Enlaces News #5 (October 2003)

A New Vision for Transnational Civil Participation:
The Perspective of Salvadorans Living Abroad

Oscar Chacón
President, Salvadoran American National Network

Over the last twenty years Salvadorans residing and working in foreign countries, particularly the U.S., have increasingly affected and altered everyday life in El Salvador. The most common means that Salvadorans living abroad share in impacting national life is, of course, through the remittances we send back to family members that continue to live in our homeland. During the last year, remittances sent by Salvadorans living in the exterior surpassed $2,000 million. This figure represents approximately 13 cents per every dollar produced in El Salvador in 2002. Undoubtedly, El Salvador’s greatest export during the last few years has taken the shape of manual labor, or put more simply, our people. Unfortunately, the continuous exit of our compatriots has become an integral component in the economic reality and policy of the nation at large.

Salvadorans living outside of their native country have become an indispensable financial pillar for hundreds of thousands of Salvadoran families who depend on remittances for everyday sustenance and to overcome the conditions of extreme poverty that continue to plague households throughout El Salvador. Remittances have also made it possible to help families start their own small businesses and to achieve financial stability. Because these family remittances have contributed to the appearance of an economically sound El Salvador, it is no surprise that there has been growing talk concerning the need to target collective remittances –those raised and sent by organized groups of Salvadoran migrants–toward larger and more defined infrastructural projects. Besides affirming the idea that family remittances are key in combating national poverty, this line of thinking suggests that collective remittances should be central to achieving the economic development that national and international policies have as yet failed to produce.

Salvadorans living abroad are eager to see our native country progress. We are particularly interested in seeing the standard of living among our countrymen and women improve to include access to health care, education, an equitable criminal justice system and dignified work opportunities. Ultimately, we yearn for a country that makes transnational migration a secondary option for Salvadoran citizens seeking a better life for themselves and their children. Above all, we sincerely desire to be full partners in the process of achieving these goals and shared vision. It is in this spirit that members of the Salvadoran American National Network have drafted a proposal calling on the government of El Salvador to take concrete steps toward including migrant communities in the task of crafting a sustainable future for El Salvador. This document represents a first step toward formalizing the relationship between the state and its constituents living and working in foreign lands.

Organizations affiliated with the Salvadoran American National Network have worked with Salvadoran communities across the U.S. for over twenty years. One of the fundamental challenges these organizations face is convincing fellow Salvadorans that together they embody a vital social and political sector that encompass an array of experiences and resources and are capable of having a profound impact on the future of El Salvador. Over the past several years, members of the Salvadoran American National Network have begun to articulate their vision of a national political space that accounts for them as potentially important actors in the nations development. Laying the foundation for how Salvadorans living abroad should and could be incorporated into the national political schema, members of SANN are calling for a profound departure from the authoritative, often paternalistic, approach traditionally taken by Salvadoran governmental officials toward Salvadoran migrants in the past.

We have asked the Salvadoran government to re-define its relationship with the millions of Salvadorans living outside of the country. One pillar of that new relationship would be the right to vote for Salvadorans living outside the country. But, formal electoral power is just part of the comprehensive plan which also calls for the creation of an advisory committee comprised of active and reputable Salvadoran migrant leaders who will collaborate with government entities to assess, address, and improve services provided to migrants in transit to and living in foreign lands. The committee would help establish monitoring processes and procedures that would facilitate the evaluation and improvement of services provided by consulates throughout the Salvadoran diaspora. In order to ensure best practices and create a system capable of protecting Salvadoran consumers, the Network also calls for the creation of a subcommittee responsible for monitoring services provided by the private sector including air transportation, communications, banking and the transfer of remittances.

SANN also calls on government entities to create an advisory committee that will assess national economic policies to ensure that they are oriented toward developing the financial stability and integrity of all Salvadorans. Potential economic reforms would include investment in micro, small, and medium-sized businesses; strengthening and reorienting the national tourism sector; and ensuring that economic progress is accompanied by parallel improvements in social services and infrastructure.

Together the demands and suggestions outlined by members of the Salvadoran American National Network constitute a new formula for negotiating and carrying out national strategies for economic and social development. Migrants from many countries who leave their homelands in search of better opportunities abroad remain connected to their compatriots through a common struggle for progress. The approach taken by SANN offers a new model that draws on the strength and talents of ever-growing diaspora communities. This model could be adapted in many countries as governments struggle to respond to the changing economic realities that are increasingly altering life and commerce throughout and beyond national boundaries.