Category Archives: Politics

Visits from Honduran Leaders spark Controversy, July 2010

Visits in June and July from leaders representing the Honduran coup d’etat and resistance movement surrounded Honduras’s reincorporation to the Integration System of Central America (SICA) and sparked controversy among Salvadorans. Coup Mastermind Comes to San Salvador On June 22, coup mastermind Roberto Micheletti visited El Salvador, reportedly saying his presence “was not to divide, […]

Fraudulant Elections and Implications of the Honduras Coup, Dec 09

All of us need to stay updated about the coup in Honduras. Check out the following resources about the Coup and then TAKE ACTION.         To see a graphic history of the coup in Honduras, take a look at: The Honduran Coup: A Graphic History To read about the U.S. Position on […]

Split within the ARENA Party Provides Opportunities for the FMLN

by U.S.-El Salvador Sister Cities   The ARENA party, recently ousted from the Executive Branch after almost 20 years controlling the Presidency, finds itself in the midst of internal divisions. On October 12th, the day after its General Assembly, 12 ARENA representatives to the Legislative Assembly announced their discontent with ARENA leadership and stated that […]

12 ARENA Legislative Asembly Members Break from Party

ARENA, the conservative party which ruled El Salvador for twenty years before its defeat in presidential elections in March 2009, has an internal rebellion on its hands. As described in El Faro, twelve of ARENA’s 32 deputies in the National Assembly have declared themselves independent of the party leadership. They are demanding 2 seats on […]

President Obama’s Credibility on the line in Honduras

Source: The Guardian and Upside Down World Last Friday an agreement was reached between the de facto regime in Honduras, which took power in a military coup on 28 June, and the elected president Manuel Zelaya, for the restoration of democracy there. US secretary of state Hillary Clinton, in announcing what she called an historic […]

September 2009 El Salvador News Update

CRIPDES Participates in First Economic and Social Council Representatives from El Salvador’s social movement, business sector and officials from Mauricio Funes’s government participated in the inauguration of El Salvador’s first Economic and Social Council (CES) on September 4th. The idea of the Economic and Social Council was a part of the 1992 Peace Accords that […]

Journalists and Priest recieve threats due to their advocacy: July 29, 2009

The situation for political and social leaders in the Department of Cabanas has worsened since Marcelo Rivera’s disappearance and murder in early July. The week of July 27th, 2009, three to four journalists from Radio Victoria, a local radio station that was reporting on Rivera’s disappearance, received intensifying death threats. On July 28th, Father Luis […]

Funes Exposes ARENA Corruption in First Two Weeks in Office

In his first two weeks in office, Mauricio Funes and his government ministries have begun to expose the results of 20 years of ARENA governing and look for ways to respond to that corruption.   Phantom Salaries and Overspending Uncovered The FMLN has found an alarming number of irregularities in the former ARENA government ministries. […]

CRIPDES Plans for New Political Context: May 10th 2009

On March 15th, when the announcement that Mauricio Funes had won the presidential race was publicized, Salvadoran communities overflowed with excitement and celebration. In the coming days, people breathed a collective sigh of relief, as the historic task of electing the first Left-wing president of El Salvador had been successfully completed. Since then, CRIPDES and […]

FMLN Victory- A Glimmer of Hope for a Heavily Handicapped Salvadoran Future

Written by USESSC Election Observer and COHA Fellow Kira Vinke   Mauricio Funes’ victory in the Salvadoran presidential election on March 15 marked what could be an important alteration in the country’s politics. After two decades of often fierce right-wing rule, the former guerrillas of the leftist Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) defeated the […]