ARENA subordinates the civilian security

The FMLN before its destiny

The national political horizon looks clearer with the designation of Schafik Handal as the candidate from the FMLN who will run for president. Some commentators had predicted that the internal elections of this party were going to be a simple routine exercise that would consecrate the victory of the official candidate –that is, the one designated by the party’s cupola-. However, for the surprise of many, the militants of the party’s foundations turned themselves against their leaders, and they almost scared the Political Commission, the maximum authority in the left-wing party.

The massive support that the militants of the FMLN offered to Oscar Ortiz –even if it was not enough to be chosen as the presidential candidate- should invite the leaders of the FMLN to reflect. Contrary to those who think that the “hard line” has taken over the FMLN, or that the battle to control the leadership in this party is over, the high percentage of militants that supported the Mayor of Santa Tecla makes it evident that their opinions are unfounded. The results of the next elections will become an important test for the left wing’s leading party. If the present leadership of the FMLN loses the elections, it will have to face a serious internal movement, which, without a doubt, will demand the payment of several old debts. Only an intelligent answer that eventually includes the renovation of the present leaders will be able to prevent a new internal crisis.

The essential questions are:
- How possible it is for the FMLN to win the next elections?
- How possible it is for the group of Schafik Handal to stop the growth of that new sector of the party?
The FMLN leaders are probably wondering about this situation. In other words, the results of the next elections will have a decisive influence on what might happen with the party.

It is difficult to prevent what might happen after the 2004 presidential elections. However, several pre-electoral activities can be observed in order to make some predictions. Without a doubt, there are a series of elements that will affect the decisions of the voters.

Several analysts explain that the main concern of the advisors of the FMLN should be focused on resolving the problem of the controversial image that their candidate has. This opinion is founded in the fact that most of the voters are disappointed with the ARENA administrations –according to the opinion polls- and that they would be willing to vote for the FMLN if they present a moderate and a less authoritarian candidate. Contrary to what happens with the official party, that has a candidate who would probably count with an enormous popular support despite the generalized displeasure for the deceiving economic and social results that have accompanied the three ARENA administrations.

To discuss what is convenient for the Salvadorans during the next elections based on the temper of the candidates predicts a mediocre electoral campaign far away from the actual problems of the country. The quality and the level of the discussion about the country’s public affairs will be reflected in the perspective of the debate. The most important news media are playing a key role in this issue. The reporters –those who decide what are the issues that will be publicly discussed- are the ones that, following the concerns of the right-wing leaders, have centered their attention in Handal’s controversial character. They are the ones make these trivial aspects seem more important than the proposals of the FMLN to face the critical economic, social, and political problems of the Salvadorans.

However, it is not clear yet if the Salvadorans will make their electoral decision based on the personality of the candidates; or if the voters will evaluate their options in the light of the national crisis. However it might be, several changes can be expected in the political field and in the motivations of the electorate. This can create an electoral campaign focused on the main issues approached by the left-wing party, and not on the alleged Communist government of Handal. His irascible temper would be put aside, and his proposals would be evaluated. The debate with the rest of the candidates would be based on their proposals. With this, the political discussion would take a different turn, and perhaps more citizens would be willing to vote. Apathy could turn into enthusiasm, in order to contribute with the election of the candidate that presents the best governmental program.

If the political discussion is centered on the problems of the population, there is no doubt that ARENA will have a disadvantageous position. Its candidate will hardly be able to lead a transformation while he relies on what his party has done in the last fifteen years. The candidate from ARENA does not seem to know what would have to be done in order to act differently than Flores, and not promote the same recipes to resolve the problems of the country. In addition, no matter how much they try to present Saca as a young businessman, who is recently getting involved in politics, if the electorate can remember the social, the labor, and the economic proposals made by Saca during his mandato in the ANEP, there will not be many doubts about the economic policies that he could encourage once he is at the head of the government. This is an additional opportunity for those who claim for a political change in the country.

It is very probable that the strategy of the Political Commission of the FMLN -connected with the promotion of a controversial character-, despite the opinions revealed by the surveys, is inspired in this conviction. If this is about the changes inside the political administration of the country, one of the few figures that can guarantee those changes is, precisely, Schafik Handal. In this sense, the image of a severe politician who does not abandon his ideals to respond to the interest of the economic circles, can be an important card for the transformation project that the left-wing party intends to promote.

That is why the challenge of the FMLN is not to convince the people about the goodness of their candidate’s heart, as several individuals seem to propose. The actual challenge for the FMLN –if this party intends to win the next presidential elections- is all about imposing their agenda in the political debates. That is, to convince most of the Salvadorans that a change is the only way out to end with the social and the economic stagnation created by the extremely orthodox recipes used by the Capitalism of ARENA. This is the only way to reveal the differences between the contenders, and neutralize the critical situation that could be unleashed after losing the elections. In the case that the group leaded by Handal loses the elections, they will have to respond to those militants that supported Ortiz’s candidacy. Therefore, after the elections we will be able to know if the FMLN is the main symbol of the country’s left wing, or if they will reach a definitive end that could confirm the triumph of the “renovators”.

The multidimensional problem of the gangs

The violence created by the gangs is not a problem with an easy solution, because there are multiple reasons that can make a young man become one of its members. This phenomenon did not appear all of a sudden, and that is why it is not realistic to expect a remedy that will immediately cure these young men, such as the governmental proposal against the gangs called the “Iron Fist” plan, which was abruptly implemented on July 23rd.

A structural problem
What causes a problem such as the one created by the gangs? What has the government done to resolve it? Is this problem caused by the economic policies? In general terms, one of the most significant sources of this problem is the prevailing economic model. This has become the factory of the gangs (the number of its members has increased year after year), and the governmental authorities do not seem to realize that, in order to resolve this problem, it is necessary to eliminate the structural causes. If such perspective is not adopted, even if all of the gang members were eliminated, delinquency and the lack of security on the streets would remain as critical as ever. As the Foundation of Studies for the Application of the Law (FESPAD, in Spanish) indicates, the gangs are not responsible for all of the criminality that hits the country. Therefore, it is obvious that after a little while violence would rise once more, and new gangs would appear with more strength and more violence than ever. They could even become a threat for the governmental authorities, just as it is happening with the situation of the Honduran government, which was the first one to launch an anti-gang plan.

Both the economic and the social context of the Salvadoran families have created the conditions for the youth to get lost in a rage of violence and crime. According to the different studies presented by the Homies United, the Panamerican Health Organization (OPS, in Spanish), and the Public Opinion Institute of the Central American University (IUDOP), the causes of this phenomenon are connected with the economic and the social situation that the country has experienced throughout the last couple of decades. This article will focus on the preliminary information revealed by these studies.

The lack of opportunities to get an education, the high unemployment levels, and the lack of healthy recreation opportunities in order to participate in the different social events are definitively some of the reasons why many young people fall into the violence scene. If a young man cannot have a quality education, a decent job, and a space to enjoy recreational activities, his process of social integration is actually denied to him. Therefore, he does not have the possibility to participate in the decision making process of his community, or to increase his self esteem, and improve the quality of his life standards.

The gap between the rich and the poor is so large that it increases the probabilities to have a violent society. El Salvador is an example of this, because the social and the economic differences have kept intolerable levels: the poorest 30% of the population only gets a 6% of the total income, and 10% of the wealthiest families receive 40% of the total income. What has the government done to change this? It seems that practically nothing has been done about it. According to the evolution of the indicators, such as the Gini Coefficient
–which measures the level of inequality of the world-, during the last 15 years, El Salvador has been among the countries with the highest inequality levels, with a coefficient between 0.52 and 0.53 (the countries with the highest inequality coefficients have reached 0.60).

The loss of the social ethics, thanks to the prevailing model, also leads to the proliferation of violence. Why does this happen? It happens precisely because there is no respect for the rights of the others. In the Salvadoran Neoliberal Capitalism, the logic of values that triggers the economic mechanisms exalts individualism and it puts it above the rights of the collectivity, above solidarity, and above the community itself. This tendency can be observed if we examine the last 15 years of economic liberalization, during which the ARENA administrations have not implemented a free competition law, but have put the rules of the model clearly in favor of the most powerful members of the society. The official party has repeatedly vetoed the decentralization of the government, refusing to accept those initiatives aimed to increase the funds for the city halls (from 6% to 8%). The official party has also generated the concentration of power in the hands of the government, while its performance has been inefficient when it comes to resolve the problems of the communities.

Under this perspective, poverty is a multidimensional factor that explains the nature of the gangs, since poverty is a way of violence in itself, and it is aimed with even more violence to the Salvadoran youth. The reflection of this unfair situation is especially reflected in the marginal areas, in the migrations from the country-side to the city, or even inside the urban sectors, forced by the need to subsist. This is an exodus imposed by force, which can be explained because the young people do not see a future in the rural areas nor in the city. A very risky option is to travel to the United States, and this choice definitively has an effect on the disintegration of the families at the same time that it encourages individualism and consumption.

The government accuses the city hall for intending to keep the money that will help the country fight against the gangs. However, how efficient is a short-term plan such as the “Iron Fist” against the gangs? It would be better to invest these funds in the municipal development –in development plans for the integration of the youth with solid results in the long term- than to spend it on plans of false results that will only be useful for the governmental propaganda.

When there is no way to get out of a structural injustice what happens is that –just as history itself reveals- the conflicts are resolved with violence. El Salvador is a living example of that. Such logic is fed by corruption, and the deficient performance of both the political and the business leaders.

As for the institutional sector, the social programs have been useful only as a temporary solution for the social violence. The future gang members live in an environment loaded with violence, and Darwing’s logic of survival, because force and intimidation are used to resolve conflicts. Violence is the guarantee that they will receive the goods that the society does not provide: respect, status, social recognition, the sense of belonging to a group. It seems obvious that with the present mechanisms of the anti-gangs law, a bad investment is being made under any perspective. This plan does not contribute to resolve the problem. Instead, it will increase the level of social conflicts, because the social and the economic marginality added to the war against the gangs will polarize the collective attitude even more and will create a sense of revenge and suspicion among those who suffer the abuse of the authorities.