Filmmaker Don North Examines El Salvador’s Past

and Hopes for Its Future

Nearly two decades removed from a bloody and divisive civil war, El Salvador finds itself at a critical junction in the young history of its republic. Don North’s recently released film, Guazapa: Yesterday’s Enemies, revisits the origins of the war in order to historically contextualize the country’s contemporary challenges in achieving social justice and sustainable democratization. Through combining past footage with testimonies from survivors, North shows that any policy-based remedy to El Salvador’s current crime- and drug-related problems must be rooted in a comprehensive understanding of the country’s oppressive past.

What follows is a brief review of Don North’s documentary, as well as Mr. North’s assessment of the first year of Mauricio Funes’ presidency.

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This analysis was prepared by Independent Filmmaker Don North & COHA Research Associates Whitney Cole and Alexander Brockwehl