El Salvador Perspectives

Nayib Bukele's victory in El Salvador was covered by the English language press primarily by the wire services and by the papers in communities with significant Salvadoran populations.  In general, it was not front page news.  The coverage in the English language press tended to focus on Bukele's youth and social media messaging, the landslide nature of the victory, Bukele's anti-corruption message, voters' rejection of the ARENA and FMLN two party system in the country, and the challenges he will face governing without a legislative coalition in the National Assembly.. Gene Palumbo and Elisabeth Malkin writing in the New York Times shared : The dramatic win for Mr. Bukele, 37, who was running as an outsider, underscores the deep discredit into which the country’s traditional parties have fallen. Voters appeared to be willing to gamble on a relative newcomer to confront the country’s poverty and violence, shutting out the right- and left-wing parties that have domi...

El Salvador's most popular politician , Nayib Bukele, has found his path to be on the 2019 presidential ballot in El Salvador.   Bukele has announced that his (not yet officially recognized) political party Nuevas Ideas has made an alliance with the party  Cambio Democrático  (CD) -- Democratic Change.  That alliance will allow him to be on the presidential ballot endorsed by CD even if his opponents had blocked Nuevas Ideas from contending in the election. Nuevas Ideas had a real obstacle in its path to getting Bukele on the ballot.   The electoral process established by the Law of Political Parties and administered by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal ("TSE") required that political parties establish a process for internal elections to choose a presidential nominee by April 6, 2018.   Nuevas Ideas could not meet this date because it has not yet been officially recognized as a political party.   Although Nuevas Ideas did establis...

Yesterday at Cuscatlan Stadium in San Salvador, the FMLN held its popular celebration of the inauguration of Mauricio Funes. El Faro had multimedia coverage of the event in this video : and this photogallery .

Video of the swearing in ceremony for Mauricio Funes as president of El Salvador. Today should be a day of great celebration for all friends of El Salvador. The inauguration of Mauricio Funes as president of El Salvador marks the first true peaceful transition of power in the country. The country has a left wing president, and his victory came through the ballot box in peaceful and fair elections. Raúl Gutiérrez at IPS described the inauguration : At his inaugural ceremony Monday, the first-ever leftwing president of El Salvador, Mauricio Funes, said his main goal was to ”beat poverty, political backwardness, the marginalisation of broad sections of society, desperation, and the lack of future prospects for our young people.” The insurgency-turned-political party Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) will invest 474 million dollars in the next 18 months to generate 100,000 direct jobs, the new president announced. Funes received a two-minute standing ovation when he arri...

Latin Pulse provides online bilingual video content with news and analysis from Latin America. Latin Pulse recently published on its website a 30 minute video titled "El Salvador's Historic Election. Accompanying the longer video was a 10 minute interview with Mauricio Funes including English subtitles.

As you might imagine, a lot has been written in the past two weeks about El Salvador in the press around the world. Usually when there is something written in the English language press about El Salvador, I can bring it to your attention but there is way too much right now. Instead, I'd like to point you to some essays which merit reading because they go a little bit deeper than the standard story-line of the television journalist turned candidate for the former Marxist guerrillas who campaigns against the conservative governing party which relied on fear as a campaign theme. A pair of articles, one before the election and one after, written by Roger Atwood for Mother Jones , benefit from the fact that he lives in El Salvador. His understanding as a resident of the country are apparent in El Salvador's Left Turn and El Salvador's Quiet Revolution. Make sure and read the series of blog posts by Roberto Lovato, who returns to the homeland of his family to write about th...

Salvadoran bloggers brought an independent voice to politics in El Salvador over the past 5 years, a voice which was not present in the last presidential election. David Mejia was part of live coverage given to the elections and the tallying of the votes by the Salvadoran blogosphere. He reflected on the importance of the internet and the election results: Esta vez me atrevo a decir con propiedad, el internet ha sido muy importante esta vez en las elecciones, debido a que el público joven, lo ha utilizado en vez de los medios tradicionales, y quiero felicitar a los partidos políticos por habernos tomado en cuenta en muchas ocasiones. No hay que olvidar que El Salvador esta vez tiene que estar más unido, dejar las diferencias, aferrarse a Dios para poder tener un mejor país, ya que todos unidos lo podremos lograr, y así poder lograr el verdadero CAMBIO, no solo cambio de gobierno, sino cambio de actitud. This time I dare say with propriety, the internet has been very important in th...

Election night in San Salvador The front pages of today's newspapers in El Salvador: It was interesting to see today this picture on the US Embassy website of Mauricio Funes and US Chargé d'Affaires Robert Blau with their wives taken last night after the Funes' victory speech: The news story on the Embassy website was also of interest: The election campaign was heavily marked by attacks and aggressive accusations between the two parties. The debate also was focused on the doubts whether the possible FMLN victory would trigger a change in the bilateral relations with the US. However, Charge Blau congratulated the people and the government of El Salvador for building a democracy where calm elections were celebrated: “Mauricio Funes has won in a fair and free election. We have said many times that our intention is to continue with the good relations with El Salvador from government to government, and from people to people”, said Mr. Blau. During the State Department’s daily p...

On the evening of his historic election as the first president from a leftist party in El Salvador, Funes came to the microphone in the Sheraton Presidente Hotel in San Salvador to declare himself the winner of the elections. After thanking the party members and family who had worked for his election, Funes immediately struck a note of reconciliation, calling to renew the spirit of reconciliation which had been the basis for the 1992 Peace Accords. Noting that ARENA had now "passed into the opposition," Funes also let it be known that he intended to listen to them and they would be "respected and heard." Funes indicated that he would seek to work together with president Tony Saca for a smooth transition of government. Funes struck the moderate leftist themes which had marked his campaign, assuring small, medium and large business owners that he understood the need to have a vibrant economy and a government which was respectful of contract/property rights. But...

All indications tonight are that Mauricio Funes, the former television journalist, achieved victory today in the presidential elections in El Salvador. Very early on, the election returns being reported by the media showed that the candidate of the leftist FMLN had garnered support throughout the country sending red clad FMLN supporters into the streets to celebrate and sending the conservative ARENA party to defeat for the first time in two decades. By 8:45pm El Salvador time, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal had released results showing Funes with 51.6% of the vote and Avila with 48.4%. This reflected a tally of 73% of the votes. Funes will assume the presidency of a country with many problems. Among those problems are high levels of crime and violence and an economy that does not provide jobs sufficient to support a large percentage of Salvadoran families. He will have a divided government -- the FMLN will have a plurality in the National Assembly, with conservative ARENA and PC...

8:40 p.m. -- TSE just released its latest tallies: FMLN 51.60% ARENA 48.40% (73% tabulated) 8:30 pm -- still waiting for the TSE to release more official results. ARENA was just on TV asserting that their data is favorable. 7:45 p.m. -- The TSE just released its first preliminary results: With 33.26% of voting table reports tabulated: Arena: 426,108 48.72% FMLN: 448,554 51.28% Stay tuned. 6:45 pm Channel 21 Megavision has a preliminary count showing the FMLN winning 57% to 43%. TCS shows the FMLN with 53%. It's not looking good for ARENA. 6:30 p.m. -- Preliminary results from the government won't be released for another hour. Looking at the Channel 21 and some results they are displaying on the screen, it looks like the FMLN and Funes have the advantage in the early counting. 5:00 p.m. -- The polls in El Salvador are closed. People in line to vote at 5 will be allowed to vote. Then the votes are counted at each table with respresentatives of each party and e...

It is the eve of El Salvador's fourth presidential election since the end of the civil war in 1992. The former warring factions are now the country's leading political parties. If Mauricio Funes of the FMLN wins, it will mark the country's first transfer of power to a leftist government. The elections in El Salvador, in my view, have a great deal of transparency. The reason is that the political parties are permitted to have observers, "vigilantes," at every single voting table in the country. They scrutinize each step from the verification that a person's name and ID appears on the election roll, to the counting of the votes. In addition, some 4000 observers, both national and international, have been accredite d to watch every step of the process. Besides that, the office of the Human Rights Ombudsman (PDDH), will also have 1500 observers in the field at polling places. To see how the process works at each individual polling place, you may want t...

Lots of articles are being written with predictions of what is key and important in this Sunday's election. (They can't all be right). The Christian Science Monitor writes that evangelicals are key to El Salvador elections . The articles describes a movement of the evangelical Christian population of El Salvador towards the left, compared with a strong preference for ARENA in 2004. The Associated Press has an article stating that the difference could be Salvadorans who live in the US: "Potentially, the people who send remittances have a privileged status over those who receive the remittances, who could listen to the political message that their family members want to give them," said sociologist Gaspar Rivera-Salgado, professor of immigration and labor at the University of California, Los Angeles. "It's an interesting political exercise—an indirect influence." In an article titled A win for El Salvador leftist appears less certain , the Los Angeles ...

There was never a debate between Mauricio Funes and Rodrigo Avila, but you can compare them in these two interviews conducted by Jorge Ramos of Univision: Funes interview video . Avila interview video .

The US State Department has responded to the outcry created by statements by certain Republican lawmakers: Thank you for your concern regarding the elections in El Salvador. The Government of the United States reiterates its official position that it does not support either candidate in the upcoming presidential election in El Salvador on March 15. The Embassy of the United States in El Salvador has stated this position publicly and repeatedly since November of 2007. The separation of powers and freedoms in the United States allows the debate in which members of the U.S. Legislature have expressed their opinions, which do not reflect the official position of the United States. Alberto Rodriguez A/Public Affairs Officer Agregado de Prensa/Press Officer Embajada de Estados Unidos San Salvador, El Salvador It is doubtful that El Salvador's far-right El Diario de Hoy will give this statement the same bold, front page headlines it gave Rep. Rohrabacher's and Florida Congressman Co...

Thirty-three members of Congress signed a letter last week asking the Obama administration to make it clear that the US will be neutral and respect the outcome of the presidential election. In part, the letter states: As Members of Congress, we reject the threats of 2004 and any effort to instigate another US intervention in Salvadoran politics. We feel that U.S. immigration policy should not be made into a political instrument used to influence foreign elections. Similarly, we reject the suggestion that the US government would seek to financially punish Salvadorans, in this country or in El Salvador, for exercising their right to elect a government of their choosing. As members of Congress, we will not support any such measure. We believe that the proper position of the U.S. Congress and government is one of neutrality and respect for El Salvador’s independent democratic process, thus allowing the Salvadoran people to make a free choice of personal conscience, a choice which can only...

Today is the last day El Salvador's political parties are permitted to campaign prior to the presidential election on Sunday. Greg from the SHARE Foundation , sent me this note: As the SHARE Foundation prepares to guide International Observers, mostly from all over the United States, the propaganda has taken over the streets of San Salvador. Just from my first few days back in the country since 2007, there have been more electricity poles splashed with FMLN red and white masking the blue of ARENA. This technique actually making it pink and white, which is just more symbolism of the desperate campaigning techniques of both sides. There are no laws or boundaries of respect for campaign materials. ARENA clearly has more money for campaigning in San Salvador taking more space than the FMLN on the radio. The anxiety and energy are felt everywhere, either in the grocery story or a pupuseria. There are multiple stories in Diario de Hoy or Prensa Graffica trying to smear the FMLN campaign....

I have noticed in the past few weeks that the Funes and Avila campaigns have started to emphasize new slogans. The new slogan for ARENA is "Vota con Sabiduría" -- Vote with Wisdom. There is a de-emphasis on the original campaign slogan "Pais Mas Justo" -- A More Just Country. This new slogan goes hand in hand with advertising by ARENA and its political allies which emphasizes fear of the FMLN as communist guerrillas responsible for years of conflict in the country. The new message is -- think about that violent past before you cast your vote -- vote wisely. The new campaign slogan being emphasized by the Funes campaign is "Esta vez es diferente" -- This time is different. You can listen to a jingle with this slogan at www.mauriciofunespresidente.com I can't say that I am a real fan of this slogan, because it rings a little defensive. It seems to be saying -- let's forget about our big loss in the 2004 presidential election, now we finally h...

A young friend from Germany wrote the following about the parties' campaign closing rallies this weekend: Yesterday we were on the Alameda Juan Pablo II to observe the final event of the campaign of the FMLN. It was really an incredible feeling, 200.000 people in the street, a sea of red. Usually you only see people waving flags of Che Guevara, Fidel Castro and Karl Marx in history books, but here history is living! And then they all together sang the ode to joy from Beethoven and I put the hand on my heart and sang the hymns of Europe on the top of my voice. Today in the Estadio Cuscatlan ARENA put an ARENA Cap, a bag of water and a flag on every single seat! The difference could not be bigger... From around the web, there are a number of new articles written in English about El Salvador's elections. The basic theme is that the upcoming election is a big opportunity for the left: The Washington Post has a story today, In El Salvador Vote, Big Opportunity for Leftists. Alexan...

On the final weekend before El Salvador's presidential elections, the political parties held big rallies in San Salvador to energize the party faithful. The FMLN conducted its rally on Saturday, taking over the Avenue Juan Pablo II, with a large stage and thousands of red-clad partisans waving FMLN banners. "Todos queremos cambio" -- we all want change -- was a refrain from the musicians energizing the crowd. Then Funes took the stage to talk about change, hope, and the necessity for his supporters to go to the polls next Sunday. The Funes campaign asserted on its website that more than 300,000 people filled the avenue to attend the rally, while some 200,000 were watching over the internet and more on television. You watch a video on YouTube of caravans arriving with FMLN followers for the rally. ARENA conducted its Festival of National Unity Sunday morning at Cuscatlan Stadium in San Salvador. ARENA faithful marched to the stadium dressed in the tri-color red, whi...