This community is celebrating its country’s independence for the first time in the Valley

Do you know how many countries celebrate their independence day in September?

If Mexico was the first country that came to mind, you are correct. Commemorating the “Cry of Independence” is one of the most important historical events in Mexico on Sept. 15.

But Sept. 15 is not only an important day for Mexico but also for five Central American countries: Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica.

And the celebration of Independence Day for the Salvadoran community in the Central Valley will be a little more special this year.

Now that El Salvador has opened a Consulate General in Fresno, there are plans to celebrate that nation’s independence day at the consulate’s new office at 49 West Alluvial Ave., north of the city of Fresno.

“We are very happy and the truth is that this is the beginning of something that can truly become something very big,” said Josué Urías, who is of Salvadoran origin and lives in Mendota.

Urías, who along with his family owns several Salvadoran businesses in Mendota, said that the Independence Day celebration at the new El Salvador consulate in Fresno is “a way for the Salvadoran community to get together, a way, a reason, a place where we can feel at home, then it is very happy.”

“As I say, we started something small and hopefully for the next year, every year that we do this celebration it can be a little bigger,” said Urías.

The consulate of El Salvador in Fresno opened its doors in early June to serve the Salvadoran community in the counties of Fresno, Mono, Mariposa, Merced, San Benito, Monterrey, Madera, King, Tulare, Inyo, San Luis Obispo, and Kern.

“Yes, well, as a consulate we always have the intention of celebrating national holidays, the most important one, independence,” said Jason Manuel Castro Olivares, consul general of El Salvador in Fresno.

Castro Olivares, who is the first consul general in the Valley, said that the celebration of El Salvador’s Independence scheduled for Saturday (September 17) at the new facility in Fresno is also for “the people of the valley to know and see that you can go to the consulate here, because there are still a lot of people who don’t know and they still go to Los Angeles or San Francisco”.

El Salvador has four consulates in California, including Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Bernardino and Fresno.

“Then it will serve us so that they get to know each other, and it will also serve as a first meeting, let’s say, for all Salvadorans, apart from the inauguration, right?” Castro Olivares said of the first event held by the consulate in Fresno to commemorate 201 years of El Salvador’s Independence Day.

“For me personally, it is very important because, for someone who is in the foreign service, in the diplomatic service, to know that for the first time the flag of his country flies in one part is quite significant, right?” Castro Olivares said. “As there is already a formal presence of our country in that area to attend to citizens.”

Castro Olivares said that it will also be “the first time that we are going to raise the flag, too, at the Fresno City Hall” in a symbolic act that they have requested from the Fresno City Council and that will take place on September 16 at 8:30 a.m. with officials from the city of Fresno and the Consulate General of El Salvador, a significant diplomatic event in the framework of independence.

Castro Olivares said that the invitation for the main celebration on Saturday is made for the entire Salvadoran community and diaspora of the Valley, who will be able to enjoy typical Salvadoran food, folkloric dances, live music and an exhibition of handicrafts.

Since the city of Mendota has a large Salvadoran community, Castro Olivares said they invited the mayor to speak during the event, adding that the focus is the valley’s Salvadoran diaspora.

One of the things that excites Urías about being able to commemorate the independence of his native country “is being able to celebrate with our countrymen, seeing how our community has grown here in the United States. And well, we can’t imagine how big it is here in the Central Valley until we see ourselves reunited”.

Urías remembers that when they opened the consulate in June there was no room for people inside and it was something that made him very happy.

Urías, who is the father of two children who were born in the United States, said that “I am very happy that they can be part of something that is very special for us. I hope they continue when I have my grandchildren, they continue to share this small piece of country for a great piece of our family.”

Although the exact calculation of the Salvadoran population in the Valley is very difficult, Castro Olivares said that, in the jurisdiction of the consulate general in Fresno, which is the San Joaquin Valley, they have calculated a population of 35,000 Salvadorans with the largest populations in Mendota, Fresno, Salinas, Sanger and Bakersfield.

“Those are the cities where we have identified a lot of Salvadorans and that they had to travel, let’s say, or to the north, to San Francisco or to the south, to Los Angeles, and it was a whole day, right,” Castro Olivares said, adding that once a month they are having mobile consulates like the one held recently in Salinas to bring services, especially passports, to those cities.

“Once a month we choose a city, we can agree with the Salvadoran leaders there to make a call, and they arrive, right?” Castro Olivares said.

Although in previous years there has not been an official celebration of El Salvador’s independence in Fresno, Salvadorans in the area do not feel forgotten amid the celebrations of Independence Day from Mexico, quite the contrary.

“Not really. That doesn’t happen to us because our culture and much of what we’ve been through and everything is similar to Mexico, that is, what we see on television, music, a lot of things we grew up with, so we understand Mexico quite a bit,“ Castro Olivares said. “Obviously we don’t feel Mexican, do we? But let’s say Latino pride, the language issue, all of that, at least my perception and with all the Salvadorans that I have spoken to, we don’t feel like that.”

“That is, we would like to have our own celebration, but when we see the celebration of Independence of Mexico, it is only good that cool we say, that cool that they are celebrating that, which is the ‘Fiestas Patrias’ and we can go without any problem, no, celebrate with them,” said Castro Olivares.

Commemoration of the Independence Day of El Salvador

▪ Where: Consulate General of El Salvador in Fresno, California, 49 West Alluvial Ave, Fresno, CA

▪ When: Saturday, September 17, starting at 9:30 a.m.

A at Glance

El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It limits to the northeast with Honduras, to the northwest with Guatemala and to the south with the Pacific Ocean.

▪ Currencies: Bitcoin, US dollar

▪ Capital: San Salvador

▪ President: Nayib Bukele

▪ Population: 6.486 million (2020) World Bank

▪ Official language: Spanish

▪ Independence of El Salvador: September 15, 1821.

▪ Typical food: Pupusas (National Pupusa Day is celebrated every second Sunday of November)

▪ The most popular sport in the country is soccer.

▪ Literature: Salvador Salazar Arrué (Salarrué), who is considered the best Salvadoran short story writer

▪ Art: Valentín Estrada, who is considered the first national sculptor

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