Less visible but just as numerous are the families across El Salvador struggling with personal anguish related to the loss of loved ones, of life itself and of innocence. The other root cause is the Salvadorean peasants' historic struggle for land - a titanic conflict between a landed or industrial elite and a vast rural and urban population that began in 1882. This struggle has not yet been resolved. The 1992 UN-sponsored accords on land redistribution have not been implemented. Socio-economic inequality and injustice prevail.
Poverty is on the increase.
The churches face the issues El Salvador's church leaders' analysis of the country's post-war social, economic and political tensions points to a new determination to work with others in Salvadorean society to help resolve them. Undoubtedly their work provides a vision and a constituency for campaigns and reflection on overcoming violence. Fraterpraz , an effort of two ecumenical groups with a history of social promotion and defence of persecuted, marginalized and vulnerable groups, is to sponsor workshops for rural communities and local parishes on family violence, national and international legal instruments to protect women from domestic violence, women and mental health, and the biblical bases for promoting women's rights. Alfalit , the regional ecumenical literacy network, has begun a programme of reflection and leadership training on violence in the context of marginalization, delinquency, health, the habitat and the environment. Yek Ineme , an ecumenical training centre in conflict resolution within rural and urban communities, draws upon traditional Indigenous approaches to conflict-resolution as well as biblical texts about justice and solidarity.