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A
left-wing municipal project?
With the triumph
of Carlos Rivas Zamora in the municipal elections of March 16th, it is the
third time that the FMLN will administrate the City hall of San Salvador. It
is not necessary to consider right now the impact that these consecutive
defeats have caused in the minds of the members and the followers of ARENA.
There is no doubt about the caustic feeling unleashed by the possibility of
losing the presidency. However, it is not clear how the project of the FMLN
should be understood. Is it a revolutionary project of the left wing? Or is
it that during the last couple of administrations the FMLN has only worked
with a certain decency and common sense? The declarations made by the
leaders of the FMLN about their will to implement a Socialist project make
it necessary to wonder about this situation. Therefore, it is necessary to
ask if there are traces of that project in the local administrations of the
FMLN.
The City Hall that the FMLN found
During the days in which ARENA administrated the City Hall of San Salvador,
it was not unusual to hear the complaints about the municipal services. The
concentration of services in a single building of the communal
administration –to which the people did not have an easy access to,
especially during the rush hours- was one of those complaints. In these
conditions, to arrive to the offices of the City Hall of San Salvador, to
wait in long lines, and to finally obtain the requested services, was an
enormous set of tasks that many inhabitants of the city had to deal with.
Some people found –because of the time that had to be invested and the
difficulties that it represented- that it was easier to bribe an employee or
follow an unorthodox procedure in order to receive the services they
requested, instead of using the legally established channels.
On the other hand, in addition to the odyssey that the citizens of San
Salvador had to go through to obtain a municipal service, the garbage
recollection and disposal systems were inefficient. During the ARENA
administrations, the municipality with the highest number of inhabitants
threw the garbage on an open field. The management of the municipality was
also a disaster, and the administration of the taxes was questionable. In
addition, the authorities were not too worried to establish municipal rates
according to the number and the quality of the rendered services to fulfill
the demands of the citizens.
Under these circumstances, the voters of the city decided to change
administrations. They punished ARENA (back then, their candidate was Mario
Valiente, who ran for mayor intending to be reelected) in order to have a
blind adventure with the FMLN. Until that period, the ex- guerrilla members
had not handled such an enormous responsibility in the political
administration of the country. In spite of that fact, the voters of the city
put their destinies in the hands of an alliance between several left-wing
parties with some organizations that belonged the civil society.
The positive effects of the administration of the FMLN
Ever since the municipal elections of 1997, the inhabitants of the city seem
to be dazzled by the performance of the FMLN at the City Hall of San
Salvador. And the most significant aspect of all this –challenging a series
of postulates about the municipal electoral behavior of the Salvadorans- is
that the FMLN managed to keep that administration. Without their “star”
mayor, the FMLN still managed to keep that bastion of power. In addition,
this chance was taken with a candidate who was considered unknown by many.
Despite of the six years that Carlos Rivas Zamora had worked for the Silva
administration, very few people believed that he was going to win running
against Evelyn Jacir de Lovo.
In the light of the electoral results obtained by the FMLN, and especially
considering the third consecutive victory in San Salvador, it is necessary
to wonder about the medullar aspect of its success. In fact, ever since the
arrival of Mayor Hector Silva to the City Hall of San Salvador, many things
have changed. A project aimed to separate the municipal services with the
creation of districts began. This way the users would be assisted in their
own areas. As a corollary of this decision, the long lines of those who
waited to obtain the municipal services were reduced, a better service was
offered, and the number of frustrated citizens became smaller. In other
words, a successful process of modernization was taking place in order to
improve the quality of the services. In addition, a titanic task to
recuperate the historic center of the city began, and the effort has
survived despite the disputes with the ambulant sales people who are all
over the city’s avenues.
On the other hand, the municipal administration of the FMLN has made certain
changes in the administration of the municipality. The governments that
belonged to ARENA –during their own administration periods- counted with the
support of the Executive power to go ahead with some of its most important
projects. They did not intend to increase the municipal tax rates, when an
increase could have made the services more sustainable. Since Hector Silva
did not count with the approval of the Central Government, he had to take
economic measures to avoid the wastefulness that took place during the ARENA
administrations, and to assure the permanent offer of the municipal services.
The contribution rates were increased in order to keep the services of the
City Hall operating.
Now it can be said that the City Hall of San Salvador offers a better
service in terms of the recollection of the solid waste generated in the
city, for instance. To hire a company in charge of the garbage disposal and
the reduction of the environmental contamination of San Salvador has also
been appreciated by the citizenry. Despite of the continuous attacks of the
right wing against how expensive it is t have a sanitary fill, the citizens
of San Salvador seem to have a different opinion about the project. And it
could not be any different. Between throwing the garbage on an open field
and a deficient system of recollection, the citizens preferred a safer
project, even if it is more expensive. However, where is the personal seal
of the left wing in the administration of San Salvador?
The FMLN has never missed a chance to declare its firm belief in a Socialist
revolution. The difference is that now the party thinks that Socialism and
democracy go hand in hand, and that it can be a goal achieved through the
elections. It can be noticed that the left-wing administration of the city
has been characterized by its decency. The administrations of ARENA never
knew the meaning of this word. However, without the intention of taking the
credit away from the performance of the left wing in San Salvador, it is
necessary to wonder if this small demonstration can be considered as the
prelude to Socialism.
It can be said that in politics it is necessary to take one day at a time.
In addition, in El Salvador, it would take a great deal of decency to
conduct the public affairs. Even in this case, however, it is not clear if
the essential note of the left wing can be reduced to the recuperation of
the necessary decency to administrate the public affairs. In addition, it is
very probable that a task such as the one carried out by Hector Silva during
both of his administrations, could have been performed just as well by any
other person –even a member of the right wing- as long as that person had
the capacity to distinguish right from wrong. In other words, the
performance of the City Hall of San Salvador since 1997 does not have any
distinctive feature of what can be called the left wing. Even if the left
wing’s administration might be called “revolutionary” if it is compared with
the administration of the right wing, it is very probable that it might be
far from being considered a left-wing municipal administration.
The mayors who belong to the left wing all over the world are characterized
by how they make the decisions that have a different connotation. In a
Neoliberal world, which is dominated by those who have more strength, the
key factor is solidarity. In an environment dominated by authoritarian and
centralized governments, it is necessary to promote the participation and
the horizontality of the relation between the administrations and the
citizens. In a context where there is no respect for nature, the importance
of the environment has to be rescued. And, finally, in a chauvinist and an
unequal world, it is necessary to protect the rights of those who are weaker.
It is no secret that the most important features of the left wing’s
administration periods in the municipality of San Salvador did not precisely
reflect any of the characteristics listed above. Mayor Silva lost his bet to
modify the taxation structure of the city. The effective participation of
the citizenry, especially that one of the most vulnerable people, is still
an uncompleted task. The sanitary filling that was approved as an emergency
is not the most symbolic solution to the problem of the garbage disposing
system.
The challenges of the new administration
After listing the former considerations, it is clear that if the new
administration of the FMLN does not intend to spend three years talking
about the same achievements accomplished through the last six years, it has
to face a different number of challenges. In the first place, it has to find
a strategy efficient enough to resolve the problem of the regressive taxes
in San Salvador. The argument of the right wing cannot be sustained any
longer. The duty of all the governments is to find the adequate political
means to work with fair ideas that involve the needs of the citizenry. In
this sense, combining the settlements made with the business owners of the
city with the necessary pressure of the legislators of this party, it is
necessary to examine the present tax structure.
On the other hand, it is time to initiate the second phase of the
environmental project of San Salvador and the other municipalities under the
administration of the left wing. Once the emergency phase has ended, it is
necessary to understand that the treatment of the solid waste has a larger
number of components, such as the civilian education, and the separation of
the waste, among other issues. In addition, it is about time that several
characteristics such as participation and transparency occupy a key position
to administrate the local power. As long as the FMLN is able to consider
these issues as a priority, it will not only be making a difference with its
left-wing revolutionary project, but it will also be preparing the pathway
to a fourth period to conduct the most important municipality of the
country.
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