EL SALVADOR

Country Summary

Officials, police, and an underground political organization continue to target journalists in El Salvador with scattered threats and attacks as the country strives to nurture its democratic institutions.

In June and July, several national and foreign journalists and media outlets received a communiqué from a clandestine right-wing political group called FURODA, accusing them of trying to destabilize the government of President Armando Calderon Sol. FURODA, or Fuerza Nacionalista Mayor Roberto D’Aubuisson, is named for the late founder of the ruling National Republican Alliance (ARENA) political party. The ARENA Party issued a statement saying it had nothing to do with FURODA and that it regretted the threats.

On Sept. 4, Juan José Domenech, former head of ARENA, verbally and physically attacked Liliana Fuentes and Margarita Cerna, reporters for the daily La Prensa Grafica when they attempted to interview him in the city of San Miguel. Domenech and his bodyguards seized press credentials from the journalists, grabbed a camera, and tore out the film.

Community radio stations in El Salvador continued efforts to gain licensure from the National Telecommunications Administration (ANTEL). In January, the Supreme Court ruled that ANTEL's seizure a month earlier of equipment from 11 community radio stations was unconstitutional and ordered ANTEL to return the equipment. ANTEL complied, but in March the Supreme Court ruled that the stations themselves were illegal, because they had not been licensed. The World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters (AMARC) reported that ANTEL had harassed the station during the year. The radio stations at issue are located in villages that were controlled by insurgent guerrilla groups during El Salvador’s civil war. Moves to legalize the stations began in 1992, when the armed conflict ended.<

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