El Salvador and US

Written by the National Executive Committee of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization/El Camino

The electoral victory in El Salvador of Mauricio Funes, candidate of the leftist Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) has immense historical and political significance.  The FMLN was a guerrilla movement that in all probability could have won control of El Salvador had it not been for the massive US intervention in the early 1980s.  Nevertheless, the FMLN fought on until a peace settlement in the early 1990s.  Despite the peace settlement, right-wing forces based in the notorious ARENA party continued to dominate the political scene until this election.

Funes is described by many commentators as a moderate, in part because he was not a combatant during the Salvadoran civil war.  This description also probably relates to efforts by Funes to reach out to the US government and assure them that he is not planning on a radical reconstruction of El Salvador.  It may also reflect the political situation in El Salvador because despite his victory, the FMLN does not hold a majority in the legislature.

There are many challenges facing President Funes.  Along with leaders in other parts of Central America, and the Caribbean for that matter, they find themselves with economies historically deformed first by colonialism and then by modern imperialism.  Compounding this has been the domination, at least in Central America, of thoroughly reactionary classes that have been prepared to take any and all steps to ensure their dominance.  Though these classes may, in several cases, no longer occupy the Presidential seat, they have not gone away and continue to do what they can to undermine any and all moves toward the Left by the left-leaning governments that have emerged.

The Funes victory holds an additional significance in that, as opposed to the last Salvadorean election where the Bush administration effectively blackmailed the country into keeping the FMLN out, the Obama government remained relatively quiet.  Though many progressives correctly wanted a forthright statement by the Obama administration of a commitment to non-intervention in the internal affairs of El Salvador, the Administration apparently chose to simply remain silent and let their silence convey a message subject to interpretation.  Better and worse could have played itself out, but this is nevertheless an important lesson for US progressives and anti-imperialists: our voice must not remain silent in the face of even the possibility of imperialist intimidation of other countries.

El Salvador, in order to follow a progressive path, will need to undertake substantial economic and political reforms. These reforms will be resisted by reactionary forces on the ground and they—the reactionaries—will undoubtedly receive various forms of assistance from governmental and non-governmental players in the USA.  In this sense, the Salvadorean struggle will continue to be international.  Why?  First, we in the USA will need to keep an eye on the US government as well as the political Right to ensure that they stay out of El Salvador’s internal affairs.  We will need to highlight any funny business that is undertaken, including in the form of groups that mask themselves as allegedly being concerned about human rights.  We, in the USA, continue to owe an obligation to the people of El Salvador as a result of the atrocities that the USA imposed on that country.

The second reason for the struggle being international is that, as identified by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, it is very difficult for smaller nations to operate and thrive in the current world situation.  The absence of an alternative and revolutionary bloc, or even a superpower to rival the USA, makes it difficult for smaller nations to assert their independence.  Even with excellent leadership they are often forced to compromise, if not cave into the demands of imperialism.  In that sense, the building of regional trade blocs in the global South are a potentially important instrument in order to assert sovereignty.  President Chavez has proposed ALBA, the Bolivarian Alternative, as the sort of bloc that needs to be constituted in Latin America.  This question will be a matter for the new Salvadorean president to consider, as other leaders in Central America and the Caribbean are doing.

We, in the USA, need to greet with enthusiasm the FMLN’s victory.  It is not enough to celebrate.  We need to make sure that, at a minimum, the Obama administration does no harm when it comes to El Salvador.  If we are successful in that, the people of El Salvador will figure out the rest.