News stories by Edgardo Ayala, page 9

JIQUILISCO /SAN MIGUEL, El Salvador, Nov 30 (IPS) - Knife in hand, Domitila Reyes deftly cuts open the leaves covering the cob of corn, which she carefully removes from the plant – a process she carries out over and over all morning long, standing in the middle of a sea of corn, a staple in the diet of El Salvador.

, Aug 20 (IPS) - Idalia Ramón and 10 other rural Salvadoran women take portions of the freshly ground chocolate paste, weigh it, and make chocolates in the shapes of stars, rectangles or bells before packaging them for sale.

SAN SALVADOR, Apr 30 (IPS) - International and local human rights groups are carrying out an intense global campaign to get El Salvador to modify its draconian law that criminalises abortion and provides for prison terms for women.

SAN SALVADOR, Apr 23 (IPS) - The resurgence of violent crime in El Salvador is giving rise to a hostile social environment in El Salvador reminiscent of the country's 12-year civil war, which could compromise the country's still unsteady democracy.

SAN JUAN OPICO, El Salvador, Apr 06 (IPS) - The participation of children and teenagers in the sugar cane harvest, a dangerous agricultural activity, will soon be a thing of the past in El Salvador, where the practice drew international attention 10 years ago.

SAN SALVADOR, Mar 23 (IPS) - Textile companies that make clothing for transnational brands in El Salvador are accused of forging alliances with gang members to make death threats against workers and break up their unions, according to employees who talked to IPS and to international organisations.

IZALCO, El Salvador, Mar 05 (IPS) - Nearly three years after the rights of El Salvador's indigenous people were recognised in the constitution, there are still no public policies and laws to translate that historic achievement into reality.

SAN SALVADOR, Feb 18 (IPS) - Despite the aggression and abuse she has suffered at the University of El Salvador because she is a trans woman, Daniela Alfaro is determined to graduate with a degree in health education.

EL PAISNAL, El Salvador, Feb 10 (IPS) - The memory of a priest killed shortly before civil war broke out in El Salvador is so alive in this small town that it is now the main attraction in a community tourist initiative aimed at providing employment and injecting money into the local economy.

SAN SALVADOR, Jan 15 (IPS) - The upcoming municipal and legislative elections in March and the hiring of former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani as a kind of anti-crime tzar are not the best equation for bringing down El Salvador's high murder rate, analysts say.