Guest Column

By Randy Jurado Ertll

 

In the late 1970s, Angela Sanbrano, never imagined that she would be currently leading the largest Central American non-profit organization in the United States.  Angela Sanbrano is Mexican American and is an adopted guanaca, a typical term meaning, Salvadoran.

 

Sanbrano is well known and respected among the Latino leadership and she represents the unity that is forming between Mexican Americans and Central Americans.  She serves as a role model to Mexicans, Salvadorans, Guatemalans, Hondurans, Nicaraguans, and many other nationalities. 

 

She is a known organizer and effective coalition builder who began her activist career while attending the People’s College of Law in the Pico-Union/Westlake area in the late 1970s.  She saw many Salvadoran refugees who would protest the U.S. intervention in El Salvador and she became curious of why these people had risked their lives in El Salvador and were now denouncing the atrocities committed by the Salvadoran armed forces and death squads.

 

She began to attend the marches, rallies, and listened to the personal testimonies of Salvadorans who had suffered so many human rights abuses and many of their family members had been tortured and murdered.  She was inspired by the courage displayed by Salvadorans and she decided to join the solidarity movement.

 

In March 1980, the news traveled around the world that Archbishop Oscar Romero was assassinated by the military in El Salvador.  “If the government had the audacity to kill Monseñor Romero, then we knew that no respect existed for human life in El Salvador,” said Sanbrano.  “We began to denounce the U.S. support in El Salvador that was contributing to so many innocent people being murdered.”

 

Sanbrano finished law school in 1983 and in 1985, she was elected as the national coordinator of the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES).  She traveled around the country speaking and denouncing the atrocities that were occurring in El Salvador and eventually moved to Washington D.C. to lobby the U.S Congress to stop the aid to El Salvador and human rights abuses.

 

Eventually the Salvadoran civil war ended in 1992 and the peace accords were negotiated between the former President Alfredo Cristiani and the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN).  Sanbrano attended some of the negotiation meetings and the signing of the Peace Accords at the Castillo de Chapultepec in Mexico City.

 

 

In 1993, Sanbrano moved to El Salvador and established an organization called the International Solidarity Center (CIS).  In 1994, she organized and led a team of over 400 people, from 12 different countries, to observe the first Democratic elections in El Salvador.  The election observers were instrumental in helping to make sure that the elections were fair and that the newly created political party, the FMLN, had an opportunity to elect their own representatives.

 

Sanbrano returned to the United States in 1995 and began to notice the remarkable growth of the Salvadoran community throughout Los Angeles.  Salvadorans changed the dynamics and politics of Los Angeles with their pro active and experienced organizing skills.  Many became community organizers and labor grassroots leaders. 

 

Sanbrano has always advocated for Mexicans and Salvadorans to work together on common issues and to get along as neighbors.  Many Salvadorans and Mexicans have now married each other and their children represent both countries. 

 

Sanbrano never imagined that she would now be the Executive Director of the Central American Resource Center and that they would own their building that is worth millions of dollars.  Sanbrano recognizes that CARECEN was initiated and established by Salvadoran refugees and that legacy and history must never be forgotten.  Most of the Board of Directors of CARECEN are Salvadoran.

 

The vision and mission of CARECEN has always been to serve low-income immigrant communities who need legal immigration services and to advocate for the civil rights and human rights of Central Americans and all Latinos.  CARECEN has now grown into a huge institution that offers academic and cultural enrichment programs for children and youth.  Also English as a Second Language classes, community organizing, leadership training, advocates for fair immigration legislation, and has developed voter education and get out the vote efforts.  CARECEN represents hope and opportunities for many Central Americans, Chicanos, and non-Latinos who currently work there. 

 

Sanbrano has helped to raise millions of dollars and continues to expand the programs at CARECEN.  She sees how Salvadorans have matured, many have struggled to become U.S permanent residents and U.S. citizens.  Many are now registering to vote and voting in local, state, and federal elections.  Sanbrano knows that Salvadorans will one day be represented by a Salvadoran American council member in City Hall.  Sanbrano knows the characteristics that define Salvadorans: courageous, entrepreneurial, hard working, social justice advocates, and intelligent people who have survived tremendous odds. 

 

CARECEN and the Central American community are fortunate to have such a visionary and committed leader in Angela Sanbrano.  She has contributed so much of her time and for many years worked for free or for very little money.  She is a great role model of how Salvadorans and Mexicans can work together to achieve political representation and respect towards each other.  Mexicans are capable of representing and advocating for the rights of Salvadorans and Salvadorans are also competent and can represent the needs of Mexicans.  CARECEN continues to help thousands of people, regardless of their nationality.  

Sanbrano is a symbol of hope, inspiration and unity for Mexicans and Salvadorans.  Let’s continue her legacy. 

_________________________________________________________

Randy Jurado Ertll, former President of the Salvadoran American Political

Action Committee / SAL-PAC).  Contact: 626-628-5844. randyertll@yahoo.com

 

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