Join a National Day of Action!
On March 24, 1980, El Salvador’s archbishop, Óscar Arnulfo Romero, was assassinated by U.S.-backed death squads in the middle of giving a homily in San Salvador.
Just months before he was murdered, Romero wrote a letter to President Carter, calling on him to “forbid that military aid be given to the Salvadoran Government ... and to guarantee that your Government will not intervene directly or indirectly, with military, economic, diplomatic or other pressure, in determining the destiny of the Salvadoran people.”
Join CISPES, U.S.-El Salvador Sister Cities, Inter-Religious Task Force of Cleveland, Chicago Religious Leadership Network, Denver Peace and Justice Center and many others for a National Day of Action on March 24 to honor his legacy and echo his to end U.S. military aid and training.
Get ready to call, email, and/or Tweet at your U.S. Congressional Representative and Senators to demand that they halt military and security aid to El Salvador and throughout Central America.
Sign up below to receive an email reminder on the 24th with a link to our action page, where you will find:
- Pre-written emails to your Members of Congress (feel free to personalize as you like!)
- A phone call option that can automatically connect you to your specific representative’s office & a call script
- Sample tweets
– Background –
Since September, the Salvadoran social movement has been mobilizing massive protests to denounce the government’s attacks on the 1992 Peace Accords, human rights, and democracy itself. The banners of struggle are wide-ranging, from a rejection of the Bitcoin Law to denouncing government denial of the crisis of increased disappearances and mass clandestine graves.
Salvadoran youth, feminists, and workers are sending a clear message against militarization. Meanwhile, Bukele has announced a plan to more than double the size of the Armed Forces.
In 1980, Archbishop Romero wrote a powerful public letter to then-U.S. president Jimmy Carter to say, “if you truly want to defend human rights ... forbid that military aid be given to the Salvadoran Government.”
We know that, instead of heeding Archbishop Romero’s warning, the U.S. went on to fund a devastating and inexcusable war on the Salvadoran people. Since then, through policy frameworks such as the Central American Regional Security Initiative (CARSI), the Alliance for Prosperity, and now the White House Plan for Addressing the Root Causes of Migration, the U.S. government has continued to arm and train Salvadoran military and police in order to impose its “solutions” to the poverty, violence, and insecurity in the country.
Though it is clear that increasing the size and scope of the military will only further consolidate Bukele’s grip on power, the U.S. shows no sign of ending its “cooperation” with the Armed Forces.
It’s up to us to call on Congress to finally heed Archbishop Romero’s call to Carter: "to guarantee that your Government will not intervene directly or indirectly, with military, economic, diplomatic or other pressure, in determining the destiny of the Salvadoran people."
Biden is currently putting together his budget for next year, and if we want Congress to push back on U.S.-backed militarization in Central America, they need to hear from us today!
Provide your information below and we will send you all the tools you need to join the Day of Action on Thursday!