 |
 Link to our RSS feed / Link to our podcast feed
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
This month, three new U.S. ambassadors to Latin American countries were confirmed. On August 5th, the U.S. Senate voted to confirm Rose Likins to be Ambassador to Peru and Peter Michael McKinley to be Ambassador to Colombia. On August 19th, President Obama announced four recess appointments to key administrations posts, including Maria del Carmen Aponte, Obama's nominee to be Ambassador to El Salvador. Aponte's confirmation had been on hold for almost one year after Republican Senators Jim DeMint (South Carolina) and Jim Risch (Idaho) blocked her nomination because of a past relationship with a Cuban-American who allegedly had contact with the interests section in Washington, according to the Los Angeles Times. "At a time when our nation faces so many pressing challenges, I urge members of the Senate to stop playing politics with our highly qualified nominees, and fulfill their responsibilities of advice and consent," President Obama said upon announcing the recess appointments. "Until they do, I reserve the right to act within my authority to do what is best for the American people."
Larry Palmer, nominated by President Obama to be Ambassador to Venezuela, however, must wait to be confirmed until after the U.S. Senate returns from recess on September 7th. Even if the Senate confirms his appointment, Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez may not allow him in the country. On August 8th, President Chávez said it was "impossible" to endorse Palmer, due to his responses to a questionnaire from the Committee on Foreign Relations in which Palmer claimed that the FARC maintain camps in Venezuela and that he is concerned about "Cuba's influence within the Venezuelan military."
The United States does not plan to withdraw Palmer's nomination. "We believe that Larry Palmer, if confirmed by the Senate, will in fact be an effective ambassador and an effective interlocutor between our government and Venezuela," said U.S. State Department Spokesman P.J. Crowley at the press briefing yesterday. He also noted that Venezuela had not withdrawn their prior agreement to accept his nomination.
Below are brief biographies of the four ambassadors recently confirmed, or awaiting confirmation, to take up posts in Latin America.
Michael McKinley - Colombia
On August 5th, the U.S. Senate confirmed career Foreign Service Officer Michael McKinley to serve as Ambassador to Colombia. McKinley served as Ambassador to Peru from 2007 to 2010.
McKinley joined the Foreign Service in 1982 and has held various international posts throughout his career. According to his biography on the State Department website, Ambassador McKinley
served as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Mission to the European Union in Brussels between 2004 and 2007. From 2001-2004, he served as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Department of State's Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration. Between 1994 and 2001, Ambassador McKinley was Deputy Chief of Mission and Charge d'Affaires at U.S. Embassies in Mozambique, Uganda, and Belgium. Earlier assignments include U.S. Embassy London (1990-94), three tours in Washington (1985-90), and Bolivia (1983-85).
Ambassador McKinley was born in Venezuela and grew up in Brazil, Mexico, Spain, and the United States. He did his undergraduate and graduate studies in the United Kingdom, and has a doctorate from Oxford University.
McKinley is considered to be an expert on Venezuela. His history of colonial Venezuela was published by Cambridge University Press as part of its Latin America series, and has also appeared in a Spanish edition.
Rose Likins - Peru
Rose Likins' appointment to take Michael McKinley's place as U.S. Ambassador to Peru was also confirmed by the Senate on August 5th. A career member of the Senior Foreign Service, Likins was deputy director of the Foreign Service Institute prior to taking over McKinley's post. According to the White House press release announcing her nomination, Ambassador Likins
was previously Dean of the Foreign Service Institute's School of Professional and Area Studies. She also served as the U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador. Washington assignments include Honduras Desk Officer, Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary of State, Executive Assistant to the Under Secretary for Global Affairs, Director of the Department's Operations Center, Deputy Executive Secretary of the Department and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Political-Military Affairs. Overseas posts include Consular Officer at the U.S. Consulate General in Monterrey, Mexico, Chief of the political section at the U.S. Embassy in Asuncion, Paraguay and Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Sofia, Bulgaria. She received a BA in Spanish and International Affairs from Mary Washington College.
As Ambassador to El Salvador under the George W. Bush administration, Likins was said to have interfered in the 2004 presidential elections in El Salvador by stating that the U.S. would "re-analyze" relations with the country if the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), who during El Salvador's 12 year civil war fought against the U.S. backed government, won the presidency.
Maria del Carmen Aponte - El Salvador
Maria del Carmen Aponte was nominated by President Obama to be Ambassador to El Salvador in late 2009. Aponte is an attorney, former board member of the National Council of La Raza and former president of the Hispanic National Bar Association. As noted above, her confirmation was put on hold in late December, by Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) and other Republicans, over her past relationship with a Cuban-American with an alleged link to the Cuban interests section. Last week, President Obama used a congressional recess appointment to bypass the Senate confirmation process and ended the eight-month long hold on Aponte.
Here is the White House's official bio for Maria del Carmen Aponte:
Maria del Carmen Aponte is currently an attorney and independent consultant with Aponte Consulting and serves on the Board of Directors of Oriental Financial Group. From 2001-2004, Ms. Aponte was the Executive Director of the Puerto Rican Federal Affairs Administration (PRFAA). Prior to that, she practiced law for nearly twenty years with Washington D.C. based law firms. Ms. Aponte also served as a member of the Board of Directors of the National Council of La Raza, the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, and the University of the District of Columbia. She is also a member of the Board of Rosemont College. She served as president of the Hispanic National Bar Association; the Hispanic Bar Association of the District of Columbia; and as a member of the District of Columbia Judicial Nominations Commission. In 1979, as a White House Fellow, Ms. Aponte was Special Assistant to United States Housing and Urban Development Secretary Moon Landrieu. Ms. Aponte has a B.A. in Political Science from Rosemont College, an M.A. in Theatre from Villanova University, and a J.D. from Temple University.
Larry Palmer - Venezuela
Larry Palmer, a career member of the Senior Foreign Service and former U.S. Ambassador to Honduras, is awaiting confirmation from the Senate to be Ambassador to Venezuela. As described above, his recent remarks on Venezuela angered Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, who said on television that "he can't come here, he has disqualified himself by breaking all the rules of diplomacy, by prejudging all of us, even our armed forces." The United States government, however, does not plan to choose a new nominee for the post, stating that Palmer "is still the best candidate for the job."
According to the White House, Palmer
is a career member of the Senior Foreign Service. He is currently serving as President and CEO of the Inter-American Foundation. Prior to that he served as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Honduras and as Charge D'Affaires in Quito, Ecuador. He also served as President of the 41st Senior Seminar and as Assistant to the President of the University of Texas at El Paso. Overseas posts include the Dominican Republic, Uruguay, Paraguay, Korea, and Sierra Leone. Born in Augusta, Georgia, Palmer received a B.A from Emory University, an M.Ed. from Texas Southern University and a Doctorate (Ed.D) in Higher Education Administration and African Studies from Indiana University, Bloomington. Prior to joining the Foreign Service, Palmer served as a Peace Corps volunteer in Liberia.
Friday, October 16, 2009
On this blog, we have covered the high drug-related murder rate in Mexico multiple times, yet a much smaller Central American country is currently faced with a higher murder rate than Mexico, with no slowing in sight.
In the first eleven days of October, El Salvador, with a population of 7 million, counted 178 murders - almost 16 murders per day. From January to September 27, 2009, there were 3,177 murders, just two shy of the 2008 total. This alarmingly high murder rate has created a debate in El Salvador on how to address the security problem, which largely stems from increasing urban gang violence and an overwhelmed police force. One estimate
" target="blank">indicates that there are over 25,000 gang members on the streets in El Salvador, with 5,000 more in jails.
The proposal on the table currently is to allow almost half of the Armed Forces to carry out public security duties in an effort to reinforce the overextended National Police. The Catholic Church has backed this proposal, calling for the Armed Forces to take part in the fight against the violence that is taking over El Salvador. The Armed Forces have readied 6,500 soldiers to reinforce combat against delinquency and violence, however, they can not be deployed until President Mauricio Funes accepts a proposal that will be presented to him at the beginning of next week.
Under the Salvadoran Constitution, the Armed Forces cannot carry out the duties of the National Police. However, Article 168, number 12 of the Constitution indicates that "the President can make exceptional use of the Armed Forces if all ordinary measures to maintain internal peace, tranquility and public security have been exhausted." President Mauricio Funes, whose FMLN political party was a guerrilla insurgency that fought El Salvador's armed forces in the 1980s, appears to support reinforcing the police with army troops. In reference to a Central American University proposal suggesting the need to deploy half of the Armed Forces to the police force, Funes responded that, "We would have to try it, or at least some module of it."
If President Funes does decide to deploy the Armed Forces to perform public security functions in support of the National Police, the military will be charged with training the soldiers to confront the current crime wave. Salvadoran Minister of Defense David Munguía Payés has reassured the public that the military has the capacity to submit its members to an intensive training in police duties. "We believe that with the course we offer, which can last between 15 days and 2 months, we could have our officers, superiors, subofficials, and troop personnel trained to carry out the mission in a better way," he said.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon opened the annual General Debate this morning. All 192 members will make a presentation over the next week and a half.
Excerpt from Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's speech :
Poor and developing countries must increase their share of control in the IMF and the World Bank. Otherwise, there can be no real change and the peril of new and greater crises will be inevitable. Only more representative and democratic international agencies will be able to deal with complex problems like reorganizing the international monetary system.
Sixty five years later, the world can no longer be run by the same rules and values that prevailed at the Bretton Woods Conference. Likewise, the United Nations and its Security Council can no longer be run under the same structures imposed after the Second World War.
We are in a period of transition in international relations.
We are moving towards a multilateral world. However, it is also a multipolar world, based on experiences in regional integration such as South America’s experience in creating the UNASUR. This multipolar world will not conflict with the United Nations. On the contrary, it could be an invigorating factor for the United Nations…. The issues at the core of our concerns – the financial crisis, new global governance and climate change – have a strong common denominator. It is the need to build a new international order that is sustainable, multilateral and less asymmetric, free of hegemonies and ruled by democratic institutions. This new world is a political and moral imperative.
Excerpt from Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez' speech :
Our country has taken on a firm commitment as regards tobacco control policies, both at the international level through the ratification of the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, and at the national level through the implementation of policies for the improvement of the wellbeing of the population.
As of 2006, Uruguay became the first smoke-free country in the Americas and the seventh in the world.
It is not insignificant matter when you take into account that according to the World Health Organization, smoking is "the leading avoidable cause of death worldwide." It is an epidemic that annually causes more than five million deaths in the world (more than one million in the Americas) Five million a year … this is more deaths than alcoholism, traffic accidents, AIDS, illegal drugs, murder and suicide… combined!!! If the current trend continues, in the next twenty years, deaths caused by tobacco would double in the world and triple in our region.
Given that tobacco smoke does not only affect smokers, and that great achievements are usually a product of evolutionary processes that proceed in small steps, our delegation at the United Nations sponsored and promoted the resolution adopted by this Assembly, whose implementation will allow us to have, at least in this sphere, a "smoke free United Nations."
Excerpt from Chilean President Michele Bachelet's speech :
After the Asian crisis one decade ago, there was much talk about financial system reforms, better oversight mechanisms and early warning systems.
But none of this happened.
Political laziness prevailed.
Private interests prevailed over the public good…
…[W]e must return multilateral dialogue to the centre of international policy, abandoning unilateralism. While unbridled globalization in the financial sphere provoked the crisis we are experiencing, unilateral action and disdain for institutions resulted in conflicts that must not be repeated.
Military or economic might cannot be the norm in international relations.
Excerpt from Colombian President Alvaro Uribe Velez' speech:
In Colombia the only reason behind terrorism is the illicit-drug enterprise. Before, violent criminals denied drug-trafficking and made efforts to maintain ideological appearances; today, having lost all decency, they can no longer hide their criminal business nor fake ideological postures, denied by the cruelty towards their victims and those that have been kidnapped, and never acceptable by the democratic transparency of our Country that they have tried to destroy.
We have a different concept of co-responsibility and of the proposal to legalization with regard to drugs. The old division between producer and consumer countries has disapeared…
…We believe that instead of advocating for the legalization of drugs, we must reflect on the need to make consumption illegal. There is no coherence between the severity facing production and trafficking and the permissiveness of consumption. This has led to murderous micro-trafficking in cities, to encouraging consumption by adolescents and youth and to involving children in the criminal enterprise. We are advancing in the constitutional process to make consumption illegal, making sure not to confuse the sick addict with the criminal distributor.
Excerpt from El Salvadorian President Don Carlos Mauricio Funes' speech:
…I wish to underline that it is a major objective of my government to strengthen the links that unite the brother countries of Central America. In this sense, I am convinced that there is no exit nor future for each one of our countries in isolation, backs to one another…
I want to call attention to this point to my central american coleagues.
We have unresolved matters that we must undertake; we have common challenges that we must face, shoulder to shoulder. With the full integration of our region, we have everything to win and nothing to lose.
Excerpt from Dominican Republic President Leonel Fernandez’ speech:
Given the almost general failure of developed countries in fulfilling their commitement at the Social Development World Summit in Copenhagen to contribute to the development of the weakest and most vulnerable countries, as well as the prevailing situation of a global recession, let us draw the attention of the General Assembly regarding possible new funding sources for the Millennium Development Goals…
There are abundant resources around the world. The problem is that they are unequally and unjustly distributed. And that is due, among other reasons, [to] the existence of a global financial architecture prone to lack of transparency, keeping secrets, money laundering, tax evasion and fraud.
The only hope to revert the current situation of economic decline, social deterioration, and moral crisis prevailing in the world, lies in the brave, wise, and timely decisions that we can take from this prestigious forum.
Excerpt from Panama President Ricardo Martinelli Berrocal’s speech:
Tolerance is the secret to people’s coexistence with one another. Nuclear tests, however, make us all nervous. The state of alert only serves to elevate tensions between nations whose relations are already less than stable…In Panama we respect the use of science as a tool for human development, but we reject its use as a front to conceal nuclear proliferation and the production of weapons of mass destruction…
…Due to its nature as a crossroads, Panama is used by organized crime for drug and arms traffic. But we are declaring our own war. We’ve become an active partner with Mexico and Colombia in the battle against narco-terrorists. Alongside President Calderon and President Uribe, we are committed to strengthening the ties of cooperation, so that Panama can be an active source of intelligence.
Excerpt from Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo Mendez' speech:
...I would like all the peoples and governments represented here to energetically condemn the commercial blockade that the largest economy in the world exercises against Cuba, another unsustainable chapter that, while in force, shatters the credibility of any discussion of pluralism, tolerance or humanism that is expressed in these forum...
...In fourth and last place, I openly express concern for the sinister winds that blow in the world with the out of control arms race, that in no sense is justified and that can only be applauded by the industries of death and barbarity.
As more speeches become available we'll continue to post them here.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
 Yesterday, Mauricio Funes was sworn in as President of El Salvador - marking the historic end of the conservative ARENA party's two-decade rule and the historic beginning of the leftist Farabundo Marti Liberation Front's (FMLN) first attempt at the presidency.
After fighting U.S.-backed troops for over 12 years, the FMLN converted itself from a Marxist guerrilla-based group to a political party in 1992, after the signing of the peace accords. Yet, despite its multiple candidates for president throughout the years, it had never been able to pull ahead of ARENA's candidate until this year. Many attribute this in part to the United States' previous strong stance against the prospects of a government run by the FMLN in El Salvador, since in the 1980s, the United States poured $6 billion into El Salvador to fight the rebel group.
However, the Obama administration has changed the way the United States views El Salvador and the FMLN. And to show its support for the new, democratically elected government, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton attended the inauguration of Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes wearing a bright red suit - the color of the FMLN - and called Funes' election a testament to democracy, according to Reuters. A Washington Post article reports that "After meeting with Funes on Monday evening, Clinton told him: 'The United States stands ready to assist you and your new government. This is a commitment President Obama and I share.'"
A common fear appearing both in the news and on Capitol Hill after Funes' victory (see our previous blog post) was that President Funes would follow in the path of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega. However, Funes has sought to distance himself from the far left and instead align himself with moderates like Brazilian President Lula da Silva and President Obama.
The only revolution Funes spoke of during his inaugural address was a "peaceful and democratic revolution" that erases "inequalities, improves the population's quality of life, and regains the efficiency of public management." And, according to the Los Angeles Times, Funes' "Cabinet has more economic pragmatists than ex-guerrillas, and he promised economic austerity along with a fight against corruption, drug trafficking and organized crime."
During his speech, Funes praised both Obama and Lula, stating that "When my adversaries, distorting facts and staining the honor of people, tried to falsely discredit us, me and my beloved party, the FMLN, turned to the strong examples of Obama and Lula, as proof that progressive leaders, instead of being a threat, can be a new, safe path for their people. . . . Obama, I said, proved that it is possible to reinvent hope. And Lula, I said, showed that one can make a government popular, democratic, with a strong economy and fair distribution of wealth."
The FMLN's and Funes' victory in El Salvador is not only a historic event for the country, it is an important marker for the passing of Cold War sentiments and the beginning of a new era of foreign relations. To mark this event, 15 heads of state attended yesterday's inauguration, in addition to Secretary of State Clinton and Spanish Prince Felipe de Asturias and many other delegations from all over the world. While, according to El Nuevo Herald, 17 heads of state were to attend the events, a last minute change led to "no-shows" for Hugo Chávez and Daniel Ortega (the Wall Street Journal also reports that Bolivian President Evo Morales missed the ceremony). President Ortega did show up for the evening festivities, however the Venezuelan government cited "possible assassination attempts" as President Chávez's excuse for his decision not to attend. Yet, it is coincidental that the two heads of state from whom Funes tried to distance himself during his campaign were the day's "no-shows".
It is still too early to know which way President Funes will go - whether he will ally himself with the politics and style of President Chávez, or whether he will stick with Presidents Obama and Lula. After day one, Funes seems to be leaning toward Lula and Obama, yet only time will truly tell.
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
The Los Angeles Times published an article today, titled "El Salvador grapples with rising bloodshed." The news story highlights the increasing level of violence in El Salvador, a country which suffers "one of the highest [homicide rates] in the world." El Salvador's per capita homicide rate is 5 times that of Mexico and 10 times that of the United States, with an average of 12 people killed each day in the first three months of 2009, in a country of 7 million people. Yet violence in Mexico has dominated the headlines this year.
Much of this violence is attributed to gang violence, drug-fueled crime and abusive police officers, combined with a weak and "flawed judicial system whereby few if any killings are ever solved." The article notes that "one of El Salvador's leading human rights organizations ... has analyzed homicides every year since 2004 and concluded that hundreds were committed by rogue police officers, private security guards and people hired to carry out 'social cleansing' - the elimination of undesirables through extrajudicial executions."
A new Salvadoran President-elect, Mauricio Funes, elected just two months ago after a campaign promising change, will face many important decisions about how to address the increase in violence when he takes office in June. The past administration's "iron fist" policies against gangs have increased violence, according to the LA Times, leading gangs to "strike anywhere - attacking, robbing, extorting, killing - because they need money to support their incarcerated associates and families."
El Salvador is one of the countries funded by the United States' Mérida Initiative, which, in Central America, is intended to help tackle much of the increasing gang and drug violence through projects such as community development targeting youth, judicial reform, and strengthening the police force. Yet as the LA Times article shows, it is extremely important that the United States monitors the aid to ensure that it is not merely fueling increased impunity and human rights violations.
Monday, April 6, 2009
 Last week, the Government of El Salvador extended its agreement with the United States to allow U.S. anti-narcotics aircraft to operate out of the Salvadoran Air Force base at Comalapa for five more years. Since March 2000, the United States has used the Comalapa Air Force base as a Forward Operating Location (FOL) - the same arrangement as the Manta Air Base in Ecuador, which U.S. personnel will be vacating by November - to "allow interdiction aircraft to be forward deployed closer to drug routes in the region," according to the U.S. Embassy in El Salvador. The original agreement was set to expire in 2010.
The timing of the renewed agreement coincides with the approaching end of President Tony Saca's term on May 31. Saca, from the center-right ARENA party, is an ardent supporter of U.S.-Salvadoran military collaboration. However, in June of last year, President-elect Mauricio Funes, from the left-of-center FMLN opposition party, announced that he would guarantee the continuation of the Comalapa Forward Operating Location, contradicting the FMLN's traditional stance against the FOL residing on Salvadoran territory.
Despite Funes' previous announcement, the U.S. government likely hoped to extend the agreement before his inauguration just in case his position changes once he and the FMLN assume power in June. Though Funes has pledged to work closely with the United States, his political party began life as an insurgency that, during the 1980s, the U.S. government spent hundreds of millions of dollars arming the Salvadoran military in an effort to defeat. If relations should sour and Funes's position on the Comalapa facility should change, U.S. officials no doubt calculated, they would be left with only one formal Forward Operating Location, in the Netherland Antilles, after Manta closes. Colombia has, however, agreed to accommodate the U.S. planes and crews that will be vacating Manta.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Below, thanks to CIP Intern Stacy Ulmer, are remarks of government officials around the region regarding the results of Sunday’s elections in El Salvador:
“We applaud the democratic process in El Salvador, and we give our most enthusiastic best wishes to El Salvador for their democratic examples” -Álvaro Uribe Vélez, President of Colombia
“Well, first and foremost, I want to congratulate the people of El Salvador for, you know, a very free, fair, and democratic election. I want to specifically congratulate Mauricio Funes as the winner of the presidential election, and also his opponent, Rodrigo Avila, for participating in the election and for respecting the election results. So we look forward to working with the new government of El Salvador, you know, on our bilateral agenda. And you know, and that’s what I have.” - Robert Wood, Acting Department Spokesman for the U.S. State Department
“The sons of Simón Bolívar give our supportive hand to President Mauricio Funes” -Hugo Chávez, President of Venezuela
…with the FMLN at the head of El Salvador, the leftist governments extend throughout the region and that, in his opinion, are “a clear demonstration that the political neoliberals promoted by the United States, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have been an entire failure and that the people are looking for new horizons” -Iván Canelasagregó, Spokesman for the Bolivian Government
The President of Mexico, Felipe Calderón Hinojosa, congratulated the winning candidate of the El Salvador elections, Mauricio Funes, by telephone this afternoon; and through their own channels he asked the Salvadoran citizens to do the same, which yesterday became a model for elections, that displayed their vibrant democracy that lives in this Central American country.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
 On Sunday, El Salvador held historic elections. For the first time in 20 years, a government led by a party other than the conservative ARENA proved victorious. And the victor was none other than the party of the former leftist guerrillas, Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), who during El Salvador's 12 year civil war fought against the U.S. backed government. 17 years after the war ended, the FMLN's candidate, Mauricio Funes, was elected with 51% of the vote to be the country's next president. Not only is this a major step for El Salvador, but it is also another step in Latin America's move to the left.
Now many are watching President-elect Funes closely, wondering whether he will join the ranks of the far-left leaders in Latin America like Venezuelan President Chávez and Bolivian President Morales, or follow the lead of moderates like Brazil's Lula.
Funes himself has compared his future policies and leadership style to that of President Lula and has tried to distance himself from Chávez. In an interview yesterday (as it appears in the Washington Post), President-elect Funes said "nothing traumatizing is going to happen here. There will be no confiscation, we will not reverse any privatizations. We will not jeopardize private property. There is no reason at this moment for fear." However, some skeptics believe that the extreme left of the FMLN is going to have more influence over Funes than he says. Regardless, as made clear by editorials from many of the Central American region's major newspapers, many challenges lie ahead for Funes, including a suffering economy and high levels of poverty, inequality and criminal violence.
Major newspapers in the United States reported mainly on the historic nature of the victory and Funes' promise to be a moderate leader. However, some publications had a more pointed stance on the outcome of the elections. Following the cue of some Republican members of Congress, who believe that an FMLN victory is a threat to national security, the Washington Times editorial board was quick to make their (reminiscent of Cold War rhetoric) opinion be known. The editorial argues that a win by the FMLN is a win for "communist terrorists" and it continues by sounding the alarm that "a pro-terrorist political party taking power in El Salvador is a grave development that underscores the need for urgent action in Latin America. Our friends in Colombia are being surrounded, and Mexico is inching toward a social meltdown that Chávez and his cronies will leap to exploit."
The Obama Administration, however, refuses to take this negative stance. Yesterday, State Department spokesman Robert Wood congratulated the people of El Salvador for a "very free, fair, and democratic election." Continuing on to "specifically congratulate Mauricio Funes as the winner of the presidential election" and make clear that the U.S. "look[s] forward to working with the new government of El Salvador, you know, on our bilateral agenda."
Below are links to some of the editorials written about the FMLN victory.
Editorials from major newspapers in Central America
Costa Rica: Change in El Salvador, La Nación
Honduras: El Salvador moves left, El Heraldo
Guatemala: Challenges for Funes, the FMLN and Arena, La Prensa Libre
Nicaragua: Welcome Hope, El Nuevo Herald
U.S. Editorials
A new El Salvador, Los Angeles Times
El Salvador taking a left turn, Washington Times
For more links to articles covering the elections in Salvador, check out the Just the Facts news links.
|
