The macroeconomic indicators show that inflation is at its lowest level in nearly three decades. But many grave challenges face him and the people of El Salvador. Approximately 40 percent of Salvadorans live in dire poverty. More than a third of citizens lack safe drinking water and adequate housing. And more than half the population lacks adequate health care.
Violence continues to be a national scourge.
A joint U.N. commission in 1994 reported that while military death squads had ceased to operate after the peace accords, criminal gangs or illegal armed groups were committing summary executions, posing death threats and carrying out other acts of intimidation for political motives. The Washington Office on Latin America reports that violent crime continues to threaten the still tender democratic political order. Unless the government can address the problem of citizen security, while respecting human and civil rights, the country may slip back into a state of war. Continuing the work of the martyred Jesuits is more important than ever. As we look ahead, the Jesuit martyrs offer us a lasting model of courageous service to humanity.