The US and the FMLN - a normal relationship

In addition to researching how the Central American revolutionary groups interacted with each other, I began looking at US-Salvadoran relations in the post-Cold War period while on my trip to El Salvador last month. I spoke with Salvadorans from ARENA, the FMLN, and PDC, ciudadanos estadounidenses, and other internacionalistas, observers and participants, about US-Salvadorans, especially under the Funes and Sanchez Ceren governments.

For the most part, they all described our relationship as normal.

As with any two countries or governments, we have our share of disagreements. The FMLN wants US assistance, whether FOMILENIO, the Partnership for Growth or the Plan for Prosperity. Like any other government in the world, they want the funds with as few conditions as possible. The US wants to make sure that they funds are spent in ways that benefit individuals and not specific political parties. The US also wants to ensure that the funds are not used to support initiatives with which we disagree. Think about the US AID program that seemed to support some parts of the truce which caused some trouble.

When the US Ambassador talks about the challenges of corruption and the weak rule of law, the FMLN obviously gets upset and sees it as a direct attack against them. When the US Ambassador writes op-eds or speaks out in support of the rights of LGBTQ people, ARENA criticizes the US.

Inflammatory statements comes from Republican members of Congress and foreign policy practitioners. They seem to be out of step with US policy towards El Salvador - think Elliot Abrams and Roger Noriega during the 2014 presidential election in El Salvador. They also come from FMLN members in El Salvador, mostly when trying to rally their supporters. They seem to be out of touch with Salvadoran policy towards the US. US and Salvadorans who work together on bilateral matters characterize the statements as more nuisances than anything else.

Salvadorans have a pretty good understanding of US politics and whether they should take some statements seriously (perhaps not always when longtime friend of the FMLN and El Salvador Senator Leahy speaks). And the US seems to know what they should take seriously and what they should not from the FMLN (Cuban Five visit to El Salvador).      

Anyway, I don't think that anyone should take this opinion that seriously. I wouldn't go that far but as a few current and former FMLN told me on my visit, Salvadoran-US relations might be stronger under the FMLN and Obama than at any time under ARENA.