Category Archives: Politics

The U.S. Government Affirms Neutrality in the Salvadoran Elections

March 13, 2009 A huge THANK YOU! and Congratulations! to everyone who has participated in advocacy this week by calling the State Department, the Embassy, and Congressional representatives. The campaign has been more successful than any of us expected. Not only did the U.S. State Department issue a statement affirming U.S. neutrality in the El […]

Si Se Pudo! Mauricio Funes wins the Presidential Elections

March 16, 20098:00 am The wait is over.  After almost 20 years of an ARENA government and the FMLN being the opposition, things have changed. Yesterday the Salvadoran people went to the polls in impressive numbers to elect Mauricio Funes as the next president of El Salvador.  With the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) reporting 99.4% […]

Cinquera, Still Organizing Despite Numerous Attacks: February 27, 2009

The past three months have been tense in the municipality of Cinquera, as community organizers face numerous threats to their daily work. Known as one of the most calm and safe municipalities in the country, it has become a target by a Right Wing campaign to degrade the community and provoke violence.   December 2008: […]

Embassy Statement about Use of Obama Image: February 2009

US Embassy denounces use of Obama´s Image in FMLN Campaign Ads after ignoring their use in Ads by the Right.   In December 2008, the US- El Salvador Sister Cities Network alerted the US Embassy that ads by the group Fuerza Solidaria included a video of Obama´s Advisor on Latin America, Dan Restrepo, that said […]

CNN on the January 18th Elections: January 19, 2009

By Arthur Brice, CNN http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/01/19/el.salvador.election/   Tallies from Sunday’s nationwide voting showed El Salvador’s main leftist party losing its hold on the capital but opening a lead Monday in the Legislative Assembly. Violeta Menjivar, the incumbent mayoral candidate of the leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, or FMLN, did not concede defeat in the mayor’s […]

Si Se Puede, Yes We Can : January 2009

By Leigh Hardy   The political slogan “Yes We Can” has contextualized my understanding of democracy since I was born, but in its original language of Spanish.   During high school, my mother was active in supporting the United Farm Workers movement, where the slogan “Si Se Puede” has its origins.  When we visited her small […]

Increased Agression Toward Citizens in Cinquera: January 13, 2009

As Election Approaches, Increased Agression Toward Citizens in Cinquera   January 13, 2009   Cinquera, a municipality close to Suchitoto that is governed by the FMLN, has recently been the target of dangerous aggression by the ARENA party. Last month, ARENA supporters in Cinquera sent a list of 60 community members to the head of […]

Military Occupation Threatens Voters Before Elections: January 6, 2009

Military Occupation in Suchitoto CommunitiesThreatens Voters Before Elections   January 6th, 2009   On Tuesday December 16th 2008, 150 soldiers armed with heavy artillery entered the community of el Papaturro, in the zone of La Bermuda, Suchitoto. The soldiers set up a military camp and stayed in the community, then moved to the neighbouring community […]

Coercive Elections Advertisements by Fuerza Solidaria, December 12th 2008

The dirty campaign in El Salvador is worsening. Radio and television ads under the name ¨Fuerza Solidaria¨ have been manipulating statements from US officials such as Barack Obama´s advisor Dan Restrepo, as part of a fear campaign to convince people not to vote for the FMLN. The Fuerza Solidaria has also made ads saying that […]

US Immigration Reform and the 2009 Salvadoran Elections

By Annie Levenson-Falk October 7th, 2008   In recent years, immigration has been a major issue in U.S. politics, and an area in which we may see major change in coming years. In the past, U.S. representatives have threatened that immigration policy could be changed because of the results of Salvadoran elections. Policy decisions like […]