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.

President and President-Elect Begin Transition, FMLN Announces New Ministries

by CISPES

On Monday, March 17, President Mauricio Funes convened a meeting between members of his cabinet and the planning commission assembled by President-elect Salvador Sánchez Cerén to begin the transition between administrations. “We promise the president-elect all of our collaboration, energy and willingness to work in order to guarantee the most orderly transition possible,” said Funes, adding that despite ARENA’s ongoing campaign against the nation’s democratic institutions, “for the President of the Republic and his team, it’s enough for us that the maximum [electoral] authority has made its verdict known to the people…to begin working.”

TSE Formally Announces Sánchez Cerén As El Salvador’s President-Elect; ARENA Will Continue To Contest Results

by CISPES

On Sunday March 16^th, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) formally announced that FMLN candidate Salvador Sánchez Cerén is El Salvador’s new president-elect. Although the final review of the elections results finished on March 12^th, giving the FMLN the win 50.11% to 49.89%, the TSE was first obliged to respond to a series of formal petitions filed by the ARENA party calling to annul the elections before officially declaring a winner.

Results are in: FMLN wins presidential elections

by CISPES

Last night, shortly after midnight, El Salvador’s electoral authority, the Supreme

TSE’s final results (Image: Tribunal Supremo Electoral)

Electoral Tribunal (TSE), finished the final count of the original vote tally sheets from each of the country’s 10,445 voting tables. The process was delayed by the right-wing ARENA party, whose representatives abandoned the counting tables on multiple occasions throughout the evening. In the name of stability and the public’s right to the results, the TSE ultimately decided continue the count with or without ARENA’s presence. The final results came in with 1,495,815 votes for FMLN candidate Salvador Sánchez Cerén and 1,489,451 votes for ARENA candidate Norman Quijano, a difference of 6,364 votes, or 0.22%, in favor of the FMLN.

Upside Down World: In the Face of an Expected Election Defeat, El Salvador’s Right-wing ARENA Party ‘Prepared for War’

Check out an excellent article about Sunday’s elections on Upside Down World by CISPES Executive Director Alexis Stoumbelis.  You can read the original post on UDW here.  A copy of the article is available after the jump.

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.

El Salvador Back on US Right’s Agenda as Runoff Vote Nears

Jim DeMint of the Heritage Foundation recently slandered the FMLN in the Miami Herald. (Photo: The Foundry)

by CISPES

Following the FMLN’s unprecedented 10-point victory over the ARENA party in El Salvador’s first round of Presidential elections on February 2^nd, right wing forces have reignited their campaign in the United States of fear and misinformation against the FMLN. The renewed effort comes as El Salvador approaches a March 9^th runoff election, with the leftist FMLN party poised to easily defeat the right-wing ARENA party, historically backed by the US government.

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.

Interview with former U.S. Ambassador

 by CISPES

Interview with former U.S. Ambassador, William Walker, on the upcoming elections in El Salvador

Read Walker’s full article here

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.