The professional background of the FMLN

The corruption in the pre-electoral context

An objective interpretation of the newspaper’s information seems to conclude that corruption is such a critical problem that is now threatening the very foundations of the incipient Salvadoran democracy. The 4.5 that Probidad gave to the country would be actually hiding a critical reality. The Attorney General’s Office made the most spectacular declarations about the alleged fortune in the possession of Carlos Perla, the former director of the National Administration of Aqueducts and Sewers (ANDA, in Spanish), and, at the same time, El Diario de Hoy reminded the population that the left wing also embezzles the public funds in the city halls. The Supreme Court of Justice has not sanctioned Perla for his alleged corruption acts. This article will make a general reflection about the corruption issue in El Salvador, and about the way that this case has been handled.

In the first place, the newspapers saturate the citizenry with news about the alleged corruption plague in the country. From that perspective, the Attorney General’s Office becomes involved and starts to investigate the suspects. The news stories indicate the names of the different institutions of the State that are accused for the embezzlement of the public funds. Other institutions are summoned because they are not efficiently controlling the public officials. This attitude makes it more difficult to end with the corruption and the wastefulness that, so it seems, rules in the different institutions that belong to the State.

In the case of the ANDA, all kinds of information have been published about the alleged illicit fortune of Perla and his team of closest employees. The news media have also published information about several bank accounts located in fiscal paradises. On October 20th La Prensa Grafica published that, according to the Panamanian authorities, “Perla has two bank accounts with more than $200,000 which have been active between 1999 and 2003”.

There are also rumors about the Supreme Court of Justice and how this institution did not react soon enough to stop the fraud. The newspapers openly refer to the subject and contribute to spread doubts about this issue. The Court would have “forgotten” (that is, the Court would have acted as an accomplice) to judge Perla. According to La Prensa Grafica, in spite of the exemplar performance of the chief of the probity section, the maximum tribunal would have overlooked its responsibility. The rumors say that the official “sent a memorandum demanding an explanation to the magistrates for forgetting the case, in the memorandum he says that he is sorry that the magistrates just let the time go by and never issued a resolution” about the embezzlement of funds in the ANDA. Most of the news media have not noticed the possibility to connect the Perla case with the present right-wing administration.

As a counterpart of this affair, the media also talk about the alleged corruption of the left wing and the political center. In this case, El Diario de Hoy published information about these alleged cases of embezzlement of funds. According to this newspaper, the State’s institutions administrated by the left wing are also involved in very serious cases of inadequate management of the public funds. An alleged journalistic investigation talks about a series of anomalies that go from “projects that, in a few months, became a ruin, to frauds and things purchased from the councilmen’s relatives”.

In this context, since the electoral campaign started, the formerly mentioned newspaper presents an emblematic case of the city halls administrated by the left-wing, where there have been cases of illicit contracts and nepotism, among other problems. In addition, there would also be an inappropriate connection between former mayors that belonged to the FMLN and an organization called Ciudades Hermanas (Sister Cities). According to El Diario de Hoy, “the relation between that organization –created in October of 2001 with the support of a considerable number of city halls controlled by the FMLN- and the collapsed projects was of such proportions, that several former mayors admitted that Ciudades Hermanas offered them to elaborate the technical design of the projects and hire several professionals for its implementation”.

This is a deceiving perspective. The journalistic coverage of the corruption issue and the wastefulness of the public funds involves the actions of all of the political actors. That is, the left-wing (in the case of the aforementioned city halls), the center (its candidate is being questioned about the CINTEC case), and the right wing (according to the papers, this case does not have the proportions of the others). That is why the working class citizen might be wondering what to do in these circumstances. It would be convenient to examine several ideas connected with the way the papers have dealt with these subjects, because the journalistic style of the papers can also astonish the citizenry.

In the first place, it seems that the papers are aware of the cacophony perceived in the aforementioned issues. The profusion of the news about the different corruption cases is so superficial, that they do not allow the readers to distinguish between the electoral propaganda (which reflects the compromise of the media with the right wing) and the actual corruption problems, just like the ones that took place in ANDA. In this sense, beyond the will to communicate and unmask the corrupt structures deeply rooted in the Salvadoran institutions, the objective is to trivialize the situation in a mélange of accusations where the responsibilities vanish.

In the second place, it seems that in several of the different news media there is an evident intention to offer a biased treatment of the corruption problem. For instance, many people do not hesitate to talk about the corruption of the left-wing mayors; however, they never establish a connection between Perla and the official party. At the same time, there is an ominous silence about the presumed implication of several influential members of ARENA in the case. It is evident that those who speak about the incompetence and the nepotism of the former FMLN mayors have not paid much attention to this issue. Perhaps their bonds with the official party prevent them from doing their job and criticizing a set of problems a that they hypocritically present as a disease that consumes the Salvadoran society.

The media does not question the fact that the nonexistent projects allegedly “built” by Perla have been inaugurated by President Flores, who presented them as the authentic work of his administration. In this sense, the analysts concerned about the corruption issue do not even stop to examine the political responsibility of the President. The journalists who allegedly investigate the corruption cases carelessly overlook this fact, and they do not even make the effort to comment about it for their readers.

In addition, when the local governments of the left wing are accused of corruption, the intention is to create a storm for those who do not approve of the increase of the FODES. The intention is to discredit the city halls because of the alleged incompetence of its administrators, who are prone to commit corruption acts. However, the press makes a completely different analysis in the case of the State’s institutions controlled by the official party.

This is not about overlooking the fact that there could be corruption cases in which the left-wing could be involved. However, that should not be an obstacle to measure the country’s level of corruption in fair terms. Some people easily forget the connection between power and corruption. If a corrupt person has economic, social, or political power, it will be easier for this individual to avoid any kind of punishment. In the Salvadoran case, there are many elements that allow us to suspect about the existence of this equation. In the past, the law has not followed the corruption cases in which the influential people or those close to the official party have been involved. The silence of the most important news media about the events of this nature confirms this appreciation.

The remittances and the development in El Salvador

Thousands of dollars arrive to the country every month with the remittances. This financial flow is the result of the work of thousands of Salvadorans who live abroad. These compatriots went out looking for a better life, because they realized that there are no real opportunities in the country they were born. The volume of the remittances that come here keeps increasing, and each year there are also more Salvadorans who go away looking for a better horizon for their families. This is how many homes are able to increase their income, in spite of the separation of its members. In the long term, this separation has an important number of social repercussions.

The remittances play a key role in the economy, since they constitute a considerable proportion of the GNP. These remittances help to resolve in a short term the problems of the commercial balance, and the problems of the regular account, which have become a distinctive feature of the country during the last few years, due to the commercial openness implemented by ARENA. However, these resources that come from abroad also mitigate the poverty of many families. There is a considerable number of homes that receive the remittances, and these are fundamentally used to purchase the essential goods to subsist. Without the remittances, the poverty levels would increase.

During the last few years, the flow of remittances has substantially grown. In 1999, the amount of dollars that arrived to the country through the remittances was calculated in $1,374 million. In the present, despite the fact that the year has not ended yet, that amount has been considerably increased. Between January and September of 2003, the remittances brought $1,535 million. By the end of the year, the government expects that the remittances reach an estimate of $2,000 million. However, it is important to consider that it is still necessary to observe the flows of the following months. Because of the Christmas holidays, the volume of the remittances usually grows, and this affects the commercial activities in a positive manner.

As far as the commercial balance and the regular accounts are concerned, the remittances have played a key role during the last years. So far for this year, the remittances have helped to cover 80% of the commercial deficit and represent approximately 65% of the total exportation for this year. The effects of the remittances are also positive for the society. According to the statistics, in 1999,10% of the poorest families of the country obtained their income from the remittances, and one fifth of the Salvadoran families received the benefits of this kind of resources. Most of these families live with many economic limitations. In the present, this information is not completely reliable, since there is a considerable number of remittances that has not been calculated by the statistics, because it is brought into the country by family members and friends.

Recently, several institutions have become interested in the good administration of the remittances that become part of the national economic system. For Dean Yang, a researcher in the field of economics hired by FUSADES, the remittances could strengthen the Salvadoran economy if the resources are invested in productive activities. According to Yang, the remittances are an important resource that has not been adequately used in the last years, because most of it has been spent on consumption activities. For Yang, this is inevitable; however, there should be a policy created by the state that allows the people to invest a percentage of that income in other activities able to generate a more dynamic economy.

Before implementing a policy of that nature, it is necessary to remember that most of the homes that receive the remittances do not have many resources to subsist, and therefore, they use most of the money to buy the basic food basket. In other words, if the objective is to use the remittances in a different way, then it is necessary to know the most important needs of the population that receives those remittances. No matter how necessary it is to invest a percentage of these resources, if the researchers do not realize that this is the only income that many families receive, there are not many probabilities of success for a policy such as the one suggested by the expert hired by FUSADES.

Presently, there is a small proportion of both micro and small business people who receive remittances. They use a portion of that income to invest in their own companies. Many of them consider that the main obstacle for their business is the economic stagnation, and not the lack of resources to invest. To invest in these productive areas, first it is necessary to fulfill the most important needs of the family, in order to have an extra amount of money to invest. However, reality shows us that many micro and small business people who are in no condition to do this, and that is why they use those resources to satisfy the immediate consumption needs.

The policy aimed to reorient the destination of the remittances has to consider that the country can only receive the benefits of these resources if they are invested in productive activities. In other words, in the activities able to generate an added value to the national economy. This type of activities can be basically found in the agricultural and the manufacturing sector. All of those activities related with trade and services do not create a substantial added value to the country’s economy.

The use of the remittances “to invest in the small business companies”, as proposed by Yang, does not automatically turn into a successful policy of economic development. Especially when you realize that one of the main problems of the small industrial companies of El Salvador is connected with competitiveness and with the substitution of the national products for foreign ones, as the consequence of a larger commercial openness.

The business company owners invest to increase the size of their establishments according to the demand level. However, in a national scale, there is a reduction in the local consumers’ demand. And the international demand, observed through the behavior of the exportations, is not consistently enough yet to declare that the remittances could be the solution for the country’s development. In this sense, not much can be done to use the remittances as a source of investment for the business activities when the problem is much more complex than it actually seems to be.