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<div align="center"><big><big><b><font size="3"><big><big><font
face="Times New Roman">Civil society organizations, unions march for
social justice and food security</font></big></big></font></b></big></big></div>
<div class="Section1">
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><b><font
face="Times New Roman" size="5"><span
style="font-size: 16pt; font-weight: bold;"><o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<div align="center"></div>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><font
size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">CISPES News Update<br>
October 28, 2008</font></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><b><i><font
face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span
style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"
lang="ES-SV">(vaya <a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://www.cispes.org/index.php?lang=es">aqui
para informe en español</a>)<o:p></o:p></span></font></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><b><i><font
color="navy" face="Arial" size="2"><span
style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; color: navy; font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;"
lang="ES-SV"><o:p> </o:p></span></font></i></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><b><font
face="Times New Roman" size="3"><span
style="font-size: 12pt; font-weight: bold;"><img
alt="Frente Sindical Salvadorena"
src="cid:part1.04080105.08090004@cispes.org" height="199" width="300"><br>
<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"><b><i>Also in this update:</i><br>
</b></font></font>
<ul>
<li><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"><b>New Ads attack
FMLN candidate</b></font></font></li>
<li><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"><b>Salvadoran
President Saca calls on business owners to influence
employees’ votes; Colombian President Uribe attends national
business forum</b></font></font></li>
<li><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"><b>Foreign Minister
Argueta refutes accusations of unconstitutional statements made in US</b></font></font></li>
<li><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"><b>Internal tensions
within ARENA increase with selection of Zablah as vice-presidential
candidate</b></font></font></li>
</ul>
<font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"><b><br>
</b></font></font><font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">On
October 18, various citizens’ organizations gathered for a large rally
at the <i>El Salvador del Mundo</i> monument in San Salvador, followed
by a march through the capital to the <i>Plaza Cívica</i>. The
organizations, representing rural campesinos, unions, and consumers,
united under the banner of improving El Salvador’s food security and
fighting against inequality and hunger.<br>
<br>
Much of the focus was on the Salvadoran government’s agricultural
policies, which have amounted to an abandonment of the nation’s
agricultural sector, according to Jaime Rivera, General Secretary of
the labor coalition FESTRASPES.<br>
<br>
“What can solve the country’s food security crisis is for the
government to turn 180 degrees from the agricultural policies
implemented since 1989,” said Rivera. “The agricultural sector of the
country has been abandoned, while the commercial and financial sectors
have been promoted” by the policies of the ARENA party. The organizers
of the march publicly called on Salvadorans to organize and generate
this change through the upcoming elections of 2009. <br>
<br>
<b><big>New Ads attack FMLN candidate</big><br>
<br>
</b>A right-wing Venezuelan-based organization called “Fuerza
Solidaria” – an ally of the Salvadoran ARENA party – has recently
sponsored a series of television ads that connect FMLN presidential
candidate Mauricio Funes to Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, using the
supposed connection to raise fears about the U.S. government cutting
off remittances should Funes win the 2009 election. <br>
<br>
The FMLN responded by calling on the Salvadoran Supreme Electoral
Tribunal (TSE) to take a strong position in ensuring clean a campaigns
and transparent electoral process. Oscar Luna, the head of the
government human rights department, also condemned the ads in light of
the fact that they come on the heals of an agreement between Funes and
the candidate of the governing ARENA party, Rodrigo Avila, calling for
an peaceful campaign based on mutual respect. Another mainstream
political commentator, Ernesto Rivas-Gallont, has called on U.S.
Ambassador Charles Glazer to respond to the lies implicit in the ads
and declare publicly that U.S. policy related to remittances and the
Temporary Protected Status (TPS) that many Salvadorans living in the
U.S. benefit from will not change based on the results of the
elections. <br>
<br>
The most recent poll by the Technological University (UTEC), released
on October 28, gives Funes a 15 point advantage over Avila; the FMLN
also leads in the polls for the January 2009 legislative and municipal
elections. The last time the FMLN had a chance to win presidential
elections in 2004 a similar smear campaign was employed effectively by
ARENA. Television and newspaper ads constantly manipulated El
Salvador’s close relationship with the U.S. in order to raise fears
about the FMLN winning the presidential election, fears which were
stoked by U.S. officials who threatened the continuation of that
relationship.<br>
<br>
<b><big>Salvadoran President Saca calls on business owners to influence
employees’ votes; Colombian President Uribe attends national business
forum</big><br>
<br>
</b>El Salvador’s four presidential candidates attended the National
Private Sector Business Forum in El Salvador in early October The
forum, which was organized by the governing ARENA party for the
ostensible purpose of presenting the business sector’s economic
concerns to the presidential candidates, also featured a speech by
Colombian President Álvaro Uribe.<br>
<br>
Federico Colorado, president of the National Association of Private
Enterprise, declared that the business community’s proposals to the
candidates “make it clear that the capitalist system is the correct
route for El Salvador to follow in order to face the future.” The event
was attended by the four presidential candidates: Mauricio Funes
(FMLN), Rodrigo Ávila (ARENA), Carlos Rivas Zamora (PDC – Christian
Democrat Party), and Tomas Chevez (PCN – National Conciliation Party).<br>
<br>
However, the speaker who stood out was Colombian President Uribe, who
had been invited to outline the economic challenges facing Latin
America. Uribe’s speech was a highly partisan one that called upon the
Salvadoran population to defend the “system of liberties” that is at
risk of from a “populist wave” coming from the south – an attempt to
paint the FMLN as a dangerous party that would roll back civil
liberties if elected. These comments, a clear endorsement of the
right-wing ARENA party’s presidential candidate Ávila, were echoed by
current Salvadoran President Antonio Saca during his speech at the
forum.<br>
<br>
Saca urged the assembled business owners to influence their workers to
vote for Ávila, asking them to “speak with employees so that they
understand. We have to take care of the people.” For his part, Ávila
promoted his own candidacy, saying, in allusion to the FMLN, “we don’t
need to experiment with crazy ideas.”<br>
<big><b><br>
Foreign Minister Argueta refutes accusations of unconstitutional
statements made in US</b></big><b><br>
<br>
</b>Three weeks after a September 18 speech linking the FMLN party to
terrorist groups and calling for the United States government to be
more involved in El Salvador’s electoral process, Foreign Minister
Marisol Argueta de Barillas has sought to defend herself against
charges that her statements violated El Salvador’s constitution, which
stipulates that government officials may not use their positions to
carry out partisan political activities. Argueta has stated that her
comments, made in a speech before the right-wing American Enterprise
Institute think tank in Washington, D.C., were misunderstood and did
not represent a violation of the Salvadoran Constitution.<br>
<br>
The Foreign Minister’s speech called for the U.S. to pay more attention
to the upcoming elections in El Salvador as one means of ensuring that
the FMLN does not win at the polls. “To lose El Salvador would be a
loss for the security and national interests for both El Salvador and
the United States,” she asserted. <br>
<br>
Argueta declared, “If you review the speech you will understand the
meaning of what was expressed… If there are those who feel they were
alluded to, or who feel damaged, I am profoundly sorry, and, not for
one moment was that my intention.” This statement came after strong
denouncements of her speech from numerous organizations and
politicians, including, notably, members of right-wing parties. </font></font><i><font
size="3"><font face="Times New Roman">(Check out the <a
href="http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=457&Itemid=27">CISPES
action alert</a> from September.)</font></font></i><br>
<font size="3"><font face="Times New Roman"> <br>
The FMLN held a press conference in late September and released a
statement denouncing Minister Argueta’s speech. Along with these public
responses, the FMLN’s legislative fraction put forward a request for
Argueta to officially explain her partisan, pro-ARENA statements and
justify her official trip to the United States. The FMLN pointed out
that Argueta’s speech violated Article 218 of the Constitution by
utilizing state resources to carry out partisan activities, and in this
case by calling for the United States government to violate El
Salvador’s sovereignty and prevent the free will of the Salvadoran
people from being expressed through the upcoming elections. According
to Sigfrido Reyes, the FMLN’s Chief of Communications, Argueta “made
compromising declarations that are an injury to our national dignity
and cause severe damage to international relations.” To date, Minister
Argueta has not responded to the FMLN's call for an explanation. <br>
<br>
<big><b>Internal tensions within ARENA increase with selection of
Zablah as vice-presidential candidate</b></big><br>
<br>
Recent statements by leaders of El Salvador’s business sector,
including Roberto Murray Meza, have added further evidence of the
divisions within the governing ARENA party. Faced with these
pressures, the party’s presidential candidate Rodrigo Ávila named
Arturo Zablah, a one-time critic of ARENA’s economic policies, as his
running mate on October 11.<br>
<br>
Over the last six months, discontent among ARENA’s membership has
become publicly evident. In September local ARENA representatives in
the municipality of Zacatecoluca – including Lorena Benavides – sent a
letter to the party’s highest decision-making body, the Executive
Council of ARENA (COENA), which is lead by presidential candidate
Ávila. The letter urged COENA to promptly select a candidate for vice
president “We call upon COENA to define, as soon as possible, the
person who will run for this office. The dignity of the women and men
who support the party is being played with.” <br>
<br>
ARENA held its General Assembly on October 12, an event at which the
party’s candidates for the Legislative Assembly and municipal offices
were announced. The General Assembly was also notable for the
conspicuous absence of former Salvadoran President Armando Calderón
Sol, raising further speculation about dissatisfaction with
vice-presidential candidate Zablah from within the party.<br>
<br>
</font></font></div>
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