Romero Pineda precursor of the Declaration of National Pupusas Day

By: Carlos Enrique Castillo G.

ccastillo@romeropineda.com

A few days after commemorating another year (17) of the celebration of National Pupusas Day, and due to a recent and interesting radio program in which my dear friend Pencho Duque was talking about this topic, concerns arose from share the reason for such a celebration.

Regardless of highlighting the Salvadoran nature of pupusas, which is unquestionable, or debating the origin of the name, regarding which there are several studies, I personally opt for the simile of the Nahuat term “pupusawa or pupushaua”[1], swelling or chindondo, with what happens with the tortillas when they are left on the fire of the embers, for a long time, they (the tortillas) swell or "chindondo" until they burst, an occasion in which any Accompanying our taste, nowadays, generally cheese.

Thus, from this simile, I understand, that the origin of pupusas was given, this exquisite Salvadoran dish, which constitutes our most representative expression of cultural tradition - culinary/gastronomic, which highlights an element of identity and unity in every Salvadoran family, wherever they are.

The declaration of pupusas as the country's national dish dates back to 2005. However, two years earlier, at the suggestion of the writer of these lines, the need to provide legal protection to this symbol of Salvadoran identity arose.

By decree of April 1, 2005 (Decree 655[2]) of the Legislative Assembly, the second Sunday of November was established as National Pupusas Day.

Now I am going to give the reference of how such a statement was reached. During the negotiations of the Free Trade Agreement with the United States of America, the Salvadoran Association of Industrialists (ASI) was pleased to nominate Dr. Roberto Romero Pineda and myself, among others, as advisory members of the private sector in such sessions. , at the Intellectual Property and Dispute Resolution tables, forming a work team with members of the official delegation.

Thus, during the 8th round of negotiations held in Washington in October 2003, an incident arose that was misrepresented to public opinion.

The topic of discussion/negotiation on that occasion corresponded to tariff relief, where the negotiators from the countries of the Central American Region explained which of their export products required special treatment in tariff matters, for their entry into the United States market. This is how the Honduran delegation requested that products prepared from Honduran corn, filled with Honduran cheese, be privileged with zero tariffs. This raised the question, were they referring directly to the pupusas? In fact, but at no time did they attempt to claim any right over the nationality of the pupusas, nor to prove sole or exclusive origin for them. It was the discussion of a purely technical issue - tariff relief - period.  

As a result of such incident, and to avoid any misunderstanding or confusion, I proposed that El Salvador establish a legal protection mechanism for this very expression of cultural tradition. Thus we analyze the viability of such protection under Article 15.4 of the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary or Artistic Works, which establishes:

“a) For unpublished works of which the identity of the author is unknown, but for which it can be assumed that he is a national of a country of the Union, the power to designate the competent authority is reserved to the legislation of that country. to represent that author and defend and enforce his rights in the countries of the Union.

b) The countries of the Union that, by virtue of the provisions established above, proceed with this designation, will notify the Director General by means of a written declaration in which all the information relating to the designated authority will be indicated. The Director General shall immediately communicate this declaration to all other countries of the Union.”

But we did not find a single document that made reference to the Salvadoran origin of the pupusas, but rather a quantity of information that confirmed it, in this way and with the help of CONCULTURA, which was formed with the consent of the authorities of the Ministry of Economy, a working group to achieve the required protection. Different and very distinguished people participated, including a linguist, an archaeologist, cultural researchers, the work of anthropologists, a businessman and us, the aforementioned members of the Romero Pineda & Asociados Firm. This small group was supported by hundreds of thousands of signatures that were obtained publicly motivated by authentic patriotic fervor, to carry out the project of submitting to the legislative plenary session the proposal for the recognition of the pupusas, as national dish of El Salvador.

When the work had been completed, it was presented to CONCULTURA with whom we defined the presentation of the project to the Legislative Assembly, which was transformed, summarized, into the long-awaited decree.

Within the work, the economic importance of making pupusas was highlighted, as a microbusiness activity to which a large number of Salvadoran families are dedicated, taking into account that in those years (2005) each weekend approximately more than one and a half million dollars in pupusa consumption. The above justified that the Legislative Decree made reference to article 131 of the Constitution (ordinal 11), however, the Decree did not grant any benefit or tax incentive for those who dedicated themselves to that economic activity, and that was not the reason either. which guided the presentation of the work to the Assembly.

For our part, we base the need to decree that pupusas are the Salvadoran national dish and the consequent declaration of the national pupusa day (original proposal), on the provisions of article 63 of the Constitution, which as pertinent to the issue in question sets: “The artistic, historical and archaeological wealth of the country is part of the Salvadoran cultural treasure, which remains under the safeguard of the State and subject to special laws for its conservation..” In this way, in our opinion, the reason for the declaration to be decreed was justified. It was logical that, by introducing the work to the knowledge of the Legislative Assembly, it would be nuanced with purely political aspects, typical of legislative activity.

As already indicated above, the second Sunday of the month of November was established as the National Pupusas Day and this was due to a thorough review that was carried out in the plenary session of the Legislative Assembly, regarding the official calendar of national festivities, and it was He highlighted that November is the month of the corn harvest, and that it is also the month of family unity around commemorating the Day of the Dead, therefore the best or most auspicious date was the second Sunday of the month of November.

It should be noted for recognition of copyright, that in Legislative Decree 655 a fragment of the poem LAS PUPUSAS is mentioned, but it was omitted to credit that it corresponds to Ricardo Castrorrivas, a Salvadoran poet, who has also dedicated his lyrics to exalt other related traditions. with foods such as: rice and beans, black shells, izote flower and a cup of coffee.

Happy National Pupusas Day…. forever and always.

Antiguo Cuscatlán / October 25, 2022.

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[1] “pupushawa” – dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy, Nahuat word, meaning “swollen”.

[2] Official Gazette of April 20, 2005