Where did it all go wrong?
There have been allegations of gang involvement in the 2014 Salvadoran presidential elections for the last three years. A trial in El Salvador is now bringing new details to light about how both the FMLN and ARENA bought gang votes.
According to Nalo de las Palmas of the Barrio 18 Revolucionarios, the FMLN paid $250,000 to the country's three main gangs in exchange for their votes and those of their family members, as well as for their help threatening voters who might have been inclined to vote for ARENA. According to Nalo, the FMLN handed over money before the first and second rounds, while ARENA did the same before the second round in the sum of $100,000.
When it appears that only one political party was paying the gangs, the FMLN nearly won a first round victory with 48.93%. Compensating gang members and their families was not one of my explanations for why the FMLN was hitting its stride prior to the first round.
When both political parties became involved, the FMLN's Salvador Sanchez Ceren would go on to win the election against Norman Quijano by a few thousand votes (50.11%). Christine Wade and I wrote about ARENA's "little appreciated ground-campaign" here, although we missed the extent to which it might have been driven by gang payoffs..
At this point, prosecutors are tight-lipped about whether there are any ongoing investigations into those ARENA and FMLN members who allegedly paid gang members in return for their votes. Instead, the trial is focused on whether mediators of the 2012 gang truce committed any crimes.
According to Óscar Martínez, Carlos Martínez and Efren Lemus of El Faro,
According to Nalo de las Palmas of the Barrio 18 Revolucionarios, the FMLN paid $250,000 to the country's three main gangs in exchange for their votes and those of their family members, as well as for their help threatening voters who might have been inclined to vote for ARENA. According to Nalo, the FMLN handed over money before the first and second rounds, while ARENA did the same before the second round in the sum of $100,000.
When it appears that only one political party was paying the gangs, the FMLN nearly won a first round victory with 48.93%. Compensating gang members and their families was not one of my explanations for why the FMLN was hitting its stride prior to the first round.
When both political parties became involved, the FMLN's Salvador Sanchez Ceren would go on to win the election against Norman Quijano by a few thousand votes (50.11%). Christine Wade and I wrote about ARENA's "little appreciated ground-campaign" here, although we missed the extent to which it might have been driven by gang payoffs..
At this point, prosecutors are tight-lipped about whether there are any ongoing investigations into those ARENA and FMLN members who allegedly paid gang members in return for their votes. Instead, the trial is focused on whether mediators of the 2012 gang truce committed any crimes.
According to Óscar Martínez, Carlos Martínez and Efren Lemus of El Faro,
Todo este relato, sin embargo, quedó flotando este 10 de agosto en la sala de juicio. Ni Lara ni Valencia ni Muyshondt ni Lüers ni ningún efemelenista o arenero está acusado de momento por un supuesto fraude electoral que relató un testigo clave de la Fiscalía. Nalo está bajo control del Ministerio Público desde hace más de un año, según confirman fuentes fiscales. Sin embargo, todo su relato sobre cómo los dos principales partidos del país entregaron como soborno $350,000 a las pandillas a las que llaman terroristas en público, no se ha transformado en ninguna acusación en los juzgados.I can't help but think that the 2012 gang truce was a missed opportunity because Mauricio Funes never wanted to publicly commit his government to the process. There were so many mixed messages that doomed what was going to be a difficult process to begin with. Why should any other actor have supported the Salvadoran government-initiated process if the government wasn't? Instead, the gangs got stronger and both political parties felt the need to negotiate with them for political support. After twenty years of ARENA governance, there were very high hopes for an FMLN government led by Mauricio Funes in 2009. Where did it all go wrong?
Post a Comment