Day 13: Visiting a Mini-Maquila

Although I've tried adamantly to visit a maquila, I have had no success.  In the town that I am staying in there are a few "mini-maquilas" as they are called by the local people.  These mini-maquilas make school uniforms and athletic wear for consumers throughout El Salvador.  Many of the people that work in these mini-maquilas have worked in maquilas in the Free Trade Zones in El Salvador.  I visited a mini-maquila to see how clothes are assembled and get a sense of working conditions.  I ended up at a mini-maquila that consisted of the owner and 3 female machine operators.  I interviewed one of the female machine operators.  Prior to working in this mini-maquila, she worked in a Korean owned maquila.  She shared a story with me that is consistent with the fear workers have expressed about working in Korean owned maquilas in El Salvador.  The worker stated that at Korean maquilas one female worker disappears annually.  According to workers, the owners sacrifice a virgin woman so that business keeps prospering.  Although the validity of this story is unknown, it does exhibit the fear of working in maquilas in El Salvador, specifically Asian owned.  Two women have shared this story with me although details of the story change.  I wanted to share this story just to show that although people, especially women, loathe working in the maquila, many continue to do so out of necessity.  In a country where job opportunities are limited, maquila work appears to be the easiest to get into.

Here are some pics of the mini-maquila as well as a calendar of scantily clad women.  Even though in the mini-maquila there are more women then men, the calendar was still put up by the male owner.