Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador

CISPES, the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador, has come full circle in more ways than one.

CISPES began more than 25 years ago to support the FMLN - a revolutionary movement in El Salvador that was inspiring progressive people around the world with their commitment to justice and change. With the Sandanista revolution in neighboring Nicaragua, the FMLN appeared poised to transform El Salvador in fundamental and exciting ways.

The late 80's and 90's, however, were not kind to either the FMLN or to CISPES. The FMLN suffered tremendous and violent repression from the right wing ARENA party and the US government. Meanwhile, in the United States, CISPES faced COINTELPRO style harassment ranging from office searches to accusations of funding a group on the US government's terrorist list.

Skip ahead to 2008, after years of committed movement building, and we find a very different world. The FMLN is powerful enough to over-fill soccer stadiums during campaign rallies and is poised to win the 2009 elections. Meanwhile, we find CISPES with 8 - 9 staff people, 8 local offices around the country, various other local affiliate organizations, thousands of supporters and volunteers, a solid, solidarity-based decision-making process, and a revenue stream derived almost entirely from individual donors ("Yes," says CISPES, "the revolution will not be funded!").

Talking with Elizabeth, Sha, and Burke from the CISPES national office, it was striking just how unique CISPES is in 2008. CISPES is one of the few, long-standing international solidarity organizations that has not only survived the 80's and 90's but is strong and growing. Their solidarity-based model both acknowledges the value and importance of organizing in the United States while also recognizing the critical importance of revolutionary movements happening outside our borders.
What is solidarity-based organizing? For those of us steeped in the intense community-based organizing and issue and identity-based political development of the last decade, the organizing model used by CISPES may be unfamiliar.

For CISPES, solidarity organizing means having a close relationship with groups doing work in El Salvador and learning from their experiences and analysis. The information CISPES disseminates to it's network comes directly from their contacts in El Salvador. Furthermore, CISPES organizes trips to El Salvador for people in the United States to learn first hand what is happening there and, most importantly, to bring that knowledge back and apply it here in the US. The various CISPES offices apply this information in their own ways - some come from a labor-based analysis, for example, while others focus on immigration issues.

This process contributes to a global movement, not only in support of the people of El Salvador, but also in support of all revolutionary movements around the world. For example, you cannot apply the lessons of El Salvador without understanding the effects of neo-liberalism, a development with repercussions well beyond El Salvador. Similarly, understanding US efforts to undermine the elections of Evo Morales in Bolivia and Hugo Chavez in Venezuela is critical in preparing for the El Salvador elections. Therefore - while CISPES strictly organizes in the United Statues, it does so with an international analysis that supports a global outlook among activists in the US.

As with all geographically dispersed organization, the Internet is critical to the work of CISPES. The organization's goals rely fundamentally on communication and public dissemination of information, making email, email lists, and their web site indispensable to their mission. While nearly all of their communication is destined for public consumption, they have a small, but vital need for privacy and security. Communicating about actions in El Salvador and maintaining the privacy of their donor base are two particular concerns that has led CISPES to re-design their office password policy and further develop their use of tools such as Gnu Privacy Guard (GPG) to both encrypt email and reliably identity people sending them email.

There's little doubt that the US is becoming increasingly marginalized in the world while at the same time international movements, both corporate and from the left, are becoming more common and powerful. How are left political groups in the United States responding to these trends? Are we considering international developments and revolutionary movements in our political organizing? In the coming decade, we may find ourselves turning to groups like CISPES for help and leadership in building the world we want to live in.

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