El Salvador is a small country in Central America and borders Guatemala, Honduras and the Pacific Ocean.
Between 1979 and 1991 the country suffered a civil war between the military junta and the Front Farabundo Martí for National Liberation (FMLN). The military junta mainly focused on the Catholic Church that provided support to the FMLN. In 1980, Óscar Arnulfo Romero, the socially-moved Roman Catholic archbishop of San Salvador, was shot dead during mass for political reasons. He is without doubt the best-known Salvadoran in the world. On 14 October 2018 he was declared saint by Pope Francis in Rome. Finally, after 12 years, a peace agreement, was signed in 1992, the peace of Chapultepec. The FMLN put down its arms and turned into a political party.
A number of Flemish NGOs were very active in El Salvador. A famous Fleming is priest Roger Ponsele, active as parish priest and chaplain of the FMLN. In the period 2002-2004, a Flemish-Chilean-Salvadoran (trilateral) project was carried out to strengthen the municipal operation. The project was approved and financed by the Flemish Minister for Foreign Policy, following the devastation of Hurricane Mitch at the end of 1998.
For a while it seemed that the economic integration of Central America would bring the country many advantages. However, that integration is not yet a fact. The cooperation between the Central American countries is gradually taking shape, although it's still a long way ahead.
- Agreement establishing an association between the European Union and its Member States, on the one hand, and Central America on the other
- Political dialogue and cooperation agreement between the European Community and its member states, of the one parts, and the Republics of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama, of the other hand