Dear MASCP Friends,

The City of Madison stepped up to support Arcatao in 1986 and the relationship has continued non-stop for 35 great years!

Thanks to your generosity, in 2021 we were able to continue financially supporting the regional Youth Development Program and prevention of gender violence and sexual harassment; we paid for an entire year of transportation, food, and housing for two university students from Arcatao; we helped support two Salvadoran USESSC staff members who keep us connected and advised of the political situation in El Salvador and we raised more than half of the women's embroidery co-op annual proceeds.  We could not have accomplished this without your interest and support. 

Thank you for taking the time to read our newsletter and for your continued support! Happy holidays to you and your family! 

Embroidery Sale is a Huge Success!

Urgent Repairs needed for the Early Childhood Center in Arcatao

The Centro de Bienestar Infantil, Arcatao's community early childhood center, is in need of important repair very soon. The community town council, the Directiva, has identified it as their most critical need right now. There is a danger that the old wood holding up the roof will fall in and the windows, bathrooms, and fence have not had regular maintenance and they should be repaired as soon as possible for the safety of the children, parents and staff.

The total cost for all these repairs is estimated at $6,500. Our goal, with your help, is to raise $1,400 which will pay for repairing the roof at this time. There is an effort to collect donations and labor locally for these projects but substantial funds from us would make it go so much faster. Most people in Arcatao do not have steady work. They live on the food they raise themselves, occasional day jobs that pay $1.09/hr and for some, remittances. There is little money to spare so help for large expenses like this is so important. Thank you for all your support both today and in years past. We cannot continue our solidarity without you!

Please donate as generously as you can to help repair Arcatao’s early childhood center. Thank you!

Militarization in Arcatao

On October 20, President Bukele ordered a doubling of military and police forces to the border municipalities of San Fernando, Nueva Trinidad, Arcatao, and San Ignacio in the department of Chalatenango, El Salvador, alleging cross-border trafficking of drugs, arms, and human beings.

Many, especially in Arcatao, consider this as an illegal and undemocratic show of bravado by Bukele, who they accuse of  targeting of these communities in a deliberate strategy of intimidation ahead of the February
2021 municipal and legislative elections.

Coming in the midst of the pandemic, this has been very disruptive of residents’ daily lives and a violation of their rights, preventing border-crossings and thereby impeding trade by the farmers’ cooperatives and

making local health-care delivery more difficult.

Learn more about the current situation in El Salvador here:

Arcatao: Lives Marked by Militarization | CISPES: Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador

This article was originally published in Spanish by Radio YSUCA in El Salvador. It has been translated and republished by CISPES, with permission. At the request of the sources, names in the original have been changed to protect their identity. The Zazalapa River divides El Salvador from Honduras.

Reactions to the Foreign Agents Law | U.S-El Salvador Sister Cities

The Salvadoran government has announced its intention to pass a "Foreign Agents Law" that would create a new tax of 40% and a fine of up to $10,000 dollars to organizations receiving money from outside El Salvador.

Massacre in El Salvador

FRONTLINE, Retro Report and ProPublica examine the ongoing fight for justice for the horrific 1981 attack on the village of El Mozote and surrounding areas.

UCA EDITORIAL - Disappeared in El Salvador | U.S-El Salvador Sister Cities

The Central American University (UCA) recently published an editorial about the growing problem of missing people in El Salvador. Here's our translation:

With your generosity, MASCP continues to support scholarship students

Support for the DHP, Arcatao’s scholarship and community service program, is MASCP’s largest line item at $2000+/year. With that we support two students attending higher education in San Salvador and participating in local community service at home in Arcatao.

Please help us continue and expand that effort! The dollars you donate go far in El Salvador:
$50 pays for a university student's shared housing for a month
$100 pays for a student’s food, school supplies and transportation for a month
$270 pays for a student’s transportation for a year 

We and the students thank you for your generous gift in support of their future!

Thank you for supporting projects

in Arcatao and MASCP's 36th year!