John Kerry congratulates Salvador Sánchez Cerén

by CISPES

This morning, US Secretary of State John Kerry congratulated Salvador Sánchez Cerén for his election as president of El Salvador [full text after the jump].  The international solidarity community celebrates this important recognition of the decision made by Salvadoran voters at the polls on March 9th in elections the Organization of American States and the United Nations have applauded as highly transparent and fair. The US Embassy in El Salvador reiterated Kerry’s congratulations in a statement published on Twitter.

Mass Media a Key Ally In ARENA Destabilization Campaign

by CISPES

In the wake of El Salvador’s tight March 9^th Presidential elections, the country’s national commercial media, always notoriously conservative, have become active agents in spreading confusion and misinformation generated by the ARENA party in its quest to undermine El Salvador’s democratic institutions. The media’s complicity in ARENA’s campaign to contest the election results and generate political instability have drawn sharp criticism from across Salvadoran civil and political society.

ARENA prematurely declares victory to influence perception of final results

Members of ARENA’s executive committee just held a press conference declaring victory. When the press conference was held, 77.16% of voting tables were reporting, and the FMLN lead over ARENA, but only by 0.16%. According to the Director of El Faro, Carlos Dada, “It is very irresponsible for a political party to declare victory at this point.”

The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) held a press conference about an hour ago, in which they said no tendency had yet been established, and called on the Salvadoran people and political parties to remain calm and await the final results.

This has raised concerns that ARENA will not respect the final results as announced by the TSE.

ARENA and the FMLN: Two Opposing Proposals For Women

by CISPES

On Monday March 3, during a celebration to commemorate International Women’s Day hosted by the first Lady and Secretary of Social Inclusion Vanda Pignato, FMLN presidential candidate Salvador Sánchez Cerén signed the “Defense of Women’s Civil and Political Rights Agreement.”  Sánchez Cerén committed to continuing and further developing the programs started under the Funes government which benefit the rights of women and their full participation in politics.

Neither Norman Quijano nor his running mate René Portillo Cuadra were present at the event. Quijano justified the ARENA presidential ticket’s absence by saying many of the agreement’s components violate the party’s Christian principles. “When it mentions [in the agreement] that a woman’s body is her own, […] it’s saying that she can dispose of the fetus in her body, and that’s giving abortion the green light,” stated Quijano. He additionally cited a section that gives people “the right to marry whom they choose” as a potential pro-gay marriage statement, one which he could not support.

Presidential Elections in El Salvador: The Lion vs. The Dentist

by CISPES

(re-posted from NACLA website)

This Sunday, March 9th, El Salvador will elect its next president in a run-off election. The candidate for the leftist Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), Salvador Sánchez Cerén, has a strong lead over right wing candidate, Norman Quijano, from the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA); polls show the FMLN with up to a 16-point margin (CID-Gallup, February 19). This moment is something of a dreamscape for those who set down their weapons just over 22 years ago when the 1992 Peace Accords were signed. When the guerrillas came down from the mountains and the military stopped hunting its citizens and the U.S. government stopped signing checks to fund the military, those on the left wondered if the moment for real political change had passed.

ARENA and Allies turn to Red-Baiting and Threats

by CISPES

With the leftist FMLN party soaring in the polls as the March 9^th presidential runoff election rapidly approaches, right-wing opposition party ARENA and its allies have been amping up their red-baiting scare tactics.

this sign appeared in San Salvador a day before the elections; it reads: “a vote for the FMLN is a vote for the gangs”
photo: diario La Pagina

Following ARENA’s historic loss on February 2^nd, the party’s official campaign took a jolly turn away from its traditional fear-mongering, Cold War style, instead promising “more and better social programs” begun under the current FMLN government and employing a softer, centrist tone. In the wake of ongoing right-wing destabilization and violence in Venezuela, however, the party has returned to its comfort zone, airing television spots perpetuating the misinformation campaign around Venezuela and threatening “21^st century socialism,” violence and shortages of basic goods should the FMLN be elected to the presidency. The ad was so provocative that the Venezuelan ambassador to El Salvador wrote to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, calling the ad an inappropriate “intervention into the affairs of our country” and asking for its removal.

FMLN and ARENA Fine Tune Campaign Strategies in Lead-Up to Runoff Election

by CISPES

FMLN Cierre de Campaña

As El Salvador’s March 9^th runoff election between the leftist FMLN and right-wing ARENA approaches, both parties are honing their campaign strategies.  As the FMLN looks to increase the 10-point margin of victory over ARENA achieved in the first round of elections on February 2^nd through new cross-sector alliances, ARENA is scrambling to recover from receiving the fewest votes since the party’s founding over 30 years ago.

Elections Analysis

Sister Cities delegation of international elections observers (Photo: Vic Hinterlang)

by U.S.-El Salvador Sister Cities

The weeks leading up to the first round of elections here were intense, full of last minute campaigning and fresh waves of fear spurred by the spiking crime and murder rate in the new year. To hear ARENA tell it, the crime wave was just another example of the FMLN and current president Mauricio Fune’s soft stance on crime, and a problem that won’t let up should there be another FMLN victory. Furthermore, they allege, the FMLN has actually been working with the gangs, having the gangs pressure people to vote for them.

Article: El Salvador Election Offers a Choice between a Neoliberal Past and a FMLN Future

by CISPES (Article published on Upside Down World)

In March 1984, the Salvadoran people went to the polls to elect the first president under the country’s current constitution. They voted with the on-going violent civil war as its backdrop and with death squads threatening to kill anyone who did not vote – they saw abstention as equivalent to support for the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) guerrillas. The left was not allowed to participate in those elections. In fact, at the time just being suspected of leftist sympathies was enough to justify your arrest, detention, torture, disappearance, and/or death.

Former U.S. Ambassador says U.S. shouldn’t be scared of an FMLN victory on Sunday

posted by CISPES

“We should welcome the F.M.L.N.’s statements of good faith and cooperate with it.” – William Walker, U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador from 1988-1992, in a New York Times opinion piece

Read Walker’s full article after the jump.