[Cispes-update] Salvadoran presidential candidates drop out, FMLN and ARENA now stand alone

[CISPES]

Salvadoran presidential candidates drop out, FMLN and ARENA now stand alone 

CISPES update

February 5, 2008

 

Also in this update:

*	Spanish judge to investigate Salvadoran Army <>  Member for Jesuit
massacre
*	Proposed Port Concession Law would give <>  90% ownership to foreign
company
*	Voting continues in re-dos and tie-breakers <> 
*	Pressure from Pacific Rim Mining Company <>  Intensifies,
Anti-Mining Activist Home Robbed

 

 

The Christian Democrat Party (PDC) and National Conciliation Party (PCN)
have dropped out of El Salvador's March 15 presidential election, leaving
the two major parties—the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA)
and the leftist Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN)—as the only
parties competing for the presidency.

 

PDC candidate Carlos Rivas Zamora announced his withdrawal on Tuesday,
February 3, citing lack of funds and a lack of confidence in the electoral
system.

 

On the afternoon of February 4, the national leadership of the PCN followed
suit, announcing it was withdrawing support for its presidential candidate,
Tomas Chévez. Chévez maintains he will continue his candidacy even without
the backing of PCN leadership, which has prompted some in the leadership to
consider expelling him from the party.

 

Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) magistrate Walter Araujo stated that an
independent Chévez candidacy would be a violation of Salvadoran electoral
law, which requires all candidates to be representatives of political
parties. 

 

The announcements from both parties come after current President Tony Saca,
of the ARENA party, called for a “democratic alliance” between ARENA, the
PDC, and the PCN leading up to the March election. FMLN presidential
candidate Mauricio Funes has criticized the PDC and PCN for withdrawing from
the presidential race, accusing ARENA of having “under-the-table”
negotiations with the smaller parties for control of key government
departments in the case of an ARENA victory. The PCN—which runs the Treasury
Court under Saca’s administration—and the PDC deny these allegations.

 

While on the national level the leadership of ARENA, the PDC, and the PCN
typically collaborate and build alliances, this does not always hold true at
the local level. Currently, both Funes and ARENA candidate Rodrigo Ávila are
meeting with mayors and local leaders around the country to build alliances,
and some PDC mayors have already endorsed one candidate or the other. In the
most recent poll by La Prensa Grafica, published on February 1, Funes held a
10-point lead over Avila.

 


Spanish judge to investigate Jesuit massacre


 

On January 13, 2009, Judge Eloy Velasco of Madrid, Spain, announced he would
investigate the charges presented by the Spanish Association for Human
Rights (APDHE) and the San Francisco-based Center for Justice and
Accountability (CJA) against 14 members of the Salvadoran army for their
participation in the murder of six Jesuit priests, their housekeeper and her
daughter on November 16, 1989. Judge Velasco cited the Spanish Court’s
principle of universal jurisdiction in his decision to proceed with the case
against the army officers.

 

The APDHE and CJA also presented charges against former Salvadoran President
Alfredo Cristiani for his role in covering up the crime. However, Judge
Velasco did not accept this charge, arguing that it does not fall under the
principle of universal jurisdiction. Salvadoran and international human
rights groups are hopeful that the investigation of the 14 army officers
will lead to a decision to also investigate Cristiani.

 

David Morales, a lawyer at the Foundation for the Study of the Application
of Law (FESPAD) in San Salvador, predicted that the investigation will
confirm that the 14 officers are guilty of the crime. Two of the members of
the army accused of the crime were convicted by a Salvadoran court in 1991.
However, the 1993 approval of an amnesty law prohibiting the prosecution of
crimes committed during the Salvadoran Civil War released them and set the
stage for the continued impunity of human rights violators seen in El
Salvador today. The decision to investigate this case is “encouraging news
in the effort to put an end to impunity in this country,” said Morales.

 


Proposed Port Concession Law could give 90% ownership to foreign company


 

On January 23, El Salvador's Ministry of Public Works, along with the
Executive Commission on Ports (CEPA), presented a Port Concession Law for
consideration by the national Legislative Assembly. The law would concede
90% of the ownership and administration of El Salvador’s two ports, Acajutla
and the recently-completed La Unión, to a private company, with the
remaining 10% of ownership and administration to remain in the hands of the
state. The day before the law was presented, a legal challenge disputing the
constitutionality of concession laws was submitted to the Supreme Court by
the Foundation for the Study of the Application of  Law (FESPAD) and the
Center for the Defense of the Consumer (CDC).

 

Salvadoran President Tony Saca has made a plea that the Legislative Assembly
approve the law—which requires a simply majority vote of 43 legislative
deputies—before his term is up on June 1 of this year.  “You should make an
effort to study the subject of ports because, as you start to do this, many
doubts will come up and we will be able to clear them up,” he stated.  The
legislative factions of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front
(FMLN), the National Conciliation Party (PCN), and Democratic Change (CD)
agree that there is no hurry to approve the law, and that a matter of such
importance to the country merits a profound analysis. The Christian Democrat
Party (PDC) says it is ready to approve the law, but with an amendment
giving 100% ownership and administration to an international operator. FMLN
deputies have said they would only approve a concession law that gave 49% of
ownership to the foreign company and maintained 51% control for the state.

 

The new port at La Unión has been promoted as facilitating trade among all
of Latin America, Asia and Europe. To date, companies from the United
States, Japan, the United Arab Emirates, the Philippines, and Belgium have
expressed interest in operating the ports. The company or companies that
receive rights to the ports would be able to operate, maintain, equip, and
develop the infrastructure of El Salvador’s port system.

 

The privatization of the port system in El Salvador would be an additional
step in the neoliberal economic policies that the Saca administration,
building upon the groundwork of three preceding Nationalist Republican
Alliance (ARENA) administrations, has pursued at the prodding of the United
States and other foreign creditors. These policies have thrown El Salvador
into crisis as they put the resources, services, and infrastructure of the
country at the service of private—often foreign—companies, instead of the
people.


 


Voting continues with re-dos and tie-breakers


 

While January 18 was the date of El Salvador's municipal and legislative
elections, re-do and run-off elections have continued since then. On Sunday,
January 25, make-up elections were held in San Isidro, Cabañas. The voting
center in San Isidro had been shut down at midday on the original election
day after the Municipal Electoral Committee voted to suspend voting due to
an alarming number of foreigners present in the municipality. The FMLN, PDC,
PCN, and CD representatives on the Committee agreed to take the dramatic
measure over the objections of the ARENA representative.

 

The do-over election on January 25 took place amidst a heavy presence of the
National Civil Police (PNC) and military Special Forces. International
observers and representatives from (FESPAD) denounced the “militarization”
of the Voting Center. Other observed irregularities included campaigning
within the Voting Center, falsified identification documents, and ARENA
activists exchanging food and money for votes. ARENA won the mayoral
election in San Isidro, Cabañas.

 

On February 1, San Agustín, Usulután, held a run-off election after the
mayoral candidates for ARENA and the FMLN tied with 877 votes each on
January 18. The election on February 1 took place in a very tense
environment, with multiple verbal confrontations between supporters of the
contending parties. International observers received multiple accusations of
ARENA activists buying votes. These accusations were substantiated when
ARENA member Berta Lovos was arrested for offering lunch and $20 to people
in exchange for ARENA votes. Her case is now under the jurisdiction of the
Attorney General. The ARENA mayoral candidate won the election by 166 votes.

 

The continued voting after January 18 highlight the tense electoral
environment and the numerous irregularities reported during the elections.
As the presidential election of March 15 approaches, many calls are being
made to diminish this tension and make the electoral process fair and
transparent.  

 

International observers and political parties have called for a purging of
the Electoral Registry—which has been demonstrated to contain numerous
anomalies. The FMLN and civil society groups have called for an end to
ARENA’s dirty campaign against the FMLN that promotes violence and
polarization. Social movement groups have denounced the heightened presence
of the PNC and Armed Forces as an attempt at voter intimidation. The FMLN
has also requested permission to use ultra-violet lights to verify
identification cards at each of the country's 10,000 voting tables for the
March 15 presidential election. The right wing-dominated Supreme Electoral
Tribunal (TSE) denied the use of these devices in the January 18 municipal
and legislative elections.  Check out CISPES’s complete analysis of the
January elections: http://americas.irc-online.org/am/5831  

 


Pressure from Pacific Rim Mining Company Intensifies, Anti-Mining Activist
Home Robbed


 

The community of San Isidro, Cabañas in El Salvador has been the site of a
powerful resistance movement against gold mining since 2006, effectively
shutting down the El Dorado mining site and winning a victory against the
Canadian-based Pacific Rim Mining Company.  On January 31, anti-mining
activist Héctor Berríos was robbed it was appears to be an effort to
discourage his work against mining in San Isidro.  

 

Read the rest of this article at
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1700/68/

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