New VIDEO, register now for March 2009 elections delegation! + letters from Congress and Academics re: El Salvador + CISPES elections update...

Fri Dec 19 09:21:02 EST 2008

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December 2008

1. Check
<http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=417&Itemid=
51>  out the new video and join CISPES in El Salvador for the March 2009
elections! 

 <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9CqRotR3qg>
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9CqRotR3qg> 

Watch the new video “Unidos por el Cambio” previewing the elections in El
Salvador and highlighting the upcoming CISPES delegation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x9CqRotR3qg.  You can order
<http://cispes.org/index.php?option=com_contact&catid=59&Itemid=3>  a copy
of the video from CISPES and use it in your community to organize for the
upcoming elections.

And, now’s the time to sign up to join CISPES in observing the elections
from March 9-19, 2009!  Recent polls in El Salvador show that the leftist
<http://www.angus-reid.com/polls/view/32431/funes_has_large_lead_in_salvador
an_election/>  FMLN party is 14 points ahead over the right-wing
presidential candidate from the ruling party.  You too can support free and
fair elections and learn about the current situation in El Salvador by
joining the CISPES delegation - the new deadline for applications is January
15, 2009.

Read
<http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=417&Itemid=
51>  more...

2. Letters from Academics and Congressional Representatives regarding
upcoming elections in El Salvador

*         Release: North
<http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=497&Itemid=
29>  American academics call for free and fair elections in El Salvador

A group of 150 scholars from universities and colleges in the United States
and Canada have released an open letter calling on the U.S. and Salvadoran
governments to ensure that El Salvador's upcoming elections are free of
fraud, foreign intervention, and electoral violence. Read
<http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=497&Itemid=
29>  more...

*         Congresistas
<http://www.laprensagrafica.com/index.php/el-salvador/lodeldia/6935.html>
de EUA piden vigilar elecciones en El Salvador

50 U.S. Congressional Representatives released a letter to Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice this week calling for transparency in the Salvadoran
elections process and raising concerns about political violence and fraud.
Download the entire
<http://www.cispes.org/documents/Dear_Colleague_LetterES_Dec08.pdf>  letter
here

3. International election observers underscore high stakes and potential for
fraud in 2009 elections

CISPES Electoral Update - December 18, 2008

     The first week of December saw Electoral Observation Missions from the
Organization of American States (OAS) and the European Union (EU) arrive in
El Salvador.  Both organizations stated that their missions would work with
impartiality and transparency to strengthen the democratic process in El
Salvador.  The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE), the government body that
oversees elections in the country, invited both missions.  TSE magistrate
Eugenio Chicas of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) party
pointed out that the arrival of so many international observers highlights
two realities: the electoral process “still has many irregularities,” and
the left is poised to win the presidency, generating international interest
in the elections.

The FMLN has welcomed the presence of international observers, including the
OAS and EU, but maintains that many of the electoral reforms passed last
year by the TSE—which is dominated by right-wing magistrates—and the TSE’s
refusal to make the voter registry available to all parties have opened up
the process to the possibility of fraud.  FMLN presidential candidate
Mauricio Funes, who leads by as much as 16 points in recent polls over the
governing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), has met with OAS
leadership to discuss his concerns about electoral fraud.

Read the rest
<http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=498&Itemid=
29>  of this update including:

*         Women’s Association of Tecoluca denounce ARENA for Political
Violence

*         Fuerza Solidaria and its “dirty” fear campaign 

*         2007 Salvadoran Census and the extra 500,000 voters that no one
can explain

 <http://www.cispes.org/> 

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© 2008 CISPES - The Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador
CISPES National Office | ph. 202-521-2510 | 1525 Newton St. NW, Wash. DC
20010| cispes at cispes.org

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