Ambassador Challenges Private Sector to Take Action Against Crime and Help Take Back the Streets
March 5, 2008

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During a speech on March 5 at the American Chamber of Commerce’s “Breakfast of the Month,” U.S. Ambassador Charles L. Glazer challenged the private sector to play a leadership role in attacking the critical crime problem facing El Salvador, and help the government take back the streets from criminals.

“You as business leaders have to play a key role in meeting this challenge – and that means getting involved in addressing the crime issue.  Business leaders need to speak loudly in the national dialogue on crime and judicial corruption, and fully dedicate themselves to solving these problems,” said the Ambassador. 

“El Salvador needs – El Salvador deserves – a strong public-private partnership to tackle crime in all its forms.  Business leaders should combine their resources and expertise with El Salvador’s dedicated police, prosecutors and other public servants to attack the crime epidemic head on . . . This does not just mean contributing money.  It means taking a leadership role.  It means dedicating the time and resources to help manage and combat the problem.”

The chief US diplomat in El Salvador, also a businessman and investment banker, warned that El Salvador’s headline-catching crime was a great disincentive to direct foreign investment, critical to developing the country’s economy and improving the lives of all Salvadorans.

In addition to issuing his challenge to private business, the Ambassador noted that an important part of the solution to the crime problem lies in the courts, and pointed out that for six straight years the annual Human Rights Reports of the U.S. Department of State has indentified judicial inefficiency and corruption as an obstacle to effective democracy in El Salvador.

Full text of Ambassador's Speech

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