Maine Currents 10/23/25: U.S./El Salvador Sister Cities- Strong Connections & Shared Threats to Human Rights

Producer/Host: Amy Browne

The relationships forged between local Mainers and folks in El Salvador have been strengthened over the decades, built on mutual respect and learning from each other. In addition to the PICA/Bangor Sister City relationship with the town of Carasque, WERU has a Sister Station, Radio Sumpul, and MOFGA has built connections with farming organizations there. Today both countries seem to be on the same path to authoritarianism, justified in both places as a crack down on crime. Long-time volunteers and staff from U.S./El Salvador Sister Cities weigh in on where we may be headed.

Guests: Kelly Calles, Jon Falk, Olivia Petipas, Zulma Tobar, and Karen Volckhausen

About the Host:
Amy Browne started out at WERU as a volunteer news & public affairs producer in 2000, co-hosting/co-producing RadioActive with Meredith DeFrancesco. She joined the team of Voices producers a few years later, and has been WERU’s News & Public Affairs Manager since January, 2006. In addition to RadioActive, Voices and Maine Currents, she also produced and hosted the WERU News Report for several years. She has produced segments for national programs including Free Speech Radio News, This Way Out, Making Contact, Workers Independent News, Pacifica PeaceWatch, and Live Wire News, and has contributed to Democracy Now and the WBAI News Report. She is the recipient of the 2014 Excellence in Environmental Journalism Award from the Sierra Club of Maine, and the First Place 2017 Radio News Award from the Maine Association of Broadcasters.