FMLN prepares for Salvadoran elections
By Jenny Francis
On March 16, Salvadorans go to the polls to elect a new 84-member Legislative Assembly and 262 local councils. The Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN) sees these elections as a chance to push forward the countrys nascent democratisation and to further debate on the ARENA governments neo-liberal agenda, which is strangling the poor.
Salvador Nuñez, an FMLN representative in Australia, reported after a recent visit to El Salvador, "As the country is forced to find its 'niche' in the global free market, non-unionised factory workers are now earning well below the minimum wage", and "Farmers on small plots, refused loans or technical assistance, are abandoning their land".
According to World Bank statistics, between half and two thirds of the population now live in poverty. More people are dying now than during the 12-year civil war, with violent assaults adding to an increasing number of preventable deaths caused by poverty.
Through its work with the grassroots movements, organising to better the lot of the poor, the FMLN is gaining support. The most recent opinion poll puts the FMLN ahead of ARENA.
While numerous parties will contest the March 16 elections, the FMLN, with more than 32,000 members and candidates in all 262 municipalities, is the only real threat to the government.
Even though FMLN activists see the elections primarily as an extension of a mass political education campaign, they aim to win at least 27 of the 84 assembly seats (they currently hold 21) and 17 of the countrys 33 most populous municipalities.
The FMLN has detailed a series of regional objectives and corresponding activities. For example, in the Department of Chalatenango, the party will provide two-day workshops for some 200 volunteers who will either staff the polling centres or act as party observers on election day.
In Chalatenango alone, which is but one of 14 departments, 378 volunteers are required to carry out the proposed activities.
The FMLN is calling on solidarity movements, trade unions and progressive parties and individuals worldwide to get behind it, in what could be a surprising and historic result.
If you would like to show your solidarity with El Salvadors poor and support the FMLNs election campaign, you can send a cheque made out to CISLAC to PO Box 5421CC, Melbourne 3001 or send your contribution to the following account: Commonwealth Bank, 463 Elizabeth Street, Melbourne, Account Name: CISLAC, Branch No. 3007, Account No. 0090 2529.