[Cispes-update] Salvadorans march for social justice and food security; New Ads attack FMLN candidate

[CISPES National Office]

*Civil society organizations, unions march for social justice and food 
security*

**

CISPES News Update
October 28, 2008

*/(vaya aqui para informe en español 
<http://www.cispes.org/index.php?lang=es>)/*

*/ /*

*Frente Sindical Salvadorena
*

*/Also in this update:/
*

    * *New Ads attack FMLN candidate*
    * *Salvadoran President Saca calls on business owners to influence
      employees' votes; Colombian President Uribe attends national
      business forum*
    * *Foreign Minister Argueta refutes accusations of unconstitutional
      statements made in US*
    * *Internal tensions within ARENA increase with selection of Zablah
      as vice-presidential candidate*

*
*On October 18, various citizens' organizations gathered for a large 
rally at the /El Salvador del Mundo/ monument in San Salvador, followed 
by a march through the capital to the /Plaza Cívica/. 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.

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.

"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.  

*New Ads attack FMLN candidate

*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.

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.

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.

*Salvadoran President Saca calls on business owners to influence 
employees' votes; Colombian President Uribe attends national business forum

*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.

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).

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.

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."
*
Foreign Minister Argueta refutes accusations of unconstitutional 
statements made in US**

*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.

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. 

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.  /(Check out the 
CISPES action alert 
<http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=457&Itemid=27> 
from September.)/
 
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.
 
*Internal tensions within ARENA increase with selection of Zablah as 
vice-presidential candidate*

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.
 
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."

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.

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