Please consult the attached documents for information on strikes and work stoppages in the maquilas and free zones of El Salvador. The CISPES article mentions the arrest of FENASTRAS Secretary-General, Juan José Huezo, "while at the negotiating table at the JATEX factory in the El Progreso free trade zone in Santa Tecla, west of San Salvador" (21 Mar. 1995).

The attached Proceso article from the Center for Information, Documentation and Research Support (CIDAI) of the Central American University mentions that on "February 28 [1995], women workers at the AMITEX factory went on strike after one assembly-line worker was fired for belonging to an organization created to defend her rights" (20 Mar. 1995). The article does not mention if the organization in question was a labour or workers union.

You will also find general information on strikes declared in March 1995 in El Salvador in the attached Central America Report article.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted for this Response to Information Request.

Attachments

Central America Report [Guatemala City]. 17 March 1995. "El Salvador: Strikes Become Epidemic." (Central America NewsPak [Austin, Tex.]. 20 Mar.-2 Apr. 1995. Vol. 10, No. 4, pp. 3-4)

CISPES Action Alert. cispesnatl@igc.apc.org . 21 March 1995. [Internet] "Salvadoran Labor Leader Captured at Maquila."

Proceso [San Salvador]. cidai@huracan.cr 15 March 1995. [Internet] "IDHUCA Report: Human rights and the maquilas."

Additional Sources Consulted

Amnesty International. 1995. Amnesty International Report. New York: Amnesty International.

Amnesty International. Urgent Action. 1995.

Annual Survey of Violations of Trade Union Rights. Yearly. Brussels: International Confederation of Free Trade Unions.

Centroamerica [Minneapolis].1995.

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. 1995. US Department of State. Washington: US Government Printing Office.

DIRB country files. El Salvador. 1995.

FBIS Daily Reports (Latin America). Daily.

Human Rights Watch World Report. 1995. New York: Human Rights Watch.

Indexed Media Review (current). El Salvador.

Keesing's Record of World Events. 1995. Edited by Roger East. London: Longman.

Latin America Press [Lima]. 1995.

Latin America Regional Reports: Caribbean and Central America Report [London]. 1995.

Latin America Weekly Report [London]. 1995.