El Salvador

F

Social Issues

Social class remains an important reality of modern El Salvador despite the growth of a significant middle class in San Salvador, the rise of important labor organizations, and increased democratic political participation. The wealthy upper class, which emerged in the late 19th century with the growth of the coffee industry, has traditionally dominated the government and economy, controlling most of the land and political offices. In the mid- to late 20th century the elite class expanded its interests into other agricultural exports, finance, manufacturing, and other economic activities. This class often has been referred to as the Fourteen Families, although the prominent families always exceeded that number and in the 1980s increased to more than 200. According to 1990 figures, the wealthiest 20 percent of Salvadorans received 66 percent of the national income, while the poorest 20 percent received only 4 percent. Some 48 percent of Salvadorans lived in poverty in 1992.

Millions of poor Salvadorans, in rural and urban areas, suffer from inadequate housing, health care, and basic services. Malnutrition is a major problem in much of the country, which depends heavily on imported food. Urban poverty is especially noticeable around San Salvador, where thousands live crowded into miles of shantytowns without electricity, running water, or adequate sanitation. These extensive slums contrast starkly with the walled-in and well-guarded palaces of the wealthy in San Salvador’s elegant Escalón neighborhood.

G

Culture

Salvadoran culture reflects the native and European roots of the society, although following indigenous ways has been discouraged by the government since the 1930s. Archaeological ruins, including ancient Maya pyramids and dwellings at Tazumal and Cihuatán, highlight the heritage of indigenous peoples, while much of the colonial art and architecture reflects the Spanish influence. Religious and folk festivals are popular diversions for both large and small communities throughout the country, often featuring colorful folk dancing, more European than Native American.

Salvadoran authors have produced examples of fine poetry, literature, theater, and historical writing. Important 20th-century authors include Francisco Gavidia; novelist Salvador Salazar Arrué, whose work focused on rural life, Native American mythology and customs, and the clash of cultures in Salvadoran society; and poet and novelist Claribel Alegría, who has written on women’s struggles and the upheaval of the 1980s. In recent years the destructive civil war has limited cultural development, while North American culture has been a strong influence in music, cinema, and television.

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IV

Economy

Traditionally, the Salvadoran economy depended heavily on agriculture. For much of the colonial period in the 16th and 17th centuries, subsistence farming and ranching occupied most of the population. In the 18th century Spanish economic policy promoted new agricultural products for export, and Salvadoran indigo became Central America’s leading crop. In the 19th century indigo lost importance after the discovery of chemical dyes, and coffee replaced it as the principal Salvadoran export. A small group of coffee planters gained economic and political power, leading El Salvador to depend on international coffee markets. Coffee brought El Salvador enough wealth to build impressive new ports, railways, and paved highways, and to modernize San Salvador.

In the 1940s the planter class took over more land along the Pacific Coast and expanded into other export crops, such as cotton, sugar, rice, and beef. Peasants were forced off their land, and domestic food production lagged behind rapid population growth. While the small group of landowners became richer, most Salvadorans faced hunger and malnutrition that was among the worst in the world. This economic condition led to serious social and political problems and eventually to the civil war of the 1980s. The war devastated the economy, causing an estimated $2 billion in economic damage. Investment and production declined sharply at the beginning of the war, then grew slowly. In the 1980s El Salvador relied on more than $5 billion in foreign aid, mostly from the United States.

Since the war, El Salvador has made notable progress in restoring production and investment. Recent reforms have eliminated many price controls, broken up government monopolies over agricultural exports, reduced trade barriers, maintained interest rates, and reduced the deficit. The postwar governments have worked to privatize government-owned activities and expand the nation’s roads, communication services and other facilities.

Agriculture in 2005 accounted for 10 percent of El Salvador’s $17 billion gross domestic product (GDP). Coffee remains the major export, accounting for one-third of export revenues, but is a declining percentage of total economic activity, as investment has widened the base of both the domestic and export economy. Manufacturing now accounts for 23 percent of the GDP. Annual growth in the GDP averaged 2.8 percent in the period 2005. The per capita GDP for 2005 was $2,466.80, but when inflation was taken into account, wages declined in the 1990s.

A

Labor

The labor force is estimated at 2.8 million, with 18 percent of workers in agriculture, forestry, or fishing; 25 percent in industry, including manufacturing, construction, and mining; and 57 percent in services, including trade, finance, and government. Unemployment in 2003 stood at 6.9 percent, but underemployment remains a serious problem.

The total of industrial, rural, and government workers belonging to unions is about 300,000, or less than 20 percent of the labor force. Union organization among rural workers was banned until the 1980s by the government, which was controlled by large landowners, and industrial unions were suppressed from the 1930s until 1950. Antiunion violence connected with the civil war also limited membership. The largest labor organizations are the National Peasants Union for rural workers and the urban National Federation of Salvadoran Workers.

B

Agriculture

Some 32 percent of El Salvador’s land is cultivated, and 12.1 percent more is used for plantation agriculture. Agriculture accounts for only 10 percent of the GDP but 34 percent of the country’s exports. Coffee is the most important export crop, as it has been for more than a century, but other crops include sugarcane, corn, rice, beans, oilseeds, cereals, vegetables, fruits, beef, and dairy products.

Most of the country’s valuable farmland is controlled by a few wealthy Salvadorans; about 1 percent of the landowners control more than 40 percent of the arable land. A reform program in the 1980s redistributed some land to peasants, but large-scale export agriculture still prevails. With this emphasis on growing crops for export, and El Salvador’s dense population, the country is not able to grow enough to feed its people and must import food.

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