Swiss Salvadorans

Swiss Salvadoran
*Schweizer Salvadorianer*
Regions with significant populations
	San Salvador,Santa Tecla
Languages
	Salvadoran Spanish ,German, French, Italian, Romansh
Religion
	Christianity (Protestantism and Roman Catholic), Jewish minorities
Related ethnic groups
	Swiss people

Swiss Salvadorans are Salvadoran citizens with Swiss ancestry ,There are currently 506 Swiss citizens residing in El Salvador, in El Salvador there are many people with swiss ancestry.^[1]

Inmigration

When El Salvador became independent, it was not an attractive destination for Swiss but when the country introduced and made a transition to coffee, many Swiss came to the country, in the 1870s, a Swiss colony was created in El Salvador, in 1880, due to Due to liberal laws that encouraged immigration and the handing over of land for coffee cultivation, many Swiss came to the country seeing these opportunities,In the following years, Switzerland signed agreements with El Salvador, for a commercial coalition, mainly the export of coffee, this attracted many more Swiss,The Swiss settled mainly in places of coffee plantations, but cities that received the most were San Salvador, San Miguel and Santa Tecla, other parts such as Chalatenango, Santa Ana and Sonsonate received to a lesser extent.^[2]^[3]

In the Second World War, Jose Arturo Castellanos, who at that time was consul general in Geneva, handed over documents of Salvadoran nationality to Jewish families fleeing the Holoquast, most of them from central Europe,An estimated 40,000 Ashkenazi Jews were saved.^[4]

Bilateral relations Switzerland–El Salvador

In 1883, Switzerland and El Salvador signed a friendship and commercial coalition agreement, years later, in 1913 the federal government appointed the first honorary consul in San Salvador, In 1920 the consulate moved to San Miguel, where some Swiss had settled. as coffee growers, in 1948 the position was transferred to the capital San Salvador, in 1959 he was promoted to consulate general and in 1968 to embassy. The latter became involved in the civil war between the left-wing guerrilla and the army in the late 1970s, The assassination of Hugo Wey, Charge d'Affaires in San Salvador, led to the closure of the embassy in 1979, only in 1982 the The federal government reopened a representation in the form of a consular agency (since 1997 honorary consulate general). With the end of the civil war in 1992, bilateral relations improved. Switzerland intensified its development policy. Commitment. In 1996 both states signed an investment protection agreement.^[5]

In trade agreements, the main products that El Salvador exported to Switzerland were Coffee and Chocolate, and Switzerland exported products such as Cheese and watches to El Salvador

Notable Salvadorans of Swiss descent

Alfredo Cristiani ,Politician
Miguel Merz, Professional tennis player

References

^ "El Salvador". Retrieved 8 November 2021.
^ "El Salvador". Retrieved 8 November 2021.
^ "Ser extranjero en Centroamérica. Génesis y evolución de las leyes de extranjería y migración en El Salvador: siglos XIX y XX". Retrieved 8 November 2021.
^ Green, David B. "The Incredible Salvadoran Plot That Saved Thousands of Jews During the Holocaust". .haaretz.com. Retrieved 8 November 2021.
^ "Bilateral relations Switzerland–El Salvador". Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA. Retrieved 8 November 2021.