Duncan Excursion Fit for an Ambassador

Salvadorans Embrace Montgomery Leader

LA UNION, El Salvador -- Armed police officers, military officials and local government leaders waited in a field of overgrown grass at the naval base here, wiping sweat from their foreheads as the heat grew stronger. Parked around them were a half-dozen SUVs, their drivers ready to whisk Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan and his entourage off as soon as their helicopter arrived from San Salvador.

Delia Vescarra, governor of this eastern state, didn't seem to mind that Duncan already was a half-hour late on this Friday morning. "He is a leader who has done a lot for Hispanics in the United States," Vescarra said.

Soon, a military helicopter appeared, whipping grass and debris into Vescarra's face. She turned around, holding down her prim white hat with its blue ribbon and matching floral dress. Duncan emerged from the helicopter, photographers from the country's two main newspapers snapping photos rapidly as he walked toward Vescarra. He shook her hand and struck a pose.

" Los dos gobernadores ," his spokesman David Weaver said jokingly. The two governors.

"He's going to be the governor of Maryland," said Rene Antonio Leon, El Salvador's ambassador in Washington, joining them for a picture.

Duncan (D) might oversee just one Maryland county, and he might be lagging in polls behind his likely Democratic primary opponent and the sitting Republican governor. But during a four-day visit to El Salvador, which ended with a flight back to the United States yesterday, he was greeted enthusiastically as a representative of the United States and a politician who could lead a state that is home to thousands of Salvadorans -- who send back millions in wages to family members.

Duncan said he traveled to El Salvador -- at the invitation of Leon and partly at Montgomery's expense -- to establish business ties and connect with the 65,000 Salvadorans who have immigrated to the county.

"I think anytime you take a trip like this, it helps you to do a better job," he said. "It helps me be a better county executive.

"If I'm to be the next governor of Maryland," he added, "it will help me be a better governor."

He met with the government's top officials, including President Elias Antonio Saca. He sat through presentations about economic development and education reform. He attended a private meeting with the U.S. ambassador and toured a region that could become a tourist destination. He talked about gang violence with the vice minister of public safety.

He returns with some concrete advice on gangs, including keeping gang members separated in jail or rehabilitation programs. But he acknowledged that many of the harshest tactics Salvadoran officials use would not pass muster at home. "The levels of violence here are much greater than we've experienced," he said. "They're dealing with a much bigger problem. We're at the beginning stages."

On the business front, Duncan did not negotiate any concrete trade agreements but made clear to Salvadoran companies that he wants their business in Montgomery. He also plans to continue talking to chamber of commerce leaders he met here. And Duncan said he wants to encourage Salvadorans to start businesses in Montgomery or invest in El Salvador, rather than simply sending back their earnings. He also suggested a partnership between Montgomery College and a Salvadoran university.