A New Face to Salvadoran Politics?
The highly anticipated U.S. presidential election has brought a wave of hope for change and confidence that the
political process under an Obama presidency will be put to work on the side of the people. A parallel case is seen in El
Salvador, where people are hopeful that a positive shift in politics will be seen in the Salvadoran presidential
election on March 15th, 2009. The two main contenders in the presidential race are Rodrigo Avila, who belongs to the
ruling right-wing National Republican Alliance Party (ARENA), and Mauricio Funes, who is a member of the leftist
Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN). Already, this election cycle appears distinct from the past because,
for the first time in nineteen years, polls of perspective voters tend to favor the latter candidate.
The current president of El Salvador is ARENA’s Antonio Saca. During his term, Saca has attempted to improve, with scant
success, El Salvador’s crime prevention rate and negative social and economic conditions by forming a tight knit
relationship with the Bush administration. The close relationship between the two right wing administrators has helped
El Salvador sign onto Bush’s U.S Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). The MCC is a five year, $461 million
anti-poverty program intended to stimulate growth in the poorest areas of the country, particularly northern El
Salvador, where more than 50 percent of the population lives below the poverty line. Measures to improve the lives of
Salvadorans have included investments in agricultural production as well as in education and rural business development.
The percentage of the population living below the poverty line has declined to 35.2 percent (twenty-three points lower
than in 2000) and the country’s GDP growth has increased two points since 2004.
Despite political change and some economic growth, the majority of Salvadorans remain dissatisfied with ARENA’s domestic
policies. El Salvador’s poorest families face enormous income inequality, which has continued to rise since 1999. High
levels of crime have badly tarnished the image of the country by diminishing assets and programs for the poor, devaluing
property and reducing employment rates. Many Salvadorans looking for change doggedly oppose ARENA, stating that the
party uses violent tactics to enforce its neo-liberal policies and governs in favor of the country’s elite, which
continues to promote the interests of those deemed responsible for the atrocities in El Salvador’s years of bloody civil
war in the 1980’s. A poll conducted by the Public Opinion Institute of the Central American University revealed that 63
percent of the population believes that ARENA should no longer govern the country, and 80 percent of the country feels
that the conditions of El Salvador have generally worsened under the current government.
The aforementioned statistics give some indication that Rodrigo Avila’s chances of victory in March are somewhat slimmer
than ARENA had expected, partially as a result of the fact that Avila is relatively mediocre in the political sphere.
Avila is a former deputy director of the national police who has focused his campaign on the slogan, “A more just
country, progress with equity.” Avila has promised that he will establish a number of different projects, one of which
is The National Child Nutrition Program. This social welfare program would provide extra food for families with children
between 0-5 years of age. Avila also promises to increase pensions, improve family finances and preserve economic
freedom. He has further guaranteed that he will avoid privatization of public health services, and plans to reinstate
the Temporary Protected Status (TPS), which helps Salvadorians who entered the U.S illegally to remain in this country
for an extended period of time. Although Avila has his fair share of plans for El Salvador, it seems as though the
electorate is beginning to turn its back on ARENA’s failed policies, and becoming more willing to give the FMLN a chance
to steer the country.
Change is what the FMLN promises to the people. The FMLN is a former revolutionary guerilla organization which started
up during the 1980’s as one of the popular revolutionary groups that fought for workers rights and economic freedom. In
1992, peace accords were signed which demobilized FMLN units, making them an official political party. Because the left
traditionally has not been allowed to gain power (largely because ARENA first installed power at the time the Civil War
was ending). FMLN’s recent popularity may come as something of a surprise. Mauricio Funes is the first candidate in the
party’s history who is not an ex-guerilla commander. This has brought a fresh face to the FMLN. Funes’ focus on centrist
economic policies and his non-violent past distinguishes his party from its traditional profile. Those opposing Funes
take him as being a socialist, but in an interview with Upside Down World, Funes stated, “Given the current
international context, we do not aspire to build socialism in El Salvador. What we hope to build is a more dynamic and
competitive economy, placing ourselves in the international playing field in a highly globalized and competitive world.
We hope to have a stronger and more dynamic economy than what has been built up until now.”
Funes plans to support democratic institutions, but he also believes that a tight bond between Hugo Chávez of Venezuela
and Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is not necessary for democracy to work. Many Salvadorians support Funes for his
desire to make El Salvador’s relationship with the U.S. more oriented toward strategic plans to combat money laundering,
drug trafficking and to bring Salvadorian troops home from Iraq, making the relationship between the two countries less
dependent and certainly less compromised.
The political resurgence of the FMLN has been on the rise for a few years, gaining growing support from the electorate.
The FMLN reached a milestone in 2006 when the party gained 39.7 percent of the popular vote while winning 32 out of 84
legislative seats. Results of a CISPES poll shows that support for the FMLN is building: 38 percent of respondents
believe that it is the party that can best fight corruption, 40 percent think the FMLN would be able to generate
employment, and 47 percent believe the party would be able to stop the increase in consumer prices. The presidential
race in El Salvador may still be a close one, but it is clear that the FMLN may now be in the process of pushing aside
ARENA due to the people’s desire for change, equity and modernization of Salvadoran society.
ENDS