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Proceso 1176
January 11, 2006
ISSN 0259-9864
Editorial: Will the police belong to ARENA?
Politics: The electoral campaign in the beginning of 2006
Economy: Recessions in economical freedom in El Salvador
Will the police belong to ARENA?
The holidays did not allow paying attention to a very concerning event, which took place during the last December: the appointment of Rodrigo Ávila as director of the police (PNC). Media, as in other chances, played the game of the government, showing Ávila as the savior of the same institution that he contributed to weaken. To praise the alleged capabilities of "Attila", would be something considered nothing but a practical joke, had it not been for what it means his arrival to the police.
In order to understand what this mean, one has to remember when Ávila was
appointed for the first time as the director of the PNC, his identification with
the ARENA party was not clear at all, or, at least, that is what it seemed to
the public opinion. Obviously, his dependence to the presidency of the Republic
—as happened with the former directors of the police— induced to suspect about
his autonomy. But it did not allow being more conclusive about the institutional
submission over the basis of the political commitments of its director with the
government and the ARENA party. When Ávila left the police, some were surprised
by his further links with ARENA. These links launched Ávila to the Legislative
Assembly, as a congressman to the ruling party.
In a retrospective, those were the main aspects of the performance of the police
during the Avila era: its internal weakening, the incompetence of the general
inspector's office, the proliferation of criminal groups inside the police and
the poor determination to fight organized crime, unless in felonies as
kidnappings, that affected entrepreneurs linked to the ARENA party. Around the
country, violence was aggravated, impunity ruled anywhere, and the security
agencies spread as fungi, profiting themselves —like the weapon dealers— from
the prevailing social violence. This means that Ávila, on spite of his alias,
"Attila", did not a good job: neither criminals did not fear him, nor he leaded
a hardened police corps. If Ávila is a dim-witted person, this does not explain
enough his poor performance, as do the political and economical interests that
limited his performance.
Ricardo Menesses, who was appointed after Ávila, did not better than him, at the
contrary, the problems left by Ávila got worsened. However, Menesses was not a
poor victim of the circumstances, because he did his best in order to weaken the
National Civilian Police in the fight against criminality. In the case of
Menesses, he was not well paid for his services: he pledged to the police vision
of president Saca, the violence went worse and he became the scapegoat of the
current administration.
Someone had to be blamed for the bad handling of violence: Menesses was the
chosen one. Someone had to be the savior: Ávila was the one and the government
pretends to surround him of an undeserved aura of efficacy. If the first time he
ran the police he arrived as a person whose political affinities were not
evident, now he arrives as a professed member of the ARENA party. In other
words, with Ávila in the head, the ARENA party took the police; with him, the
police is becoming subordinated, not to the government or to the president, but
to a political party. Only one step is left to the open politicization of an
institution that was created, not to serve any party or power group in
particular, but to the society as a whole.
There is no guarantee that Ávila won't put the police at the service of ARENA
and his members of the highest entrepreneurial ranks. The sole possibility that
this could happen is enough for putting resistance to his appointment and for
being concerned about the immediate future of the police. Moreover, what are at
stake are the few progresses achieved in democratization and respect for the
human rights. A police in the hands of the right wing could lead the country
through the way of power abuse and institutional violence.
Definitely, the appointment of Ávila as police chief is a bad choice. Not only
because his performance was deficient, but because his ARENA militancy commits
and conditions his role in the head of an institution that, by definition, ought
to be apolitical. With this decision, president Saca affected Salvadoran
democracy. If it was on purpose, this means that he is not committed with the
common good and the rule of law, which are his main responsibilities as the
president of the Salvadoran citizens. If it was not on purpose, it would be
right if he revokes the appointment and considers, within a consensus with the
social sectors— other candidates.
Anyway, if president Saca does not revoke his decision, Salvadoran society will
cope with a ARENA party member in the police. The worst thing that can be done
is allowing him to manipulate the police as a party organism. Thus, citizen
surveillance over his performance is a must. The next Legislative Assembly
should be after the movements of Ávila and — faced with any blunder— not
hesitate to ask him for explanations. It is unknown how the Assembly will be
composed after March, but the opposition parties will have to make fuss —if it
would be not able to make anything else— every time Ávila fails in his
constitutional duties.
He could be whatever he wants for ARENA, but PNC is not the property of his
party, but the patrimony of Salvadoran society. Ávila should remember this, if
wants to play his role scarcely good, with a minimum of decency and honesty.
The electoral campaign in the beginning of 2006
Political parties welcomed the New Year with their
electoral campaign. Evidently, as March becomes closer, this campaign will
become more intense. However, it is possible to state that the current campaign
is not quite different from other campaigns in the past. It is enough to examine
the proposals of the parties, as well as their candidatures.
The proposals of the parties
Every political campaign must serve for the parties and candidates to expose
their proposals to solve the most worrying problems. According to the poll
published in December by the University Public Opinion Institute of the UCA (IUDOP),
the main problems in El Salvador are the economic situation and public security.
For instance, 63.3% of the people stated that poverty increased, while the 50.4%
believe that economic situation will worsen in 2006. Public security has the
same perception. 57.6% agreed that delinquency got worse during last year.
Essentially, political parties have focused their messages toward these
problems. ARENA, as usual, emphasizes the security problem, while the FMLN,
following its own patterns, focuses to the economy.
As a part of the electoral campaign of ARENA, centered on public security, there
are some changes inside the police. For instance the replacement of the former
police director, Ricardo Menesses, for Rodrigo Ávila. Besides these changes have
the purpose to assure the control of the ruling party in the police, they also
follow an electoral logic. In the on-line newspaper El Faro it is said that the
new police chief "explained that in a term of three years 'that have to do with
the institutional operativity', killings can be reduced unto six cases per day".
Three years is the period of the new legislature and mayor offices. It is also
the remaining time for the current administration.
It attracts the attention that the legislative platform of ARENA promises to
pass the municipal police (CAM) under the direction of PNC. The ruling party
would pursue, in this way, to increase the functions and roles of the police.
The argument is that CAM abuses of its power to face the protests of the street
vendors. What is not said is that the anti-riot division of the police (known as
UMO) did not intervene in order to avoid that the protests turn violent and to
stop the aggressions of vendors against the CAM agents.
A police corps whose functions and attributions are increased —in this case, to
protect the municipal patrimony, which is an attribution for the CAM—, also
increases its power and is, for the same reason, prone to power abuse. In the
other hand, the idea of subordinating CAM to the police can be interpreted as an
attempt to undermine the autonomy of the municipalities. ARENA's proposal is
elementary: more "harsh hand" and more power to the police.
In the case of FMLN, its campaign is more centered in economic issues. Its
propaganda insists that living has turned more expensive due to the ARENA
economic politics, in particular, due to dollarization. The alternative, if any,
is quite simple: if the evil is dollarization, reestablishing the Salvadoran
currency, the colón, will be enough. In this direction, it is important to quote
the words of Juan Héctor Vidal, an economist that has been one of the leaders of
the main entrepreneurs' association, ANEP. According with Vidal, dollarization
is "the worst stupidity that has been ever committed" in economic politics. With
an unusual frankness, the entrepreneur told Co Latino that dollarization
"responded to the interests of a privileged sector. That explains that this
imposition was never discussed and was sold as an idea that would improve
domestic economy". The leader of ANEP criticized the FMLN's proposal to restore
colón, because "it is a tantrum that they should have threw in the past". (Co
Latino, 01-11-16). The major entrepreneurs did not make an effort to stop
dollarization, either. The truth is that it a better-structured alternative to
solve the problems caused by the change of currency is necessary. It seems that
the FMLN's proposal lack of economic realism.
ARENA party also leaves a lot to be desired in these issues. For example, its
candidate to the mayor's office of San Salvador, Rodrigo Samayoa, promises that,
in the case of being elected, municipality will give better services without
increasing costs. This is an irresponsible proposal, because the maintenance of
the municipal infrastructure requires of a significant investment. This is
another example of ARENA's populism.
In short, both of the main parties know what are the problems that concern the
Salvadoran electorate, but they are not able to make feasible proposals. In the
case of ARENA party, after the failure of "harsh hand plan", it was not able to
adopt an integral outlook in order to face delinquency. Some faces have changed,
but not the strategies. The FMLN, in the other hand, is not able to go beyond
its pompous statements. Its leadership has not been able to design
conscientiously an economical proposal based on which actions are feasible to
solve the social and economic problems, instead of dreaming with what they wish
to do with the country. It is not enough with saying "I was born with colón, I
grew with colón and shall die with colón", or "I want my colón back", as the
FMLN's propaganda say, to compensate the damages caused by the ARENA's economic
politics.
Same faces
Other way to analyze the electoral campaign is taking a glance to the
candidatures. There are no novelties. The FMLN's leadership chose hard-liners
for the Assembly and the mayor's offices. The FMLN appeals to the fidelity of
its voters, most of them in the capital. But the candidatures make evident that
the new generation of political militants inside the FMLN won't take over the
party leadership.
Also, ARENA party held its party convention in order to appoint their
candidates, and the same faces came out. As can be seen, both parties chose to
maintain their old cadres, instead of running the risk of giving chances to new
figures.
The previously stated means that the situation posed by IUDOP satisfies the
expectations of these parties. ARENA is satisfied with the good evaluation of
president Saca and thinks that this popularity will be enough to rule the
country for the next five years. In the other hand, the FMLN is satisfied with
being an opposition force that can compete with ARENA for the first place in
electoral preferences.
Recessions in economical freedom in El Salvador
In 2006 El Salvador gained a higher rank in the Economical Freedom Index (EFI). EFI is an indicator designed by Heritage Foundation in order to evaluate the advances in the economical and institutional issues that promote a better development for the markets. The criterion used is founded on the Liberal premise that maintains that the state should not interfere in the market's activities. According with this conception, a larger prominence for the market and the reduction of the roles of the state are both required in order to achieve more economic development.
EFI observes fifty variables. These variables are grouped in ten determinant
factors for economic liberty, i.e., trade politics, taxes, governmental
intervention in economics, currency politics, capital fluxes and direct foreign
investment, banking and financial activities, salaries and prices, property
rights, regulations and the activities of informal market. EFI is the average of
these factors. The qualification given by EFI ranges in a scale from 1 to 5. The
highest value equals an excessive state intervention in economy, while the
lowest value is referred to the establishment of competitive markets.
During this year, El Salvador is ranged in the 34th place in a world scale, and
in the fourth place in Latin America and the Caribbean. With a score of 23.5, El
Salvador is classified as a "mostly free" country. The indicator increased in
comparison with the score achieved last year. The higher scores are related with
the deterioration of the institutional conditions. In 2005, EFI was 2.20, which
means that El Salvador was closer to the "free country" qualification. This
means that between 2005 and 2006, the indicator increased 0.15 points, which
means that the advances in economic freedom issues were not strong enough. In
fact, when observing the behavior of EFI in the latest years, it could be noted
that the score achieved this year is high compared with all the year of the
current century. Only in 2003, El Salvador achieved a similar score.
Taking a glance to the behavior of the ten factors, it is worth mentioning that
the score is low in issues as trade politics, governmental intervention in the
economy and monetary politics. Issues as taxes, capital flux, foreign
investment, banking and financial activity, salaries and prices, property rights
and regulations, did not have any changes. Only the informal market factor was
improved.
The section regarding the economical freedom in the country begins stating the
following: "on spite the security problems caused by gangs, transnational
felonies and kidnappings, El Salvador maintains a stable democratic government,
a modest economic growth and a decrease in poverty". That means that, in the
international economic context, the country is recognized because of its
insecure environment. The judiciary branch is directly liable for this
insecurity, according to the report. There is nothing said about the
responsibility of the Executive branch. The report adds the following: "the low
average levels achieved in the worker's education and the inefficiency of the
Judiciary branch are the negative points of the economic growth... If Salvadoran
leadership want to keep attracting foreign investment, the Judiciary system
should have progresses in the struggle against crime and support the trade
arbitration". By making these statements, Heritage Foundation forgets that
taking measures in order to attract foreign investment can damage the informal
economic activities.
Underdeveloped countries are characterized for having a strong informal economy,
because the formal economy is not able enough to employ the whole local labor
force. For this reason, unemployed people, or people who do not own a formal
business ought to get their income by getting involved in activities that are
close to illegality. For example, selling pirated products —poor quality copies,
compared to those sold in the formal market—; the lack of a formal accounting
system in order to determinate the utilities for tax paying; verbal contracts
without any documentation; informal labor that involves the lack of social
assistance, which characterizes the informal sector, etc. If judiciary system
should watch over the observation of trade laws, this will cause conflict with
the interests of workers and the informal sector of economy.
The roots of this problem can be seen in the situation that pirated DVD and CD
sellers are currently facing. Due to CAFTA, many vendors fear that laws against
piracy and to protect intellectual property will affect them. For this reason,
many of them are pressing the Executive demanding solutions that satisfy their
needs.
What happen to the government?
The president and his staff emphasize the "good work" of their government.
Building a new school in the countryside, increasing health services in urban
zones, enlarging highways and other activities are presented as the great
achievements of their administration. But, in order to evaluate this
administration, the government should also listen to the opinion of the
international organizations that are constantly evaluating the economical,
political and social situation in the country. If the government do not pay
attention to the criticism of the opposition and the sectors of society that are
affected for their politics, at least that they listen to the international
organizations which they share their ideological affinity with.
Last year, World Bank and International Monetary Fund stated that the state
should control its income and expenses. An uncontrolled increase in the expenses
will deepen foreign debt. For this reason, these organizations recommend to
improve the tax structure in order to increase tax collection. President did not
pay attention to this suggestion. Likewise, the United Nations Development
Program (UNDP) suggested changes in the economic model in order to improve
living for Salvadoran people. On competitiveness and economic freedom issues,
the Central American Management Institute (INCAE) and Heritage Foundation, both
institutions that have an ideological affinity with the current government,
recognized that the advances in economy are poor, facing to CAFTA.
These postures agree with a reality of the country: "Salvadoran style"
capitalism is incompatible with free competence. Many government officers are
also entrepreneurs that use their influences in order to consolidate their
ruling position in the market. There are also governmental employees that are
accomplices to the unfair practices of the government. With corruption and poor
advances in institutionality, there can not be a strong economic growth. It
seems that the government is not coherent with the idea of economic freedom that
they proclaim. The scarce advances in competitiveness and economic freedom
—according to EFI— prove this.
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