Catching up on El Salvador

President Funes has been busy lately as his administration just completed its first two years in office. Obviously, the big story revolves around the legislation passed by the PCN, PDC, ARENA, GANA, and President Funes. Voices on the Border, Tim, and Boz have some good posts on the developments. I'm not going to repeat them here since I am a little late getting around to the story. Here are links though:

Constitutional Conflict in El Salvador (Tim June 6)

Broad Opposition to Decree 743 (Tim June 8)

 Salvadorans Protest the Government’s Actions Against Constitutional Court (Voices June 6)

Institutional Coup in El Salvador (Voices June 4)

El Salvador Law Weakens Supreme Court I and II (Boz)

I think most are rightfully critical of Funes, the PCN, PDC, ARENA, and GANA for pushing this legislation that would handicap the court. The unanimity rule would last until several of the judges' terms expire in 2012. However, does anyone want to make the argument that the constitutional court has been too activist in its overturning of legislation passed by the assembly and the president? Here's Voices on the Borders' overview of everyone the court has ticked off in the last two years.

Since becoming magistrates in 2009, Belarmino Jaime, Florentín Meléndez, Rodolfo González y Sidney Blanco have chosen strategic cases to strengthen national institutions and target corruption within government agencies. Over the past two years, the four magistrates have passed down some very important decisions, while the fifth magistrate, Nelson Castaneda, has mostly abstained from votes. In one example, the Court condemned a law that reallocated funds left over from the general budget to the President’s discretionary account.  They also declared as unconstitutional the practice of limiting voters to elect only a political party and then allowing the party leadership to select the people who would fill legislative or other representative seats. In a related issue, the Constitutional Court struck down a ban on independent candidates, weakening the power that political parties have over the electoral process. Members of the Constitutional Court also declared unconstitutional the absolute control that the Attorney General’s Office has over what cases are investigated and prosecuted. The decision that caused the greatest controversy in recent weeks was their declaration against the 2005 reforms that allowed the PCN and PDC parties to continue participating in elections despite their in ability to secure the number of votes necessary to be put on the ballot or have representation on the Supreme Electoral Court.

They've interjected themselves into the executive branch's operations, party leaders' control over candidates, the Attorney General's Office, and the past and future existence of the PCN and PDC.

There was also concern that the court rule the country's free trade agreement with the United States unconstitutional. There's also the issue of whether to arrest and extradite military officers sought in Spain for the murder of six Jesuits at the UCA. Finally, there's the possibility that the court might invalidate the 1993 amnesty. In trying to assert its equal power, the Court has thrown out several key pieces of legislation passed by those members of congress elected to represent them.

Is it all about the amnesty law? Obviously, ARENA doesn't want to see the amnesty repealed as members of their party, including Cristiani, benefit with it in place. We also know that Funes has publicly stated that he isn't interested in pushing to have the law repealed.

Does the FMLN want the amnesty repealed? I'd venture to guess that many rank and file FMLN want the law repealed as do victims and those in the international solidarity movement. However, I doubt that the FMLN leadership wants it repealed. I imagine that Vice President Sanchez Ceren and members of the executive and legislative branches wouldn't mind seeing the law repealed as long as they are not investigated and tried for crimes committed during the civil war. Remember most of the FMLN leadership fought in the 1980s and while they did not commit atrocities along the lines of what the military and death squads did, that doesn't mean that they did not do things that are prosecutable. Are they willing to risk the present and future to repeal the law?


In recent years, both the left and right have been concerned about repealing the amnesty. You can take a look at these Wikileaks cable on GOES Concerned Romero Case at IACHR Would Undermine Amnesty: Considers withdrawal from Human Rights and Salvadorans discuss Cristiani Case in Madrid. I'm not certain that they are.

OAS to Send Election Delegation to Guatemala

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Jose Miguel Insulza, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guatemala, Haroldo Rodas Melgar, today signed an agreement whereby the hemispheric organization will send an observation mission to monitor the general elections set for September 11, 2011, in that Central American country.

It seems a little late for this decision to be made as we are only three months out from the election.


The International Center for Journalists, the U.S. Embassy, the Knight Center for Journalism in the Americas and Gracias Vida also recently held a workshop in Antigua to help prepare journalists for covering this year's election.


Does anyone know who's running volunteer electoral observer missions this year?

Hugo calls Hugo a "bombastic autocrat"

In an August 2006 conversation with US Embassy officials, then FMLN congressman Hugo Martinez called Venezuela's Hugo Chavez a "a bombastic autocrat who uses a hypothetical invasion of Venezuela by the U.S. to manipulate public opinion and silence dissent." Martinez is now the Foreign Minister in Funes' government.

Here's the summary from the Wikileaks cable:

In a wide-ranging discussion with poloff, moderate FMLN Legislative Assembly Deputy Hugo Martinez commented on the deadly July 5 violence tied to the FMLN (reftel B), and speculated on his party's prospects for the 2009 presidential elections.  The conciliatory tone of Martinez's message, likely coordinated beforehand with the party's orthodox leadership, appeared to be an effort at mending relations with the Embassy, which have been strained recently by the July 5 events and in the face of FMLN opposition to CAFTA, the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA), and the proposed Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) project for El Salvador.  Martinez's longterm future in the FMLN remains uncertain at best, but his Legislative Assembly seat appears secure until at least 2009. 

Martinez is one of the few remaining moderates within the FMLN given that the revolutionary socialists have been firmly in control since 2005. These more radical members are intent on the socialist transformation of the country and bringing the country closer to Venezuela, something which Martinez and Funes are trying to prevent. This makes the 2014 election all the more important for the FMLN and El Salvador.

Another Cold War Arrest in Guatemala

Guatemalan security forces on Thursday arrested a former national police chief wanted in the disappearance of a student union leader in 1984 during the country's civil war.

The arrest of Hector Bol de la Cruz, 70, at his home in Jutiapa, southwest of the capital, is the latest step in a government crackdown on officials accused of war crimes during the conflict that racked Guatemala between 1960 and 1996.

Bol de la Cruz, who was chief of police between 1983 and 1985, is accused of orchestrating the kidnapping and forced disappearance of Fernando Garcia, who was last seen when officers detained him as he left home in the capital on February 18, 1984.

Last October a court in Guatemala sentenced two of Bol de la Cruz's former agents to 40 years in prison for their role in the disappearance of Garcia, who many believe was murdered.

The center-left administration of President Alvaro Colom has been under pressure to bring war criminals to justice in Guatemala, one of the poorest countries in Latin America.

Pitting a string of right-wing governments against leftist insurgents, the civil war led to nearly a quarter of a million deaths, and many thousands of people are still missing. (Yahoo)

Come on Mauricio. If Guatemalan courts can prosecute war criminals, so can you. Even if you do not personally want to see the 1993 amnesty repealed, don't work against those who do.

General Molina Leads the Charge

El Periodico released May poll numbers a few days ago. Same old, same old. Otto Perez Molina of the Patriotic Party retained a significant lead over his main competitor, Sandra Torres of the National Unity for Hope party. Thirty-nine per cent said that they intend to vote for the General while eighteen per cent intend to vote for Torres. Both candidates saw their support slip from April's survey (Perez Molina's four per cent and Torres three percent), but Perez Molina still holds a twenty per cent lead.

While Suger finished third in the Prensa Libre / Prodatos survey, Manuel Baldizon (4.3%) finished third in this one. He was followed by Suger (2.8%) and Harold Caballeros (2.6%). The remaining characters each came in with less than 2% support. The big mover was self-proclaimed undecideds. They came in at 23.4%, up from April's 18.8%.

The poll has a margin of error of 3.1%.

Celebrity Rehab - Mad Max is Back

"Amo a Guatemala... Mi idioma no es bueno."
(“I love Guatemala. My language is not good.”)

In March, Mel Gibson traveled to Guatemala to visit the El Mirador archaeological site in the Peten and to bring attention to environmental issues in the country. 

Well, Mr. Gibson is back in Guatemala right now with an organization called Mending Kids International. The organization "provides life-changing surgical care to children worldwide."

Yesterday, he brought diapers, toys, cookies and candy to the Spina Bifida Unit at the San Juan de Dios General Hospital. Today, he got a tour of the hospital and spent some time in Pediatrics and the Spina Bifida Unit.

Here are some stills from his visit.

Hopefully he'll bring not only needed attention to the work of the doctors and nurses at the hospital, but some money as well. 

Guatemala's Minor Parties

Last month we took a look at some of the major parties in Guatemala. Out of the twenty-six parties legally registered to run in September, seven political parties captured over five per cent of the presidential or legislative vote in the 2007 election and I basically characterized as major political parties. It's not a perfect schema, but it's a start.

Minor parties, then, are those that participated in the last election but captured less than five per cent of the vote. We have four minor parties using that simple cutoff and two of the four are Guatemala's equivalent to El Salvador's ARENA and FMLN.

First, there is the National Advancement Party (PAN), the country's oldest party founded in 1989. Alvaro Arzu, formerly of the PAN and now of the Unionist Party, was president of the country during the signing of the historic peace accords.

The PAN had hoped to be El Salvador’s ARENA – a party to represents the country’s capitalist class. However, the PAN failed in that regard and its failure is one reason why so many political parties exist today as wealthy businessmen either found their own political party or throw their support behind one of the many existing parties. In the 2007 election, just about every vice presidential candidate was a wealthy businessman.

Juan Gutierrez is this year's PAN presidential candidate, but he has not been doing well in the polls. Gutierrez came in at 1.1% in May's Prensa Libre poll. There’s not much going on there. The PAN did have three members reelected to congress in 2007. However, it has been down to two congressmen since June 2010.

Then there’s the Democratic Union (UD) which was founded in 1993. It had one deputy, Edwin Armando Martínez Herrera, reelected in 2007.

After three-plus decades of war (about fifteen as a single entity), the Guatemalan National Revolutionary Unit (URNG) was officially inscribed as a political party in 1998 and competed for the first time in 1999. It had two members elected to congress in 2007, including one from the national list and one from Huehuetenango. 

In 2011, the URNG is competing as part of the Frente Amplio. They are supporting Nobel-laureate Rigoberta Menchu for president. Menchu is the leader of the Winaq party, one of the groups comprising the Frente. She performed poorly in 2007 (3%) and is likely to perform poorly again this year (polling at a steady 1.5%). Given the poor resources with which the Guatemalan left has to work with, Menchu is now connecting to Guatemalans by riding public buses.

While the Frente Amplio wasn’t going to make much of a splash in the presidential election anyway, I don’t find Menchu’s selection that inspiring. I don't know that she brings anyone new to the party. Menchu, however, said she was going to be a presidential candidate this year and if the Frente Amplio didn’t select her, Winaq probably would not have participated in the leftist alliance. At a minimum, her candidacy will get the Frente a good amount of national and international media coverage, the lack of which the left has complained about in the past.

Finally, the National Change Union (UCN) counts four members of congress after having five elected in 2007. The UCN is going with Mario Estrada for the presidency. However, he’s only polling at about 2% of the vote. After former president Alfonso Portillo’s acquittal, Estrada offered him a place within the UCN in the upcoming election. That surely would have helped Estrada and the UCN’s campaign had Portillo accepted.

Of the four, the URNG probably has the best chance to break out in 2011 - but by that I mean doubling its seat total to four or maybe even five.