My name is Hector Sermeño a Salvadoran journalist, based in NYC. I was also in the situation of Oscar in 2001 and I returned to El Salvador, where I could not live one more year. The situation was so difficult to carry on there, especially when one has had problems with the police because of the journalistic work. Things have gotten worse now, because there is a high percentage of police officers linked to common crime and also organized crime.
For all this I think it is completely unfair that Canadian immigration, a country that has always been known for helping migrants worldwide, denied a person like Oscar Vigil to live and work there. He’s such as a great person and a well recognized professional in the journalistic field. I know Oscar pretty well, I used to work with him, both in El Salvador, as in Toronto. I know him as a person and as a professional too. I’m completely sure he and his family deserves to have a peaceful life in any place out of El Salvador.
What a shame, how it has changed Canada!
Hector Sermeño