FMLN projected to win El Salvador presidency
By Thomas Wotherspoon
With a bloody civil war that made headlines for the killings of Jesuit priests and other atrocities nearly a decade ago, El Salvador is poised for progress.
On Saturday, the former leftist guerilla group Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front ( FMLN), won 35 congressional seats in the country's election. ARENA, the FMLN's conservative rival in the race, won 35 of the available 84, the rest of which were filled by other right-wing parties.
Just two months before the presidential elections, this places the FMLN in possible position to take the presidency.
The group's image is frequently connected with their involvement in El Salvador's civil war, in which they opposed the Salvadorian government backed by the United States.
"Certainly the history of the FMLN as a Communist-affiliated group will lend itself to many mischaracterizations of the current party, all rooted in Cold War ideology that hardly applies to our current global reality," said Assistant Professor of History Alvis Dunn, "but so far as that sort of propaganda will influence the political fortunes inside the country it is unlikely."
The FMLN's recent congressional advances indicate a strengthening in their public approval and a significant change in their political platform. However, since the FMLN's opposition holds the majority of the congressional seats, they have to seek reconciliation or at least negotiate with these parties if they attain the presidency.
"The FMLN have won a major victory but should keep in mind that they and their opposition, ARENA, were not so long ago killing each other in the streets," said Laird Allen, a senior political science major. Opposing a U.S.-backed political party in Latin America has been a historically dangerous career move."
The victory for the FMLN in congress was overshadowed by the loss of the mayoral position of San Salvador, the capital, to ARENA. However, the real attention of Salvadoran politics is on the presidency, which the Washington Post expects the FMLN's Mauricio Funes-a former television reporter-to win.
However, some have misgivings about the FMLN's chances of claiming the presidency.
"The question is, will it make any difference?" said Assistant Professor of History Anore Horton. "The FMLN's candidate was chosen deliberately for a more moderate look; Funes only recently joined the party."
This questioning motive occurs amidst the economic floundering of El Salvador's neighbor and the FMLN's comrades, the Sandinistas of Nicaragua. Daniel Ortega has shown that the socialist leanings of guerrilla groups turned political parties might not be as effective as they claim.
However, the FMLN's rise in Salvadoran electoral politics and their Marxists leanings parallel a growth in neo-socialistic political parties in Latin America that have long been waiting for domestic and international recognition. The most recent example is Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez, elected in 1998 and known for his polarizing personality. Chavez has made significant strides in Latin American politics.
Known for opposing U.S. hegemony, Chavez is a likely partner for the FMLN to turn to if they take the presidency.
"The FMLN will likely dialogue with Chavez," Dunn commented, "but to think they would cut ties or even endanger relationships with the United States would be imprudent in these difficult economic times."
Whether the FMLN or ARENA take the presidency, this race supplies evidence that El Salvador is surely embracing a progressive attitude that will rejuvenate its political spectrum.
Source the Guilfordian 1/28/2009
With a bloody civil war that made headlines for the killings of Jesuit priests and other atrocities nearly a decade ago, El Salvador is poised for progress.
On Saturday, the former leftist guerilla group Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front ( FMLN), won 35 congressional seats in the country's election. ARENA, the FMLN's conservative rival in the race, won 35 of the available 84, the rest of which were filled by other right-wing parties.
Just two months before the presidential elections, this places the FMLN in possible position to take the presidency.
The group's image is frequently connected with their involvement in El Salvador's civil war, in which they opposed the Salvadorian government backed by the United States.
"Certainly the history of the FMLN as a Communist-affiliated group will lend itself to many mischaracterizations of the current party, all rooted in Cold War ideology that hardly applies to our current global reality," said Assistant Professor of History Alvis Dunn, "but so far as that sort of propaganda will influence the political fortunes inside the country it is unlikely."
The FMLN's recent congressional advances indicate a strengthening in their public approval and a significant change in their political platform. However, since the FMLN's opposition holds the majority of the congressional seats, they have to seek reconciliation or at least negotiate with these parties if they attain the presidency.
"The FMLN have won a major victory but should keep in mind that they and their opposition, ARENA, were not so long ago killing each other in the streets," said Laird Allen, a senior political science major. Opposing a U.S.-backed political party in Latin America has been a historically dangerous career move."
The victory for the FMLN in congress was overshadowed by the loss of the mayoral position of San Salvador, the capital, to ARENA. However, the real attention of Salvadoran politics is on the presidency, which the Washington Post expects the FMLN's Mauricio Funes-a former television reporter-to win.
However, some have misgivings about the FMLN's chances of claiming the presidency.
"The question is, will it make any difference?" said Assistant Professor of History Anore Horton. "The FMLN's candidate was chosen deliberately for a more moderate look; Funes only recently joined the party."
This questioning motive occurs amidst the economic floundering of El Salvador's neighbor and the FMLN's comrades, the Sandinistas of Nicaragua. Daniel Ortega has shown that the socialist leanings of guerrilla groups turned political parties might not be as effective as they claim.
However, the FMLN's rise in Salvadoran electoral politics and their Marxists leanings parallel a growth in neo-socialistic political parties in Latin America that have long been waiting for domestic and international recognition. The most recent example is Venezuela's president Hugo Chavez, elected in 1998 and known for his polarizing personality. Chavez has made significant strides in Latin American politics.
Known for opposing U.S. hegemony, Chavez is a likely partner for the FMLN to turn to if they take the presidency.
"The FMLN will likely dialogue with Chavez," Dunn commented, "but to think they would cut ties or even endanger relationships with the United States would be imprudent in these difficult economic times."
Whether the FMLN or ARENA take the presidency, this race supplies evidence that El Salvador is surely embracing a progressive attitude that will rejuvenate its political spectrum.
Source the Guilfordian 1/28/2009
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