top four cities with 
Salvadoran populations.  Salvadorans comprise the largest immigrant 
group in the Washington, D.C. area, numbering more than 100,000 people. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
EL SALVADOR'S OUTREACH TO THE DIASPORA 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (U) The diaspora community receives significant attention from the 
GOES, which maintains active outreach efforts.  Both Presidential 
candidates met with Salvadoran communities and raised funds from them 
during their campaigns last year. In 2004, former President Antonio 
Saca created a special position in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs for 
Salvadorans living abroad, and convened a Presidential Forum on the 
diaspora.  The outcome was a focus by the GOES on eight areas: human 
rights and legal assistance for migrants; migratory stability and 
family re-unification; remittances and local development; social and 
humanitarian assistance; economic integration; improvement of consular 
services; linkage with diaspora communities; and citizen participation 
and national identity. 
 
¶7.  (U) The Embassy of El Salvador in Washington, D.C. has a Salvadoran 
Community section that actively communicates with Salvadorans residing 
in the U.S., and coordinates activities among the 16 Salvadoran 
consulates in the U.S. and between the two countries.  The Embassy's 
outreach includes assistance with immigration issues, including 
Temporary Protective Status, which many Salvadorans enjoy, and 
documentation of those with no legal immigration status.  The Saca 
administration (2004-2009, conservative ARENA) had intensively 
campaigned in the U.S. for the renewal of TPS, which was approved by 
the Bush administration in 2008. 
¶8.  (U) El SalvadorQs U.S. consulates are located in the cities of 
Boston, MA; Las Vegas, NV; Brentwood, NY; Los Angeles, CA; Chicago, IL; 
Nogales, AZ; Coral Gables, FL; New York, NY; Dallas, TX; San Francisco, 
CA; Duluth, GA; Santa Ana, CA; Elizabeth, NJ; Washington, DC; Houston, 
TX; and Woodbridge, VA. 
 
¶9.  (U) The Salvadoran Embassy communicates frequently with the U.S. 
Congress, the White House, and local community authorities to promote 
the liberalization immigration rules and laws.  In addition, the GOES 
promotes "nostalgic" products through commercial fairs, as well as 
investment of remittances into housing projects in El Salvador. 
Salvadoran banks operate branches in several cities in the U.S. 
 
¶10.  (U) The Funes administration has continued the efforts of its 
predecessor, and sees the diaspora as a partner in its development 
strategy, as a source of direct funding and investment, particularly 
with regard to reaching the Latino market in the US.  It would also 
like to see businesses in El Salvador attract more remittance money 
through accounts paid for by relatives in the U.S. 
 
¶11.  (U) Recently, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) 
and the El Salvadoran Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Labor and 
Social Security signed a framework agreement aimed at closer 
cooperation in the fields of labor migration and migration management. 
 
---------------------- 
DIASPORA ORGANIZATIONS 
---------------------- 
 
¶12.  (U) Diaspora organizations, often referred to as hometown 
associations (HTAs), play an important role in the diaspora community. 
In addition to building local community ties, they promote investment 
of remittances in community projects, retirement programs, health 
services, housing, and tourism.  They also lobby the GOES to enable the 
diaspora community to vote from abroad and to provide better consular 
services, legal assistance and migratory stability.  The nature of 
Salvadoran HTAs has been described in detail by Manuel Orozco and 
Eugenia Garcia-Zanello of the Inter-American Dialogue, a leading U.S. 
policy analysis center.  Orozco teaches Central American Regional 
Studies at the Foreign Service Institute, and is the leading scholar on 
remittances and the diaspora. 
 
¶13.  (U) Although only four percent of Salvadorans in the U.S. belong 
to an HTA, some 200 well-organized Salvadoran HTAs distributed 
throughout the country work in conjunction with Salvadoran community 
organizations to raise funds (generally less than 15,000 USD a year) to 
support projects in El Salvador, as well as for activities supporting 
Salvadoran culture in the United States.  The HTAs maintain contacts 
with association members and family in the hometown, and work on a 
range of projects in both countries, generally in the areas of health 
and education.  (Source: "Hometown Associations: Transnationalism, 
Philanthropy, and Development" by Manuel Orozco and Eugenia 
Garcia-Zanello, 2009, available at 
http://www.thedialogue.org/PublicationFiles/H ometown%20Associations,%20 
ransnationalism,%20Philanthropy,%20and%20Deve lopment.pdf) 
 
¶14.  (U) In addition, USAID, United Nations organizations such as UNDP, 
and organizations such as FLACSO-El Salvador (Latin American Faculty on 
Social Sciences, an intergovernmental, regional and autonomous 
organization) do extensive work on the impact of the Salvadoran 
diaspora. A good information source is UNDP's Human Development Report 
on Salvadoran migration, by economist and researcher William Pleytez, 
available at:   http://www.pnud.org.sv/migraciones/content/vi ew/9/105/. 
 A study on Salvadoran migrant workers by FIDH (for its French 
acronym), a human-rights NGO, is available at 
http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/cmw/docs /ngos/MPDM_ElSalvador9.pdf 
 
¶15.  (U) Other important organizations are the Catholic, Episcopalian, 
and Lutheran churches as well as evangelical Protestant and numerous 
other U.S. church organizations performing missionary work and 
providing humanitarian aid in El Salvador. 
 
--------------- 
ECONOMIC IMPACT 
--------------- 
 
¶16.  (U) The economic impact of the diaspora community on El Salvador 
is significant.  The diaspora actively engages in long-term investment 
in country, including micro-enterprise development, job creation, 
entrepreneurship, and institutional capacity building.  A recent study 
of this activity is "Exporting People and Recruiting Remittances: A 
Development Strategy for El Salvador?" by Sarah Gammage (DOI: 
10.1177/0094582X06294112, Latin American Perspectives 2006; 33; 75), 
available in an online version at: 
http://lap.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/3 3/6/75. 
 
¶17.  (U) In 2008, the Central Bank estimated that remittances totaled 
3.8 billion USD, representing the equivalent of nearly one-fifth of El 
Salvador's GDP, although it recently announced that remittances dropped 
11 percent during the first seven months of 2009.  Nevertheless, 
remittances are an important source of income for an estimated 22.3 
percent of families in El Salvador. Most remittance payments are used 
for personal consumption by poorer populations in El Salvador, but some 
payments are likely passed to savings or used for investment.  The 
multiplier effect of these remittances likely sustains a significant 
economic base including jobs and, generally, informal sector business 
opportunities. 
 
¶18.  (U) Many wealthy Salvadorans spend significant periods of time in 
the U.S. and own property or investments in the United States, which 
may be re-invested in El Salvador, as the GOES does not place 
restrictions on the flow of capital to or from its dollarized economy. 
The GOES's Fondo de Inversion Social para el Desarrollo Local (FISDL) 
(Social Investment Fund for Local Development) lists numerous 
development projects on its website, located at 
http://www.fisdl.gob.sv/. 
 
¶19.  (U) According to a USAID study, diaspora investment has been 
ongoing since the 1940s, and includes notable successes, such as the 
founding of Gigante Express, the largest remittance transfer agency in 
Central America.  However, mid-scale entrepreneurs are more typical of 
the current generation of immigrants, though both benefit from the 
"transnational field of vision" that results from migration, as well as 
personal contacts and familiarity with migrant consumer patterns." 
(Source:  "Diaspora Direct Investment (DDI):  The Untapped Resource for 
Development," USAID publication by Thomas Debass and Michael Ardovino, 
May 19, 2009.)  According to Orozco, 10 percent of exports to the 
United States from El Salvador and various other Latin American 
countries are nostalgic goods. Demand for these goods has also 
motivated some migrants to invest in home-country export businesses. 
 
¶20.  (U) In July 2004 USAID/El Salvador began an ambitious 
donor-diaspora partnership project, ALCANCE (Alianza de Comunidades 
Apoyando la Ninez y su Continuacion en la Educacion). At the time it 
was the largest USAID-funded public-private partnership involving 
diasporas in Latin America and the Caribbean, bringing together 21 
HTAs, the Pan-American Development Foundation (PADF), the 
non-governmental organization World Vision, a Salvadoran educational 
organization, local HTA counterparts, and financing from two banks. 
The objectives of the project were threefold: improve education among 
poor, rural primary schoolchildren, leverage immigrant resources, and 
develop sustainable mechanisms for transnational support for rural 
education in El Salvador.  (Source:  "Remittances, Diasporas, and 
Economic Development Issues, Lessons Learned, and Recommendations for 
Donor Interventions," USAID publication by Eve Hamilton and Manuel 
Orozco in collaboration with Laura Chin and Kathryn Sell, November 
2006.) 
 
¶21.  (U) Science and technology have not been a significant focus of 
diaspora activity. 
 
¶22.  (U) Since indigenous groups represent less than one percent of El 
Salvador's population , it is unlikely that the diaspora community has 
been significantly engaged in meeting the health, education and welfare 
needs of indigenous peoples. 
 
------------------- 
DEMOCRACY PROMOTION 
------------------- 
 
¶23.  (SBU) The diaspora community is actively involved in Salvadoran 
politics. In addition to the large diaspora community in the U.S., more 
than 20,000 American citizens live and work full-time in El Salvador. 
This translates into a broad spectrum of political involvement.  For 
instance, both presidential candidates met with Salvadoran communities 
in the U.S. during their campaigns, and these communities were sources 
of campaign funds.  Ana Sol Gutierrez, a Maryland state delegate 
representing a large Salvadoran community in the D.C. metropolitan 
area, is very active in promoting a mechanism for Salvadorans abroad to 
vote absentee in Salvadoran elections.  (Note:  Currently, Salvadorans 
residing abroad may vote in elections, but they must return to El 
Salvador to do so.  End Note.)  An example of recent efforts to promote 
Salvadoran participation in U. S. politics appeared in a September 24, 
2009, Washington Post article, "Salvadorans Seek a Voice To Match Their 
Numbers; Summit Aims to Raise Political Visibility," available at: 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ article/2009/09/23/AR20090 
2304494_pf.html.  [Comment:  Despite the misleading nature of the 
opening paragraph, the article contains useful information on 
Salvadorans in the U.S.  Salvadorans of all political inclinations fled 
the country because of security and economic concerns resulting from 
the civil conflict.  Some who fled to the U.S. during the civil 
conflict returned to El Salvador after the signing of the Peace 
Accords.  End Comment.] 
 
¶24.  (U) The Funes administration has continued the outreach efforts of 
his predecessor, and plans to expand them given the support he received 
in the 2009 elections from the Salvadoran community in the U.S. 
--------------------------- 
PUBLIC DIPLOMACY & OUTREACH 
--------------------------- 
 
¶25.  (U) The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), the U.S. Trade and 
Development Agency (USTDA) and the Overseas Private Investment 
Corporation (OPIC) are working with El Salvador to facilitate 
investment and economic development opportunities in El Salvador's 
Northern Zone.  MCC has actively sought to engage the Salvadoran 
diaspora throughout the Compact development and implementation process, 
including the diaspora population that has strong ties to the Northern 
Zone, the focal region for the 461 million USD MCC Compact. 
 
¶26.  (U) FOMILENIO (MCA-El Salvador, established by the GOES to 
implement the program), the GOES and MCC also coordinated four outreach 
events in Washington D.C., New York and Los Angeles to inform local 
Salvadorans of business opportunities that the MCC Compact brings to 
the Northern Region of the country.  Margarita Escobar, the former Vice 
Foreign Minister for Salvadorans Living Abroad, played an active role 
in planning for the events and providing Salvadoran consular officers 
with information on the MCC compact to pass along to diaspora 
populations.  For more information, see 
http://www.mcc.gov/mcc/countries/elsalvador/s v-documents/mcc-ustda-and- 
pic-working-with-el-salvador-to-pro.shtml, 
http://licitacions.copca.com/tenders/adminSho wBuyer.do~buyerId=1414819, 
and http://www.mca.gob.sv/fomilenio/. 
 
¶27.  (U) A recent collaboration between the USG, the GOES, FUSADES 
(Salvadoran think tank) and Salvadoran entrepreneurs facilitated 
investments and partnerships related to the MCC.  Salvadoran business 
leaders may now use a new web portal (www.epridex.org) providing 
up-to-date information to suppliers and investors regarding business 
opportunities, incentive plans, the fiscal operating environment and 
tax laws applicable to El Salvador's Northern Zone.  These efforts were 
featured in a 2008 article in The Washington Post, available at 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/ article/2008/03/13/AR20080 
1302147.html. 
 
¶28.  (U) Aside from visa inquiries, post receives requests from NGOs 
advocating specific issues, generally dealing with human rights and 
elections issues.  To a limited extent, post has received inquiries 
from private citizens seeking to capitalize on activities that may be 
complementary to the MCC Compact projects. 
 
¶29.  (U) The Salvadoran diaspora follows events back home closely.  The 
internet is the best means of contact, including Salvadoran media web 
pages.  For more recent arrivals, the preferred methods would be local 
Spanish language newspapers, radio, and television.  Other media 
include churches, school groups for Spanish parents, and immigration 
NGOs. 
 
¶30.  (U) Useful tools for post would include databases on Slvadoran 
diaspora community organizations, as wel a set of maps identifying 
Salvadoran population in the United States, and locations of major 
hoe town associations.  It would also be helpful to ncorporate 
Salvadoran-Americans into the U.S. Spaker and IV programs. 
 
------------------- 
CONACT INFORMATION 
------------------- 
 
¶31. (U) Government of El Salvador: 
 
Embassy of El Salvador: 
Vilma Herrera 
Embajada de El Salvador 
Seccio Comunidad Salvadorena 
1400 16th Street, NW, Suite 100 
Washington D.C. 20036 
Tel. (202) 595-7524 
Fax (202) 232-3763 
vherrera@elsalvador.org 
Web site: 
http://www.elsalvador.org/embajadas/eeuu/home .nsf/comunidad 
 
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) 
General Direction of Assistance to the Salvadoran Community Abroad 
Contact:  Juan Jose Garcia, Vice Minister for Salvadorans Living Abroad 
Calle El Pedregal, Blvd. Cancilleria. 500 mts. al poniente del Campus 
II de la Universidad "Jose Matias Delgado" 
Ciudad Merliot, Antiguo Cuscatlan 
El Salvador, Centroamerica 
Telephone:  2231-1000, 2289-4952 
E-mail:  jgarcia@rree.gob.sv 
Web site: 
http://www.rree.gob.sv/sitio/sitiowebrree.nsf /pages/scancilleria_vicemi 
istro2 
 
¶32.  (U) A list of Salvadoran organizations in the U.S. registered with 
the Embassy of El Salvador is available at 
http://www.elsalvador.org/embajadas/eeuu/home .nsf/comunidad. 
 
 
¶33.  (U) The most prominent Salvadoran organizations include: 
 
ASOSAL (Asociacion Salvadorena de Los Angeles) 
Founded in 1991, ASOSAL provides legal assistance to Salvadoran and 
Latin American migrants in Los Angeles, and promotes community 
development and cultural identity programs. 
Web:  http://asosal.org/Asosal.English.htm 
 
CARECEN (Centro de Recursos Centroamericanos)- El Salvador 
A non-profit humanitarian organization, founded in 1981, in Washington 
D.C., CARECEN's mission is to provide assistance, legal protection and 
social services to the Central American community in Washington D.C. 
      Web:  http://www.freewebs.com/carecenelsalvador/ind ex.htm 
Catholic Relief Services: http://crs.org/El%2DSalvador/ 
 
Center for Exchange and Solidarity 
Web:  http://www.cis-elsalvador.org/en/history-and- mission.html 
 
Centro Romero (Chicago) 
Several Centros Romero were established in the U.S. and Canada during 
the civil war 1980s, when many Salvadorans began migrating north. 
Centros Romero are community-based organizations that serve the refugee 
immigrant population in the U.S. 
Web:  http://www.centroromero.org/HomePage.asp 
 
El Piche 
A Los Angeles organization founded in 1995, El Piche focuses on social 
and development cooperation. 
Web:  http://www.elpiche.com 
 
FLACSO-El Salvador (Latin American Faculty on Social Sciences) 
FLACSO is an intergovernmental, regional and autonomous organization, 
established in 1957 by the Latin American and Caribbean governments in 
coordination with UNESCO.  FLACSO-El Salvador started operations in El 
Salvador in 1992. 
Web:  http://www.flacso.org.sv/ 
 
FUSADES (Salvadoran Foundation for Economic and Social Development) 
FUSADES was established in 1983 by a group of local entrepreneurs with 
financial support from USAID. During the 1990s, it was the primary 
"think tank" for the ARENA administrations. 
Web:  http://www.fusades.org.sv/ 
 
INTIPUCA 
INTIPUCA focuses on improving economic conditions and social events in 
their home town. 
Web:  http://intipucacity.com/ 
 
Landmine survivor network: 
http://www.survivorcorps.org/NetCommunity/Pag e.aspx?pid=319 
 
Lutheran Church 
Web: 
http://www.elca.org/Who-We-Are/Our-Three-Expr essions/Churchwide-Organiz 
tion/Global-Mission/Where-We-Work/Latin-Ameri ca-Caribbean/El-Salvador.a 
px 
 
Population Service International: 
Web:  http://www.psi.org/where_we_work/central_amer ica.html 
 
SALEF (The Salvadoran American Leadership and Educational Fund) 
A Los Angeles group that promotes economic development and democracy in 
El Salvador, SALEF focuses on youth and provides scholarships. 
      Contact: Carlos Antonio H. Vaquerano 
      Telephone: 213 480-1052 
      chvaquerano@salef.org 
Web:  http://www.salef.org/salef/about.html 
 
SANN (Red Nacional Salvadorena Americana) 
SANN is a network of 15 NGOs founded in 1992 "dedicated to building a 
fair, dignified, and sustainable life for our immigrant community, 
Latin American and Caribbean, here in the United States and in Central 
America." 
Web:  http://www.sannetwork.org/ 
 
Save the Children 
Web: 
http://www.savethechildren.org/countries/lati n-america-caribbean/el-sal 
ador.html 
 
SEEM (Salvadorenos en El Mundo) 
SEEM is an organization created to help the Salvadoran people and 
migrant peoples in general. They have representatives in many cities in 
the U.S., Europe, Mexico, Canada and El Salvador and focus on 
migration, democracy, and political issues. 
Web: http://www.salvadorenosenelmundo.org/ 
 
SHARE Foundation 
SHARE supports historically impoverished communities constructing 
long-term sustainable solutions to the problems of poverty, 
underdevelopment and social injustice. 
Web:  http://www.share-elsalvador.org/ 
 
National Office 
598 Bosworth St. No. 1 
San Francisco, CA 94131 
Telephone:  (415) 239-2595 
Fax:  (415) 239-0785 
sharesf@share-elsalvador.org 
 
El Salvador Office 
Jardines de Miramonte, Calle 
Los Sisimiles No.48, San Salvador 
Telephone: (503) 2260-4325 
Fax:  (503) 2261-2352 
sharees@share-elsalvador.org 
 
Washington DC Office 
415 Michigan Ave. NE 
Washington, D.C. 20017 
Telephone:  (202)319-5540 
Fax:  (202) 319-5541 
sharedc@share-elsalvador.org 
 
BLAU