A Conversation with Brian Mikel, Global Action El Salvador Leader

Brian Mikel led Putney’s Global Action program to El Salvador in the summer of 2006 and is returning to lead the program again this summer. We caught up with Brian recently, and our notes are recorded below.

PST: Why do you want to lead the El Salvador program again?

Brian: Sometimes I'm amazed that three years have passed since I was last in Santa Marta. Today I remain in contact with many of my former Putney students and with our good friends in El Salvador. A strong foundation of mutual respect and admiration has been built over the last five years, and the community of Santa Marta welcomes Putney groups with open arms. Santamarteños young and old eagerly await the opportunity to exchange stories, ideas, and understandings with Putney students. I look forward to leading a new group of students to this country and back to the community of Santa Marta, both of which have had a profound impact on me. I hope to provide my students with a memorable, impactful, and perspective-broadening experience, and that each of them leaves with a strong connection to El Salvador and a sense of global citizenship.


PST: What has been happening lately in El Salvador, and how will this change things for the future?

Brian: On March 15th, the people of El Salvador elected Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) candidate Mauricio Funes, a former journalist, as their new president. The FMLN is one of two major political parties in El Salvador and was originally founded by guerrilla fighters from the civil war. This is the first presidential victory for the FMLN since it became a political party after the end of the civil war, 18 years ago. The significance of this moment is best described by Salvadorans themselves… but those of us concerned with the future of the country are pleased that for the first time since the 1992 Peace Accords, and really throughout its entire political history, a party that openly expresses a desire to represent the disenfranchised and underserved in El Salvador will have the authority of the presidency. The Funes election has been welcomed with the same enthusiasm and optimism as Obama’s election in the U.S. As Funes himself declared shortly after winning, "we will no longer have a government that creates an economy of privileges for the privileged." The election is vitally important and Funes has already expressed a desire to improve his country's relationship with the United States and to rebuild its productive capacity in a way that allows Salvadorans to stay with their families instead of migrating north in search of work. We do not yet know how effective the FMLN will be in instituting their platform, but at least the country's social, political, and economic issues will be evaluated from a perspective that has never before been in a position to effect policy.

PST: Would this be a good time to participate in Putney’s Global Action El Salvador program?

Brian: YES! This summer will be my fourth visit to El Salvador in the past seven years and never have I been more excited to be there or more hopeful for the country’s future. On June 1st, Mauricio Funes will be inaugurated as President and for the first time in El Salvador’s history a party unaffiliated with the ruling class will take control of the executive office. We do not know how the party will deal with El Salvador’s greatest challenges— some of the highest levels of poverty, unemployment, and income inequality in the western hemisphere— but it will be a fantastic opportunity for Putney students to be there on the ground learning first hand about these issues. I am willing to wager that the euphoria of the moment will have a lasting impression on all who are involved in this program and will likely impact us in ways that we will only truly understand years from now.

BRIAN MIKEL: Tufts University, B.A. International Relations. With roots in Tucson, Arizona, Brian’s high school community service trips to Sonora, Mexico, fostered a desire to learn more about Latin American cultures, people, and idioms. Prior to enrolling at Tufts University, Brian enjoyed a year in beautiful San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina as a Rotary Youth Exchange Student. On the advice of a Latin American studies professor, he spent a summer teaching English at the Center for Exchange and Solidarity in El Salvador. Later, he continued his teaching in Boston at the Brazilian Immigrant Center. Brian led Putney’s Global Action program to El Salvador in the summer of 2006 and then returned to El Salvador as a research assistant for a master’s thesis on community-based microfinance institutions. He has traveled and studied in: Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Paraguay, and Uruguay. A passionate soccer fan and player, Brian has played semi-professionally in Argentina and earned regional honors playing at the collegiate level. Brian currently lives in Los Angeles and works enforcing equal employment opportunity legislation. He is fluent in Spanish.