Center for Information, Documentation and Research Support (CIDAI)
E-mail: cidai@cidai.uca.edu.sv

Central American University (UCA)
Apdo. Postal 01-168, Boulevard Los Próceres
San Salvador, El Salvador, Centro América
Tel: +(503) 210-6600 ext. 407
Fax: +(503) 210-6655
 

     Proceso is published weekly in Spanish by the Center for Information, Documentation and Research Support (CIDAI) of the Central American University (UCA) of El Salvador. Portions are sent in English to the *reg.elsalvador* conference of PeaceNet in the USA and may be forwarded or copied to other networks and electronic mailing lists. Please make sure to mention Proceso when quoting from this publication.

     Subscriptions to Proceso in Spanish can be obtained by sending a check for US$50.00 (Americas) or $75.00 (Europe) made out to 'Universidad Centroamericana' and sent to the above address. Or read it partially on the UCA’s Web Page: http://www.uca.edu.sv
     For the ones who are interested in sending donations, these would be welcome at Proceso. Apdo. Postal 01-168, San Salvador, El Salvador.

INDEX

EDITORIAL

    The board of El Diario de Hoy feels threatened by a conspiracy that, according to their suppositions, would have different sources. The evidence of its existence would be the following items: a law proposal made by the FMLN to silence the press and restrict the freedom of speech; the justification that both the FMLN and the auxiliary Bishop of San Salvador allegedly made about the closing of the Venezuelan media a few hours before the coup d'etat; and the alleged defamation against the newspaper, made by several professors of the University of El Salvador and the Central American University. The conspirators would have taken advantage, according to the curious observations of the already mentioned newspaper, of tergiversations and slanders, "to question the newspaper's work and prepare future attacks". The attack against the journalists of the Salvadoran Tele-corporation (on May 1st.) would have been considered as the climax of this conspiracy. The newspaper's board considers that the alleged aggression is "the culmination of an insidious campaign against the journalists and the country's media".

It is evident that the board of El Diario de Hoy is not happy with the public critics. It seems as if the one that questions everyone does not like to be criticized by others. The newspaper is annoyed by the systematical analysis that the UCA presents about the paper's journalistic performance, because it does not receive a positive review. One of the things that the aforementioned newspaper gets more angry about is being compared with the competition and its friends. That is why it bitterly complains that "a couple of news media managed by communists are the only ones that, for them, 'practice a real journalism' ". The problem is not the ideology, but the objectivity and the veracity of the information and the opinions. El Diario de Hoy lacks both of those characteristics.

For example, in the same edition of May 2nd, in which the conspiracy is announced, the newspaper dedicates an entire page to the alleged distribution of child pornography. The UCA was made responsible for it at the beginning of the case. However, this text presented the opinion of the General Attorney's Office: the UCA is not related with that case, it is free from any responsibility. The crime was committed by "a telephone company". The newspaper does not identify such company, either because of ignorance (which cannot be justified for a newspaper that considers itself so precise) or because it does not want to reveal the company's name, since it is TELECOM. What is even more questionable is that the reporter who wrote the note exonerates TELECOM from all responsibilities, while this did not happen with the UCA at the time of the problem's examination. Instead, the information accuses an employee whose whereabouts are unknown. The board of this newspaper is loyal to the capital that finances its operations and covers its back at the expense of the truth. In addition, the information about the alleged crime is not veracious. The reporter was not able to explain how the IP addresses work in this country.

El Diario de Hoy is not saying the truth, it is neither objective nor informative. For instance, in one article it was mentioned that the police bases its theory about the genetic origin of violence in El Salvador, on a study that the UCA made. It is true that the UCA has studied violence, but it is absolutely false that that any of those studies presents the genetic theory that the police mentions. Since it does not explain the relation in the article, and since it does not indicate that the affirmation comes from the police itself, this newspaper is not veracious, and it shows a bad intention when it tries to involve the UCA in such an absurd statement. The UCA has explained violence in different publications, in various conferences and forums, to which that newspaper has never paid any attention to. But now, with the nonsense of the police, the newspaper in question ascribes to the UCA something that is completely false. The reporter did not even bother to spell the university's name correctly.

The newspaper's board recalls (on a note 0f May 2nd) the existence of "an enormous amount of media that inform, discuss, criticize and guide", and that nobody is excluded from those approaches. Therefore, the newspaper thinks that no one can accuse it of reflecting only about a specific tendency. The one thing that the paper did not add was that those who are unhappy with their journalistic style count with enough freedom to found their own informative media, and inform whatever they think is right. What the paper does not say is that its board and its friends both put obstacles for the development of the alternative media, either by manipulating the law or by blocking the commercial advertising opportunities, even if those alternative media have an important audience.

The board of this newspaper does not seem to have changed much in the last years. It still lives in the middle of a conspiracy and communist attacks. For them, the critics made to its professional performance can only come from communists. It does not occur to them that the newspaper can be more objectively criticized from the perspectives and the disciplines of journalism. For the board, those who work with a more modern journalistic sense, and those who inform with more veracity than the aforementioned newspaper can only be communists. El Diario de Hoy not only lacks objectivity and truth, but, as always, it is out of place. It is dangerous to call “communists” those who think in a different way or those who have a better journalistic performance.

El Salvador is not the victim of a communist conspiracy, but a victim of the capital’s voracity that El Diario de Hoy’s board defends at any cost. After turning itself into the supreme judge of the society and the government, it does not tolerate the difference of opinions nor critics. It is afraid of losing credibility, because that means less circulation, and that could put its substantial business in danger. However, it is even more afraid that its immense power grows weaker, and that more and more voices make its mistakes public. If that newspaper was more objective and accurate, and if it cared more about the citizenry and not just about the money, the public would appreciate it and it would not be strongly criticized. This is all the newspaper’s own conspiracy to hide its journalistic deficiencies.

    During the present times, characterized as the “Information Era”, the communication media play an important role in the society. They are not only a privileged source to find out what happens in the world, but they also have a considerable influence on the citizenry’s perception about both society as a whole and the political performance. That is why it can be said that they hold their share of power. Therefore, given that importance, they turn into a significant ally for any kind of political project.

In this context, the image of the professional journalist gains a great deal of importance. The journalist is the one who brings the debatable issues to the public arena. That explains why it is necessary to talk about the media’s agenda. And it has been demonstrated in several occasions that the issues that are tossed in the air turn into the society’s agenda. From this moment on, a serious struggle among the different social segments develops in order to be present with their own agendas in the media, under the supposition that such presence will assure the success of their proposals.

There is no doubt that the already described situation demands from the media and from the communicators a certain professional balance. Despite of all of the environmental pressures, those communicators should not forget that their priority is to provide the public with objective information. To treat certain social issues with selfish kindness is not only an attitude that lacks professional ethics, but that behavior can lead to several difficulties, as well, when it comes to building a credible performance of the profession itself. In this sense, if it is true that the society must open itself to the presence of the media, they are also socially responsible for how they use their freedom of expression –which should not be confused with the freedom of the market-.

It can be said that the media as well as the citizenry participate in either the deterioration or the consolidation process of the proper environment for the freedom of speech. Does this mean that in all of the cases the hostility towards the media is their responsibility? The answer is no. What it is necessary to understand is that, in some cases, the lack of professionalism in the media or the shameless echo it makes of certain economic or political interests, can constitute a serious obstacle for the development of a social culture that is able to respect the freedom of speech, and a serious obstacle for a mature public debate at the height of the needs of a society that, as the Salvadoran one, does not seem to be free yet from the authoritarian traps.

The responsibility of the media cannot be assured beforehand. For example, the recent Labor Day celebration shows how questionable is the compromise of certain informative media with the search for the truth and with the creation of a firm democratic culture.

On last May 1st, a group of reporters “collided” with some left-wing demonstrators. The encounter caused a series of vehement accusations from the owners of several local media companies, who denounced the alleged incapacity of the left-wing to coexist in harmony with the independent media. There is no doubt that the attack against the reporters is reprehensible, and that the judicial authorities should intervene in this case. In addition, the left-wing political leaders would have no choice but to give a public apology to the reporters and to the media that their sympathizers assailed during the events of the last week.

Despite that the former interpretation can be unanimously accepted at the different sectors of power, it still is a simplistic posture that approaches the events with an excessive lightness. In the first place, if everything is just about apologizing, the assailed reporters as well as the left-wing leaders would have to do their mea culpa. The reporters showed a very unprofessional attitude in the way they approached the demonstrators. They behaved more like political adversaries, and less like journalists who wanted to dig deeply into the manufacture of lies, an issue that, moments before, Schafik Handal had reproached to the press. That situation does not exonerate the demonstrators who pushed the reporters away from their responsibility, but it allows to understand the context in which the events took place.

These observations lead to two important issues that are frequently discussed about the performance of the social communicator in El Salvador. In the one hand, the closeness of the media to the right-wing’s interests. This political and ideological bias is not only reflected in the editorial lines, but also in the style of the information or in the capricious decisions to silence certain news events that would have a favorable relation with the left-wing. This kind of situations have been reported, and different studies about these issues
–many of them presented by this weekly publication- have been made public. The declarations of some media representatives asking for the “evidence” of their connivance with the interests of the right-wing do not have much credibility. It is publicly known that the owners of the most powerful news media enterprises share an anti left-wing attitude, a characteristic of the right-wing. Along with the media, the right-wing –and these are private revelations of the reporters and the people from the governmental circles- usually participates in meetings to determine the informative and the editorialist orientation.

On the other hand, one of the most critical problems that the events on May 1st revealed about the Salvadoran journalism is the growing lack of professionalism. Being –some of them- conditioned by their compromise with the circles of power, either because of the evident ignorance of the minimum notions of a professional journalism or for a mere economic need, they usually get lost in a series of mixed commentaries with the questions they make, something so childish and irrelevant for the informative work that they should be performing. In other occasions, when they are not dedicated to the “scandal” in the analysis and the presentation of the news, they get lost inside some pseudo-ethical considerations which, in most of the cases, end up being a cheap apology of a fashionable idea. In addition, many of them stand out mostly because of their arrogance than for their capability to analyze the country’s most serious problems with intelligence and humbleness.

All of these aspects contribute to the fact that many reporters and journalists believe that they are the center of the national reality. The Salvadorans do not have any other choice but to tolerate them day after day, and later, if there is any time left, find out about the country’s most relevant issues. It is evident that this kind of journalists do not contribute to fight for the independency of this profession in El Salvador. Anyhow, it is all about certain journalists –an the media that supports them- that work to manipulate rather than to inform.

    The beginning of the rainy season has been, ever since the ancient times, a motive of joy for the farmers and the population in general, because it is a sign of both the beginning of the agricultural cycle, and the beginning of the winter, as well as it represents the end of a summer which brings higher temperatures every time. Eventually, this happiness has turned into a preoccupation for those who live under the threat of floods and landslides, and for the farmers as well, since they are more and more affected by the dry seasons and the loss of production that they cause.

The transition of this year’s rainy season already started, and it finds the Salvadoran agricultural sector buried under one of its worst crisis. Such crisis is characterized by the adverse situations of the international market (the low prices of the coffee and the sugar), as well as for the effects accumulated over five centuries of the unsustainable utilization of the natural resources.

In this context, President Francisco Flores and the minister of Agriculture, Salvador Urrutia, have frequently mentioned that, with the beginning of the winter, the farmers and the government will have to deal with menaces, opportunities and challenges. President Flores announced once again that he will encourage credit programs and the technological changes for the agricultural sector, and he invited the farmers to follow the signals of the market. Minister Urrutia announced that in case that “El Niño” affects the country, his ministry is considering the “Prevention Plan 2002”, in order to revert its negative effects.

According to what Flores said in his inauguration speech of the agricultural year, four of the main challenges that must be faced by the agricultural sector are: the diversification of the cultivations, the construction of watering systems, the access to credits, and the introduction to the new technological advances. According to Flores, “the most important aspect is the market, and the market demands a different kind of products”. According to the President, this does not mean that the traditional products will have to disappear. In the words of Flores, there are funds available to finance the diversification of the agricultural sector: $31 million for the agricultural-business conversion program, $26 million for the reconstruction and the modernization of the rural area, and $100 million that –if the loan is approved by the Legislative Assembly- would be dedicated to the conservation of the coffee-growing park, and to its diversification with fruits and trees.

Minister Urrutia stated, on April 30th, that the government intends to encourage the “control of risks” before the consequences of the eventual arrival of “El Niño”. A phenomenon of this kind brings dry seasons along with itself, and it represents the risk of losing the production, as it happened at the Central American Pacific Coast. The plan would be structured with prevention and mitigation programs. In the first case, the goals would be related with health and alimentation, the protection of the natural resources and the support to the production. The mitigation program would contemplate more actions in the fields of health and nutrition, encouraging at the same time the production and the generation of employment.

Until now, the Ministry of Agriculture, would already have advised the farmers in order that they can take the maximum advantage of the scarce rains, fight the forest fires, and use the watering resources “properly”. The advise would have also covered the prevention of diseases and the use of the weather information. In June, the mitigation phase would get started, and it intends to take care of the nutritional insufficiency issue and unemployment.


It is necessary to examine two aspects related with the formerly explained ideas:
1. The concepts of mitigation and prevention in the plan.
2. The apparent separation between both terms and the policies made for the agricultural sector’s conversion.
Most of the governmental proposal fits more clearly into the “preparation” phase, in order to take care of an eventual emergency. This means that the proposal tends to focus itself on the effects of a possible disaster, than on reducing them. Instead of trying to prevent a reduction of the agricultural loss, the plan seeks, above all, ways to satisfy the needs caused by such loss. The proposals of a nutritional assistance and the generation of temporary employment can be placed in this line, for example.

On the other hand, the prevention and the mitigation actions become necessary, not only in the case of “El Niño”. Moreover, they have to be a part of any development plan for the agricultural sector. Consequentially, the governmental strategies to promote the rural development and the prevention strategies are not –and should not be- different, since they should be part of a single integral strategy focused on the sustainable development.

The fact that the Salvadoran and the Central American agriculture become more affected by “nature”, is a result of its structural crisis. The structural crisis causes the vulnerability of agriculture: it is more likely to be affected by the climatic phenomenon, even if it is accepted that such phenomenon is now more frequent and intense than ever before. In Central America, it is not necessary that “El Niño” arrives for the dry seasons to cause loss and damage. During the last years, only the 1982 and the 1997 dry seasons have been associated with that phenomenon; while the 1987, 1991,1994,2000 and 2001 ones would have been simple interruptions of the rainy season.

This reveals that the agricultural economy is not quite suited to the climatic reality nor to the environmental reality. This is the result, at the same time, of a misunderstood historical process of the economic development. There are impoverished lands, areas with deforestation, and ecosystems that have loss their basic functions (among them, to infiltrate and supply water, and to control the floods) as the result of the agricultural development process. This idea suggests that the agricultural development needs to incorporate new preventive and mitigation elements against the disasters, such as the land and water conservation measures, and the search for more profitable and resistant cultivations. At the same time it is necessary to incorporate technical levels with higher standards to assure an adequate use of the water and the cultivations; a better access to the credits of the financial system –that should include the small farmers and not only the hacienda owners- and a diversification of the income sources of the rural population, such as the ecological tourism, the arts and crafts’ production or the agricultural industry.

To reduce the level of vulnerability of the agricultural sector before the meteorological problems, it is necessary to encourage its development, something that has been offered since the last administration, when an “agricultural reactivation plan” was widely advertised (See Proceso 711,712, and 743). This offer was made once again during the President’s inauguration of the present government, when Flores offered to implement forceful measures in order to “reestablish the agricultural profitability” (See Proceso 858).

From this perspective, the new offers do not allow anyone to be optimistic. The discourses have not improved the agricultural profitability, nor its economic performance. Such economic performance has characterized itself by frequent falls in its production, in volume as well as in value. Even if the president would fulfill the promises he made, the benefits would only be concentrated in those sectors that have an access to the credits; while the subsistence agriculture requires different measures that improve its access to the loans, to the technology, and to the market..
 
 

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