Will Funes achieve the agenda of the left?

My friend Danny Burridge recently wrote an article titled El Salvador: Promises, Perils and Reality published by the North American Congress on Latin America. In the article, he looks at the goals of Salvadoran civil society organizations on the left and whether Funes can and will achieve them. Here is an excerpt:

The peaceful and historic transfer of power in El Salvador reflects the consolidation of "formal" democracy, but deep social change and true democracy are still slightly beyond the horizon. Its years as a guerrilla organization and decades as an opposition party have left the FMLN as a largely hierarchical political organization. The party could build on its formidable grassroots network and work towards becoming an institution that facilitates democratic participation in government decision-making.

Funes will be under intense pressure from myriad interests to reduce the influence of El Salvador's diverse social movement and jettison his promised preferential option for the poor. Despite inevitable missteps, and critics' destabilizing discourses, the Salvadoran people will need to provide critical yet massive support to the Funes government in strengthening the paths toward true change.

Danny Burridge lives and works in San Salvador as the a coordinator for the Volunteer Missionary Movement.

Comments

El-Visitador said…
«The party could build on its formidable grassroots network and work towards becoming an institution that facilitates democratic participation in government decision-making.»

Is this person deaf or naïve or simply propagandizing the interests of evil?

Does he really not know that the FMLN is controlled by a self-appointed "argolla" (the politburo or comité polítco) made up of seventeen live hard-core marxists plus one dead hard-core marxist?

The dead member-for-life member of the politburo is, of course, former soviet agent Schafick Handal.

Really. Exactly like North Korea's dead "president for life". I kid you not.

How can anyone possibly with a straight face even suggest that these people will do anything remotely like participatory democracy?

Are Cuba, Venezuela, the Soviet Empire, Cambodia, Vietnam, the sad African states, not evidence enough of the way marxists actually govern?
Oh my. Oh dear, oh dear, dear, dear. Dead Salvadoran Communist Schafick Handal continues to control the FMLN from the great Marxist-Leninist beyond. This is shocking, simply shocking. Why, why, he'll order the killing of cows, the eating of babies, and turn El Salvador into a tropical Cuban socialist hell hole. We're doomed, we're all doomed. Run away, run away....
Anonymous said…
Wow!!! El-V you forgot to take your meds. :)

===========

I hope Funes does a good job for the Salvadoran people.

We'll have to wait and see whether the um, yeah, dead Marxist can do a better job than the Death Squad.

I'm looking to see some improvements in education, job prospects, maybe a living wage, and maybe a bit more ownership of El Sal by Salvadorans (entrepreneurship).
Gatofilo said…
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said…
Tim,

This Funes guy is no threat to a the dreams of a new democracy for the future of El Salvador. What I do think though, is that this FMLN people have other plans for their own means. Either we split the members of the FMLN from the ones the truly wish for democracy from the ones that want to make some form of a dictatorship like of that idiot Chavez, or we will head out for disaster.