MARIA NAVARETTE, better known as MARIA CHICHILCO, representing the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), has just finished a national speaking tour organised by the Salvadoran community and the Committees in Solidarity with Latin America and the Caribbean.
In the March national election, Chichilco easily won a seat in the Legislative Assembly as the FMLN's candidate for the seat of Chalatenango. Green Left Weekly's ROBERTO JORQUERA caught up with Chichilco in Brisbane.
Question: Your name is Maria Navarette but you are more commonly known as Maria Chichilco. Why is that?
During the war I was known as "Maria" and in 1981 the FMLN leadership said, "Para Maria Chichilco", which means that Maria was to be assigned to the area surrounding Mt Chichilco. Since then everyone has got to know me as Maria Chichilco. It was given to me by the people during the war. For that reason it is a name of which I am very proud.
Question: What is your role in parliament?
Currently I am involved in two parliamentary commissions: the Internal and Public Security Commission and the Commission for the Family, Women and Children. Both consist of deputies from all the political parties represented in parliament.
As of last week, the FMLN finally approved what has been named the "100-days program". We are studying the reforms with regards to the internal laws governing the national police. We are also looking at the problems people face with construction companies and enforcing the laws which should protect people against big business. We are also dealing with requests from people that their area be classified a municipality or that their municipality be classified a city. In short, we are dealing with people's daily problems.
In the second commission we are looking at the new family code and in particular that violence within the family is recognised as a criminal offence. This also includes the right of people to inform authorities of this sort of violence and have it investigated. This has been a very positive gain that has been approved. We are now campaigning to ensure this change in the law is advertised and abided by.
We are also looking at changes to the process of adoption to tackle and limit the increasing amount of trafficking in children. We have also pushed for more laws relating to the protection of children, specifically in the area of child labour.
Question: In the last national election the FMLN doubled its representation in the Legislative Assembly from 14 deputies to 27. What were the reasons for this success?
One of the major reasons is that the FMLN has a very clear political project in mind. Furthermore, the FMLN has been very clear in explaining what it intends to do to alleviate the problems that the majority of Salvadoran people face today.
On the other hand, the ARENA government has been embarking on a political program that has abandoned the majority of the population including the middle classes, which in the past have been strong supporters of ARENA.
Throughout its time in office, ARENA has only ruled for a very small section of the Salvadoran population. This has resulted in the majority of working people being forgotten. One example is the ever increasing unemployment rate, which has resulted in larger numbers of people being forced to live off the streets. There is also the question of continuing human rights abuses by the government and its unwillingness to prosecute those accused of participating in human rights abuses during the civil war.
Question: What are the FMLN's projections and expectations for the presidential election in 1999?
The FMLN is growing every day. The last poll showed us with 5% more support than ARENA. It is also interesting to note that many government backbenchers have approached me to say that the Frente will more than likely win government in the next national election. We are optimistic, and many of us think that we do have a very good chance of winning the next election.