final days and stomach issues

I awoke this morning to find my stomach was again having issues. A bit of an unfortunate way to spend my last days here, but it is very hard to avoid. The locals tell me they take anti-parasite pills as often as twice a year and issues like mine are common, even for them. It's almost pointless to try and figure out how or where I got whatever is in my system, best just to treat it.
In talking with others about this remarkable place, I have come to see that sustainability is a big problem in this country, as elsewehere in the developing world. For example, people here were used to buying their goods wrapped in banana leaves for a very long time and now, with the introduction of plastic packaging, the roads are littered with people's trash. There seems to be little understanding that litter is a serious problem. People throw their trash out the windows of vehicles constantly. Yesterday, when I went to Los Tercios, I found a plastic container that had been tossed to the ground right next to these amazing waterfalls. I picked it up to dispose of it, when I could find a garbage. As I walked out of the area, I crossed a man smoking, who casually tossed his empty pack into the woods. I was somewhat heart broken.
They say that if you tell people enough times that they are stupid or incapable, etc. they will end up believeing it. Here, since the Spanish colonised this part of the world, I feel that people have been being told that. Their native cultures were destroyed, traditional ways of living surpressed, their economies subjected to foreign rule. And today, the same problems persist. El Salvadoreans do not even have their own currency. Foreign investement (especially American) is prized and national industry is almost non-existent. The result is that the country is entirely dependent on the production of goods, manufactured very cheaply, which are sent abroad to be sold. Then, those same products are sold back to Salvadoreans at foreign prices. Someone told me once that some jeans are made here at near slave-labour costs, sent back to the US, then sent back here to be sold at $70 per pair! The other day I bought deodorant and it cost as much as I would normally pay in Canada. But there is no locally made, national brand of deodorant available here. Almost all of the essential products that you buy in El Salvador are manufactured elsewhere. Foreign investement imposes a stranglehold on the people here. They are free to buy American products at American prices, but are not enabled to make their own products, even though there is no shortage of labour to do it. And since the Spanish invasion, agriculture here is practically non-existent. The Spanish imposed that coffee, sugar and corn be the principal crops to be grown and that remains true today. El Salvador is one of the most deforested countries in Central America, which also renders the soil infertile. Many of the vegetables you find in supermarkets here come from abroad, as does much of the meat.
The result is a culture where people do not feel in control of their own lives. Many people here rely on money sent from relatives in the US. And the economy is stifled by these grotesque practices of foreign investement and exploitation. When it comes to culture, much of the same is true. Almost all television is American, the music you hear in the streets is often American, the movies are all bootlegs of American movies. This country is stuck in an ongoing enslavement, cultural, economic and social.
The people here want change. Many of them say that things were better during the war. Because during the war they could still afford things and things were available. Now, they can only buy foreign made products which cost much more than what most can afford to spend. But these things are the basics of life, without which it is often impossible to survive!
I heard recently that Pacific Rim, a Canadian company is suing the country for $277 Million because El Salvador refuses to allow them to mine El Salvadorean gold and silver. Since the country refuses to allow this company access to one of the country's precious resources, this company is suing the country for an amount that would devastate the economy. Because, in this insane world, a company can now sue a country for limiting its access to that country's resources. Another case where profits come before people!! And so, the people of this country will suffer even more so Canadians can have access to El Salvadorean gold. Because it's likely that El Salvadoreans won't be seeing much of it.
Much of the economy here depends on the manufacture of clothes, made very cheaply, then sold abroad. The clothes made here are manufactured in maquiladores, which are basically sweat shops. Tommy Hilfiger, Ralph Lauren, Gap, Guess, Levis, almost all of the giant clothing corporations make clothes here. Someone told me that jeans are made here at slave-labour wages, sent back to the US, then sent back here where they are sold for $70 a pair! And we have the audacity to call this investement!! It is nothing short of exploitation. When you land in San Salvador, the first things you see are Pizza Hut, Macdonalds and Burger King. But most El Salvadoreans can't afford to eat there! So who does all of this "investement" benefit? Certainly not the people of El Salvador. The next time you rush out to buy new clothes or products from any of the major labels, check to see where it was manufactured. Ask yourself if your need for this product supercedes a country's rights to clean water, clean air, basic human rights and the choice of it's own destiny.
The maquiladores here in Santa Anna ( a town on the way to San Salvador ) manufacture clothes for Buffalo, Guess, Levis and others. Maquiladores are high security environments. El Salvadorean do not have access to them and you require a special pass to get in. The products are manufactured in brutal conditions, with many of the workers working on their feet full days. They are allowed twenty to thirty minutes for lunch. Often, they are told that they cannot go to the bathroom or they pay will be docked for lost time. The products manufactured here are sent immediately to the US, where they are sold for a great profit. But El Salvadoreans don't have access to them until they return into the country to be sold in high end stores at American prices.
How can people here have a real sense of their own culture, when they don't even have a sense of how to live independently? And how can they gain access to that independence when we impose such draconian measures on their development?
And so, sustainability is of prime importance in all developing nations. Learning to build an economy and culture that is sustainable, that is self-sufficient and productive is perhaps on the most essential thing. And Art and Theater can help. Because Art endures the worst circumstances. And often, the more horrible the circumstances, the greater the need for Art.
Stratford Ontario is perfect example of this. A small, local theater company becomes the one of the largest theater companies in the world in only 50 years, stimulating not only the local economy, but indeed a national industry. I hope Es Artes will do the same for this amazing and courageous country.