country's image
By CHRISTINA CEPERO
News Writer
It is important for El Salvador to build a positive image of itself as a young democracy and thriving country, according to Maria Eugenia Brizuela de Avila, El Salvador's minister of foreign affairs.
Brizuela de Avila spoke as a Kellogg Institute speaker Tuesday at Notre Dame.
The national government of El Salvador signed peace accords 10 years ago, ending a 12-year long bloody civil war, in which 75,000 people perished, she said. The armed forces have since been reorganized to form an army of only 10,000 members for the national defense of its territorial borders and against natural catastrophes such as last January and February's earthquakes.
Social and political conditions have helped to build this image. The young president of El Salvador, Francisco Flores and his administration's comprehensive five-year plan, which started in 1999, so far has decreased poverty by 20 percent, dramatically increased the number of rural clinics, reduced illiteracy by 6 percent, and has succeeded in keeping more and more children in school.
"President Flores is convinced that the only way to combat poverty is by generating jobs," she said.
Programs such as these also help to boost El Salvador's open-market economy. According to leading financial publications, the nation has experienced the highest economic growth and stability in Central America during recent years while maintaining low inflation.
El Salvador has negotiated or proposed free trade agreements with various countries and is participating in the Plan Puebla-Panama, which was proposed by Mexico and incorporates it and seven Central American countries with peoples of Mayan ancestry to promote economic development in the region.
Politically, El Salvador worked on an Inter-American Democratic Charter in Lima, Peru on Sept. 11. The Ministry of foreign affairs outlined five spheres where Salvadorian foreign policy needed to take action:
u Defense of sovereignty and territorial integrity through diplomacy
u Positioning of the nation, at the international level, through an efficient implementation of its foreign policy
u Negotiations of international cooperation
u Strengthening relations with Salvadorian communities abroad by providing assistance
u Contributing to employment opportunities
El Salvador's foreign policy aims to advance national interest, she said. El Salvador engages in bilateral cooperation with the U.S., multilateral cooperation with Europe, and horizontal technical cooperation between developing countries such as Honduras and Nicaragua, being in a strategic geographic location.
"El Salvador visualizes Central American integration as an instrument for the region's development," Brizuela de Avila said.
"We are aware of the necessity of a coherent foreign policy, harmonized with the new political and economic world order, and we need to respond to the new trends of globalization," she said.
All News Stories for Wednesday, October 3, 2001
