President of El Salvador asks for forgiveness

In a ceremony commemorating the 18th anniversary of the signing of the Peace Accords which ended El Salvador's civil war, the government has apologized for the human rights violations committed by state actors during that conflict.

From the BBC:
President Mauricio Funes made the first formal apology by one of the country's presidents since the end of the conflict in 1992.

He said the right-wing authorities who governed the country at the time had committed grave human rights abuses.

He also said they had violated the country's constitutional order.

"In the name of the state of El Salvador, I ask for pardon," said the president, speaking at a ceremony on the 18th anniversary of the end of the conflict.

Those words - the first of their kind since the end of the war by a Salvadoran president - will be welcomed by the families of the more than 75,000 people who died in the conflict.

However, Mr Funes, who represents the party of the former Marxist FMLN rebel movement, will no doubt come under criticism for failing to also apologize for the abuses committed by the rebels during the war.
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This is quite a change for El Salvador. During his administration, president Tony Saca of the ARENA party was laying a wreath at the tomb of Roberto D'Aubuisson, mastermind of many of the right-wing government's atrocities during the 1980's.

Comments

Unknown said…
As founder of one of the two extremists political parties in El Salvador, Daubuisson recieves his wreath every year from his party associates, even if he was a death squad founder too.

The same applies to Schafick Handal, who also sent people to kill and be killed. He also recieves his wreath every year as founder of the OTHER extremist political party in El Salvador's highly polarized political system.

It would be really interesting though, to see what is the rate of Salvadoran right wing former death squad members currently serving in the Asamblea Legislativa and Parlacen, to that of left wing former kidnappers and assasins, in the same two bodies.

I am inclined to think that there is more from the left than from the right currently under those optics. But when we add those now serving in the government of El Salvador as a whole, I think that the left takes the lead.

Polarization is one of the great evils of El Salvador, and accusations are aplenty for all.

So glass celing house dwellers are prevented from throwing stones, unless they really like criticism.

But criticism is very seldom welcome, or accepted by the left and by the right in El Salvador.

Bad for them politicos, worse for us ciudadanos.....
May this help to bring peace to my beloved El Salvador!
FMLN said…
When people is use to criticize everything, there´s not too much to say about first comment.

To me, as a salvadorean who dreams with a new society, the gest of asking for forgiveness is the first step of reconcilitation... Something that NONE of the previous Presidents did... SO that´s a lot...

In the other hand, pls don´t put in the same basket the deathsquad party ARENARCONAZI with the FMLN, the latter was the beligerant force of the salvadorean people during the war and nowadays, representing the real interests of the poorests.

SO... the FMLN barely has 1/2 a year in the gov... so there are plenty of good things I´m eager to see...

Viva el FMLN
Unknown said…
Dear FMLN:

Maybe you can ask the dead victims of the killings made in the name of the fmln if they would put their murderers in the same basket as the arenarconazis.

Oh, but you cant, can you, they are dead, aren't they?

Thats right, they were killed by the belligerant fmln....

And there is nothing you can do about it, except kill their memory by arguing that their deaths do not matter because they were killed by the fmln.......But once dead, there is no more dying then, is there......?
BKR.INC said…
Both sides committed atrocities in the war that tore up the nation, I appluade him for taking the step for apologising for the mistakes made by the previous government however he should also apology on behalf of fmln ....they also committed atrocities as well.
A apology on behalf of both will be a true reconcilation and the healing can continue.
ixa said…
The U.N. Truth Commission Reported in 1993, FROM MADNESS TO HOPE that the FMLN committed like 5% of Human Rights abuses and ARMY, Security Forces, and D.Squads did 95%.

This Tit for Tat crap that peeps are saying, " ah well the FMLN did atrocities too"- do the MATH, the Majority was caused by the other side.

Just because the Frente shot down the Huey with the Green Berets in Morazan, The CIA Operative operation in the zona Rosa and a few others, does not even compare to the dark hour that thousands were led to inside the carceles clandestinas and Masacres by BIRIS in the country side.

Learn your Hx Guanacos.
Lion said…
Not fair, the infamous FMLN did their share and Funes should also apologize on their behalf as well.
Unknown said…
Funes can´t ask for forgiveness in the name of the FMLN because:

1st. he´s the president of El Salvador and he doesn´t represent the FMLN.

2nd. he´s not an FMLN leader or militant to ask for forgiveness.

Check your facts ppl! The FMLN has always asked for forgiveness, the thing is that the ARENARCONAZIS that ruled El Salvador the past 20 years didn´t want to admit their BIGGEST and LARGE portion of the atrocities.

Viva el FMLN·