City Sends Barrett to El Salvador

On October 8, State Sen. Michael J. Barrett '70 (D-Cambridge) will take part in an international summit at Cambridge's Salvadoran sister city of San Jose las Flores.

The summit, which will be attended by representatives of at least six other U.S. and Canadian cities as well as elected Salvadoran officials, will take place on the first anniversary of the resettlement of the area.

Nancy Ryan, the sister city program's coordinator in Cambridge, said the ceremony would demonstrate international support for the Salvadoran repopulation effort, which settles refugees in abandoned former war zones to form towns like San Jose Las Flores.

Barrett could not be reached for comment.

The ceremony will be Cambridge's latest collaboration with the Interfaith Office on Accompaniment Nation Repopulation to aid in the resettlement of cities in war-torn El Salvador. These areas have been deserted since the escalation of the Salvadoran civil war in 1980.

Ryan said repopulation efforts have been hindered by the U.S.-supported Christian Democratic Party in El Salvador. Government troops keep many critical supplies from entering the city, she said.

Cambridge had already helped its sister city in several ways, said Ryan. "I think lives have been saved... It's an uphill battle." Advocates of the sister city program say the fact that American officials watch the fate of San Jose las Flores helps protect it.

Cantabrigians have already sent advisors to help build a medical center and train health workers in the sister city.