Salvador's Funes Finds 'Change' Hard
By Don North
One year into his presidency – marking the first time a political leader of the Left has held power in El Salvador, long dominated by powerful right-wing oligarchs – Funes remains personally popular but has made little progress in improving the lot of most Salvadorans.
Taking advice from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, Funes has avoided confrontation with powerful interests but made little dent in the high rates of unemployment and poverty, both about 40 percent. Nor has he done much to alleviate the gross inequities in Salvadoran society between the rich and the poor.
However, Funes has maintained his popularity, in part, by undertaking modest reforms. By focusing on small-bore policy changes – like providing free school uniforms for children and eliminating charges at public hospitals – Funes seems to be following more in the footsteps of ex-President Bill Clinton than Barack Obama.
One year into his presidency – marking the first time a political leader of the Left has held power in El Salvador, long dominated by powerful right-wing oligarchs – Funes remains personally popular but has made little progress in improving the lot of most Salvadorans.
Taking advice from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, Funes has avoided confrontation with powerful interests but made little dent in the high rates of unemployment and poverty, both about 40 percent. Nor has he done much to alleviate the gross inequities in Salvadoran society between the rich and the poor.
However, Funes has maintained his popularity, in part, by undertaking modest reforms. By focusing on small-bore policy changes – like providing free school uniforms for children and eliminating charges at public hospitals – Funes seems to be following more in the footsteps of ex-President Bill Clinton than Barack Obama.
In the 1990s, Clinton found that some of his “micro” programs, such as supporting uniforms in public schools, proved popular with Americans after he confronted political catastrophe early in his presidency over his more ambitious proposals, like national health care.
Nevertheless, like both Clinton and Obama, Funes has discovered that trimming his policy sails alienated some of his “base” as represented in El Salvador by the old revolutionary fervor of the Farabundo Marti Liberation Front, the FMLN, which remade itself into the political party that Funes now heads.
Funes, a former journalist, did not fight in the bloody civil war which raged across the country for much of the 1980s, as President Ronald Reagan made El Salvador a key front in the Cold War. An estimated 75,000 people died in the conflict, which ended in 1992.
During his 2009 campaign, Funes walked a narrow line, trying not to rekindle the old hatreds while still drawing from the passions and idealism of the Left’s old struggle. Funes particularly honored Catholic Archbishop Oscar Romero who bravely defended the rights of the poor and was assassinated by right-wing gunmen in 1980.
After his election, Funes continued down that same tricky path. In a popular gesture, he issued a formal government apology for Romero’s murder as well as for the army’s killing of six Jesuits, their housekeeper and her daughter in 1989, two of the civil war’s most notorious crimes.
Yet, Funes took some criticism for not acknowledging abuses by the FMLN rebels, even though the FMLN accounted for only a small percentage of the human rights crimes during the war. A United Nations truth commission blamed government forces for about 85 percent of the abuses.
Funes also annoyed some FMLN supporters by refusing to reopen the possibility of criminal charges against human rights violators. He opposed reversing a 1992 amnesty law.
Like Obama’s approach toward torture and other war crimes under George W. Bush’s presidency, Funes has chosen to look forward, not backward. Also, like Obama, Funes has distanced himself from the more ambitious economic and social reforms favored by many of his core supporters.
Similarly, on foreign policy, Funes has tried not to rock the establishment’s boat. He has sought to maintain warm relations with the United States.
When Vice President Salvador Sanchez Ceren traveled to Venezuela and praised anti-American President Hugo Chavez, Funes rebuked Ceren, declaring that only the president could set El Salvador’s foreign policy.
Ceren retreated from a confrontation with his boss. Like other FMLN hardliners, he seemed to accept that the FMLN cannot appeal to the majority of Salvadorans without the help of the popular Funes.
Still, Ceren expresses his more hard-line approach through symbolism, favoring a red shirt for public appearances while Funes wears white.
Funes also has staffed his cabinet mostly with intellectuals and economists, with few FMLN stalwarts from the civil war days. That's been especially true of his economic ministries as Funes lives up to his campaign pledge to respect the free market.
In his first year in office, Funes has largely defended the market economy, though he has moved to legalize the disputed claims of some small farmers to their land.
He also has strengthened the country's agricultural sector and its ability to meet domestic food needs. He has won praise for expanding the school lunch program -- and he has contracted for 2.8 million school uniforms to be freely distributed.
Recently, Funes removed his Minister of Agriculture who was a FMLN party loyalist. That prompted accusations that Funes was directing agriculture supplies for poor farmers to areas of the country supporting the PCN political party, one of the small parties in the Parliament that broke off from the right-wing ARENA party, which had dominated Salvadoran politics since the days of the civil war.
During last year’s campaign, Funes also benefited from the support of some figures from the country’s elite, known as "Amigos de Mauricio," including business leaders and ex-Arena supporters who had shifted to independent parties in the National Assembly.
Some FMLN traditionalists, who favor a greater emphasis on class struggle, see Funes as overly solicitous to these business interests.
Still, Salvadorans appear to favor Funes’s more centrist policies. A recent poll showed that 62 percent agreed with Funes taking positions contrary to those of the FMLN.
Though moving to the political center, Funes has staked out some positions not favored by international business interests. Funes refused to grant mining rights for the Canadian owned El Dorado gold mines, citing severe cyanide contamination and the use of scarce water supplies to extract the ore.
Pacific Rim Mining is now suing the Salvadoran government for hundreds of millions of dollars, claiming the company’s rights under the U.S.-Central American Free Trade Agreement were violated. Despite the controversy -- and the loss of economic activity -- the move against El Dorado was politically popular.
Another popular move by Funes was to send 5,000 government troops into the streets to combat rising crime, which averages 12 murders a day. So far, however, the initiative has had little impact on the levels of violence.
Some analysts believe that Funes’s reaching out to more moderate parties could be a threat to the FMLN's political hopes in the 2012 parliamentary and municipal elections. However, others see Funes protecting himself from both left and right by maneuvering to the center.
Nevertheless, as Funes enters his second year, he seems increasingly a president without a political party and the FMLN appears to be a party without a president.
Don North is a veteran war correspondent, covered El Salvador’s civil war in the 1980s
Nevertheless, like both Clinton and Obama, Funes has discovered that trimming his policy sails alienated some of his “base” as represented in El Salvador by the old revolutionary fervor of the Farabundo Marti Liberation Front, the FMLN, which remade itself into the political party that Funes now heads.
Funes, a former journalist, did not fight in the bloody civil war which raged across the country for much of the 1980s, as President Ronald Reagan made El Salvador a key front in the Cold War. An estimated 75,000 people died in the conflict, which ended in 1992.
During his 2009 campaign, Funes walked a narrow line, trying not to rekindle the old hatreds while still drawing from the passions and idealism of the Left’s old struggle. Funes particularly honored Catholic Archbishop Oscar Romero who bravely defended the rights of the poor and was assassinated by right-wing gunmen in 1980.
After his election, Funes continued down that same tricky path. In a popular gesture, he issued a formal government apology for Romero’s murder as well as for the army’s killing of six Jesuits, their housekeeper and her daughter in 1989, two of the civil war’s most notorious crimes.
Yet, Funes took some criticism for not acknowledging abuses by the FMLN rebels, even though the FMLN accounted for only a small percentage of the human rights crimes during the war. A United Nations truth commission blamed government forces for about 85 percent of the abuses.
Funes also annoyed some FMLN supporters by refusing to reopen the possibility of criminal charges against human rights violators. He opposed reversing a 1992 amnesty law.
Like Obama’s approach toward torture and other war crimes under George W. Bush’s presidency, Funes has chosen to look forward, not backward. Also, like Obama, Funes has distanced himself from the more ambitious economic and social reforms favored by many of his core supporters.
Similarly, on foreign policy, Funes has tried not to rock the establishment’s boat. He has sought to maintain warm relations with the United States.
When Vice President Salvador Sanchez Ceren traveled to Venezuela and praised anti-American President Hugo Chavez, Funes rebuked Ceren, declaring that only the president could set El Salvador’s foreign policy.
Ceren retreated from a confrontation with his boss. Like other FMLN hardliners, he seemed to accept that the FMLN cannot appeal to the majority of Salvadorans without the help of the popular Funes.
Still, Ceren expresses his more hard-line approach through symbolism, favoring a red shirt for public appearances while Funes wears white.
Funes also has staffed his cabinet mostly with intellectuals and economists, with few FMLN stalwarts from the civil war days. That's been especially true of his economic ministries as Funes lives up to his campaign pledge to respect the free market.
In his first year in office, Funes has largely defended the market economy, though he has moved to legalize the disputed claims of some small farmers to their land.
He also has strengthened the country's agricultural sector and its ability to meet domestic food needs. He has won praise for expanding the school lunch program -- and he has contracted for 2.8 million school uniforms to be freely distributed.
Recently, Funes removed his Minister of Agriculture who was a FMLN party loyalist. That prompted accusations that Funes was directing agriculture supplies for poor farmers to areas of the country supporting the PCN political party, one of the small parties in the Parliament that broke off from the right-wing ARENA party, which had dominated Salvadoran politics since the days of the civil war.
During last year’s campaign, Funes also benefited from the support of some figures from the country’s elite, known as "Amigos de Mauricio," including business leaders and ex-Arena supporters who had shifted to independent parties in the National Assembly.
Some FMLN traditionalists, who favor a greater emphasis on class struggle, see Funes as overly solicitous to these business interests.
Still, Salvadorans appear to favor Funes’s more centrist policies. A recent poll showed that 62 percent agreed with Funes taking positions contrary to those of the FMLN.
Though moving to the political center, Funes has staked out some positions not favored by international business interests. Funes refused to grant mining rights for the Canadian owned El Dorado gold mines, citing severe cyanide contamination and the use of scarce water supplies to extract the ore.
Pacific Rim Mining is now suing the Salvadoran government for hundreds of millions of dollars, claiming the company’s rights under the U.S.-Central American Free Trade Agreement were violated. Despite the controversy -- and the loss of economic activity -- the move against El Dorado was politically popular.
Another popular move by Funes was to send 5,000 government troops into the streets to combat rising crime, which averages 12 murders a day. So far, however, the initiative has had little impact on the levels of violence.
Some analysts believe that Funes’s reaching out to more moderate parties could be a threat to the FMLN's political hopes in the 2012 parliamentary and municipal elections. However, others see Funes protecting himself from both left and right by maneuvering to the center.
Nevertheless, as Funes enters his second year, he seems increasingly a president without a political party and the FMLN appears to be a party without a president.
Don North is a veteran war correspondent, covered El Salvador’s civil war in the 1980s
I´m glad to see an article describing the all Salvadoran political scene on which is important to analize all events that the population considers important for its struggle for better living.
ReplyDeleteAll actors are important to count and the writter I asumed that he really knows all the political forces but doesn´t give us any suggestion in how to overcome the increasing violent Salvadoran society probably cause he might asumed that the oligarqui forces are behind some complot of the Executive.
Jose Matatias Delgado Y Del Hambre.
It is hard to achieve an overnight transformation of a country’s social and economic structures, without upsetting a lot of interest. Maybe that’s what Funes doesn’t want to confront yet, is it part of his own political strategy, to establish first, certain social conditions to make the more awaiting changes that El Salvador needs?, or is that he doesn’t care?, history and its people will judge that.
ReplyDeleteThe fact of the matter is that some changes have been done, and the determination to change also has been delineated in the Plan Quinquenal de Desarrollo, that according to the government is a tool to form “la unidad nacional”, a foundation to start a trully process of change.
The co-existence in power of Funes and Ceren, clearly both of them sustaining different approaches of solving the problem, but maintaining the unity, it’s a positive and healthy way, within a democratic society, of working towards schieving the goals established in their platforms.
Time is going to tell, but ask salvadoreans on the street how satisfied or not are they so far, about its government, in issues regarding education, security, community work, any signs that things are going to be better, etc.
On the other hand, and if people gives them another mandate, FMLN needs to do more capacity building within their ranks, training and education on the areas of taxation, budgeting and policy development, public administration, risk assessment, public reform, governance, etc just to be prepared and to, not necessary be dependant of external aid. But again, that’s democracy.
In an article published at http://la-verdad-es-libertad-blogspot.com the author tells about why Funes can't bring about structural changes, and the descrption of his government in this piece greatly coincides with the article. Funes is an unrealist by dreaming of pulling El Salvador out of poverty by applying Brazil's type of policies. El Salvador does not have even the most minimun conditions to make possible any as in Brazil. It is possible that such a mind set may be the product of the influence his wife Vanda has over him. Funes will complete his term not having accomplished anything really worth considering as a real change for the benefit of the salvadorean people.
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