El Salvador’s Slow Recovery
By Claire O’Niell
“Duro Blandito” (hard soft) is a type of cheese and, in popular Salvadoran speech, an oxymoron expressing the ambiguity of life.
El Salvador has technically been in peacetime since its civil war ended 17 years ago. But as photographer Juan Carlos says, it “has come a long way but has not moved forward.” For many Salvadorans, postwar recovery has been almost as devastating as the war itself: The country is plagued with violence, drugs and a stagnant economy — not to mention the various natural disasters that continually impede development. Carlos, currently living in El Salvador, has documented the country’s postwar struggle in his series “Duro Blandito.”
