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.