[Cispes-update] Son of FMLN Presidential Candidate Mauricio Funes Dies in France

[Burke Stansbury, CISPES director]

Son of FMLN Presidential Candidate Mauricio Funes Dies in France

CISPES Update

October 18, 2007

 

Popular journalist and now FMLN presidential candidate Mauricio Funes is
mourning the death of his 27 year old son Alejandro, who died in France last
week where he lived and studied photography.  Alejandro died of cranial
traumatism caused by a violent attack by an unidentified person in Paris.
His death has caused suspicion given that the violence occurred just days
after the announcement of his father’s candidacy for the upcoming 2009
elections. The FMLN, social organizations, and friends have expressed their
condolences to Mauricio Funes and his family. The body is scheduled to
arrive this week to El Salvador, and FMLN supporters have called for a
thorough investigation.

 

Fear and divisions within ARENA become more public

 

The announcement by the FMLN Political Commission of its presidential and
vice-presidential candidates has created a series of desperate public
reactions from the ARENA party. Security Minister Rene Figueroa has put
himself forward as a pre-candidate for ARENA, running up against current
vice-president Ana Vilma de Escobar.  Figueroa’s presidential aspirations
have made internal divisions public; two weeks ago honorary ARENA president
and former president of El Salvador Armando Calderon Sol denounced
Figueroa’s candidacy publicly, which was followed by an editorial from the
right-wing Diario de Hoy newspaper, stating that it would be unethical for
Figueroa to run.

 

Figueroa dismissed these comments, saying that he “respects that people have
an opinion” and has called for the right-wing to be united. In the past
ARENA’s fear of losing the presidency translated into rhetoric about
fighting “communists” and even political violence against FMLN activists to
induce fear in the population, to cover divisions within the party, and to
secure re-election. 

 

SETA and other social organizations march in defense of water

 

Social organizations mobilized over 15,000 people to march to the
Legislative Assembly in early October to present a Citizen Letters demanding
that water be recognized in the Constitution as a fundamental right and that
it therefore not be privatized.  The water workers union SETA was part of
the coordination of the protest and SETA leaders called it an important
collective step towards building consciousness in the population around the
right to water.

 

Communities from all parts of the country participated in the protest which
was sponsored by more than 125 social organizations. Ex-US ambassador Robert
White, Kathleen Kennedy, and Maryland State legislator Ana Sol Gutierrez
were also present to accompanying the Salvadoran organizations.  According
to Gutierrez, “The government of El Salvador should give high priority to
the right to water; if not it will be moving backward as a democratic
nation. The law should be a legal vessel that allows everyone [water
access].” Future plans are in the works to have regional gatherings in
defense of water.  For more information about the water march check out
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/936/74/.  

 

Proposed 2008 budget lacks public spending

 

The Saca administration has presented its 2008 budget proposal to the
Legislative Assembly, declaring it “beats last year’s in public spending.”
On the contrary, Health Minister Guillermo Maza admitted that “the
investment in public health is stagnant; we’re in about the same situation
as 5 years ago.” The extreme shortages in the national hospital have been
demonstrated as unprecedented and critical, yet Saca and Maza continue their
discourse of addressing the shortcomings by prioritizing expenses.  

 

Calixto Mejia, FMLN deputy in the Legislative Assembly, declared Saca’s
statement as false since there is a huge deficit in social spending
according to statistics by the UN’s Development Project (UNDP).  Mejia
states that “since 2004, the budget assignation has not gone in the right
path of achieving international commitments like poverty reduction.” 

 

FMLN celebrates 27th anniversary

 

The Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) celebrated its 27th
anniversary last week with a series of activities at the national,
departmental and municipal levels. 

Most of the activities were organized to commemorate the compañeros and
compañeras that gave their lives to the struggle, to honor the
internationalists who contributed to the process and to celebrate the FMLN’s
presidential and vice-presidential candidates for the upcoming 2009
elections.  The FMLN also celebrated the life and struggle of historic
revolutionary leader Schafik Handal by commemorating his birth date with the
inauguration of a monument to his leadership in the social and political
struggle of El Salvador.  

 



Salvadorans march against water privatization in October 2007(photo Prensa
Grafica)

 

 

 

 

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.people-link.net/pipermail/cispes-update/attachments/20071018/92e64079/attachment-0001.htm 
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 26556 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://lists.people-link.net/pipermail/cispes-update/attachments/20071018/92e64079/attachment-0001.jpeg