Ana Vilma Albanez de Escobar, the first female vice president of El Salvador, spoke about the past, present and future challenges of Central American countries and "how the actions of people in one side of the world impact those on another side" Tuesday in Salomon 101. Her lecture, titled "El Salvador: A Country of Opportunities," was part of Latino History Month.
Escobar and President Elias Antonio Saca were elected in 2004 in an election boasting the highest voter turnout ever in Salvadoran history. Their party, ARENA, won 58.5 percent of the vote - 20 points more than the opposition.
Escobar discussed current economic policies undertaken by the Salvadoran government, such as its involvement in the Central America Free Trade Agreement, an expansion agreement between the only Salvadoran airline and Air Canada and the "Plan Puebla Panama" initiative, which will allow for energy-sharing between Mexico and Central America.
"Today, countries are more interdependent then ever," Escobar said. "But all these economic indicators mean nothing if we do nothing for our people."
In a country where 30 percent of the population is impoverished, Escobar named poverty as the biggest challenge for her people and creating opportunities and jobs as the main solution.
In order to improve the living conditions and overall well-being of El Salvador, Escobar said the government needs to "fight back by sustaining economic growth, which demands competitiveness in an international world" and a focus on education.
Escobar outlined four pillars for national education reform - increasing the number of years children attend schools, strengthening math and science curricula, moving towards bilingualism and providing students with access to technology before they graduate high school.
Though most of these initiatives are still in the development stages, Escobar said she met with Microsoft founder Bill Gates to ask for Microsoft's support in the technology initiative.
During the question-and-answer session after her lecture, Escobar fielded questions about gang violence, other leaders in Central America and more personal questions, such as the challenges she faced as a Latina in a senior elected position.
When asked about the role of gender in politics, Escobar said "it was never an issue in El Salvador that a woman was running for the position (of vice president)." However, when she was first approached by Saca to be his running mate, she was worried that it may have been a political move to garner more votes on his part.
She decided to run when he told her she would have real responsibilities if elected. "Saca really does believe in women," she said. She said there are currently 25 women in top political positions under Saca's administration.
For Escobar, who grew up with four sisters, gender was never an issue.
"I do not remember our parents ever treating us any different. We were all expected to become independent individuals that did not need anyone else to support ourselves," Escobar said.
Escobar said she grew up in a "privileged home," where her parents paid considerable attention to her education, and she learned to treasure the things her parents gave her. She said she decided to go into politics to give her people the same kind of opportunities that her parents had given her.
"As agents of change, we cannot afford to ignore the present problems around us. I could not have reached my fullest potential while there were other Salvadorans that did not have what I had," she said.
During her three-day stay in Providence, Escobar said she met with Gov. Donald Carcieri '65, possible investors in El Salvador, heads of textile companies and other entrepreneurs and political figures, but she noted that "the visit to Brown was the highlight of my trip."
Arranging Escobar's visit was not an easy task, according to Latino History Month Programmer Andrea Lopez '08.
"Bringing a vice president to Brown was difficult because of minor details and logistics, but in the end, it all fell together," she said.
The speech was made possible by Jeffry Esquivel '09, who met Escobar at a Rhode Island Latino Scholarship reception last year. He made her formal introduction for the speech and served as the main link between her and the Latino History Month planners.
"This year we wanted to reach out to the Providence community and thought it would be great to bring an important figure from Central America because of the large population of (people from there) in the city," Esquivel said.
"Brown is committed to an international initiative that will provide students with first-hand knowledge and contact with the people that are dealing with the issues that they learn about in their classes," said President Ruth Simmons, who attended the lecture.
