The meaning of dirty politics

From El Salvador, Tim has two good posts on (1) the revelation that ARENA officials offered gangs a new truce in return for votes in the 2014 election and (2) President Salvador Sanchez Ceren's proposal to adopt extraordinary measures to confront escalating gang violence.

With regards to the truce, I think that we all heard rumors that the FMLN and ARENA were engaged in dialogue with gang members prior to the 2014 presidential election. The political parties were offering some benefits in return for the votes of gang members and, more importantly, those of their families. It makes sense given that the government estimates 600,000 Salvadorans are connected to gangs through membership, family, or friendship - nearly 10% of the population. There's also the fact that government officials cannot enter or operate in some communities because of the presence of gangs. Local officials are "negotiating" with gangs on a daily basis.

I thought that those negotiations were more likely to have taken place at the municipal level on a case by case basis rather than on a national level. It was too risky to coordinate discussions at the top. The video implicating ARENA officials looks to involve both municipal and national level actors, at least one of whom has been going after the FMLN for their dialogue with gang members. A friend on Twitter speculated that ARENA's negotiations with gangs might explain the huge increase in voter turnout and support for Norman Quijano in the second round. All the more reason for Salvadorans to get to the bottom of the truce.

With regards to the second post on extraordinary measures, Tim's right. The government is simply doubling down on policies that they are already implementing - trying to exert greater control over prisons and deploying more soldiers into communities most severely affected by violence.

I worry that doing so might undermine efforts related to Plan Safe El Salvador in those communities. I don't have much confidence in the country's security forces to carry out extraordinary measures without making measures worse. It's possible that El Salvador would experience fewer homicides with greater military presence, but they are likely to see increased repression by those security forces against the entire population, not just gang members. Unfortunately, it's still probably the politically popular decision. I'm sure it's the US' fault.

In other news, Voices on the Border voices its concerns about Bosque Encantador – Tourism Development in Jiquilisco. These conflicts lead to repression and death in Honduras and Guatemala. Fortunately, that hasn't happened in El Salvador. The government seems to be moving ahead with development projects over the objections of local communities.

Finally, Boz calls for an independent international investigation in Berta Caceres' murder in Honduras. Maybe I said it too early, but Caceres' murder was going to be a big challenge for Honduras and the newly established MACCIH.