Sounds like a new industry: Courting the gang vote in El Salvador
Approximately two years ago, I provided expert witness testimony in an asylum case involving a young man who fled El Salvador. My testimony primarily revolved around painting a picture of the political and security conditions in the country. The young man claimed that FMLN gangs had threatened him when he was proselytizing for ARENA in the lead up to the 2014 elections. They were threatened, beaten, and repeatedly chased out of areas by FMLN gangs. The police were allegedly unwilling to investigate and said that it was a political matter and therefore not their responsibility.
As an expert witness, I can't really weigh in on whether the asylum-seeker actually experienced such violence. Instead, I can speak about whether his or her experience fits within my general understanding of the country. For the most part, I said that it was possible.
Gangs are pervasive throughout El Salvador. Local level officials are all engaged in negotiations with gangs one way or another. I had heard that San Salvador mayor Norman Quijano and others had to negotiate with gangs in order to schedule campaign rallies in certain municipalities. A friend who worked for the Minister of Education had to drive a government vehicle and negotiate entry to schools so as to be allowed to do her job. There are numerous other stories. Negotiating entry to gang-controlled communities was not necessarily a manner of strategic advantage but simply an act of necessity.
However, at the time, I did not really have any evidence that national high-level public officials from either party were engaged in such political negotiations. There was no evidence that they were using the gangs to intimidate or coerce voters. They just needed access to communities to do their jobs. With regards to threats emanating from high-level officials, that's still not the case. From what I can tell, the audio and video releases of the last few months contain no evidence that the gangs were used to attack or intimidate votes.
However, it sure seems that high-level officials from both major political parties were involved in negotiations with the gangs in 2014. They were offering some prison reform and individual benefits in return for votes. Given that the government estimates nearly 600,000 Salvadorans are "involved" in gangs as either members of various sorts, spouses, children, or other dependents, it's not difficult to imagine the power that gangs might hold over electoral outcomes.
Here's Héctor Silva Ávalos' coverage of recent developments for Insight Crime.
As an expert witness, I can't really weigh in on whether the asylum-seeker actually experienced such violence. Instead, I can speak about whether his or her experience fits within my general understanding of the country. For the most part, I said that it was possible.
Gangs are pervasive throughout El Salvador. Local level officials are all engaged in negotiations with gangs one way or another. I had heard that San Salvador mayor Norman Quijano and others had to negotiate with gangs in order to schedule campaign rallies in certain municipalities. A friend who worked for the Minister of Education had to drive a government vehicle and negotiate entry to schools so as to be allowed to do her job. There are numerous other stories. Negotiating entry to gang-controlled communities was not necessarily a manner of strategic advantage but simply an act of necessity.
However, at the time, I did not really have any evidence that national high-level public officials from either party were engaged in such political negotiations. There was no evidence that they were using the gangs to intimidate or coerce voters. They just needed access to communities to do their jobs. With regards to threats emanating from high-level officials, that's still not the case. From what I can tell, the audio and video releases of the last few months contain no evidence that the gangs were used to attack or intimidate votes.
However, it sure seems that high-level officials from both major political parties were involved in negotiations with the gangs in 2014. They were offering some prison reform and individual benefits in return for votes. Given that the government estimates nearly 600,000 Salvadorans are "involved" in gangs as either members of various sorts, spouses, children, or other dependents, it's not difficult to imagine the power that gangs might hold over electoral outcomes.
Here's Héctor Silva Ávalos' coverage of recent developments for Insight Crime.
Soon after the truce makers were arrested and only hours before the Attorney General's Office hauled them into court, the digital newspaper El Faro published a recording of Interior Minister Arístides Valencia. On the recording, Valencia can be heard negotiating with representatives of the MS13 and Barrio 18 for the gangs' support of the FMLN in the second round of the presidential election, which ushered Sánchez Cerén into power by a small margin.
Weeks earlier, El Faro obtained and revealed a video in which ARENA congressman Ernesto Muyshondt can be seen and heard negotiating campaign support with some of the same gang leaders. While Muyshondt negotiated on behalf of then-San Salvador Mayor Norman Quijano's bid for the presidency, Quijano made getting tough on gangs a central theme of his campaign.It's not clear that either party's high-level negotiations resulted in the use of gangs to intimidate voters into supporting one candidate or party over the other. I think that there's a difference there but I'm not exactly sure what it would mean. I also wouldn't say that that didn't happen. We'll just have to wait for the next leaked video. There's got to be more, no?
Post a Comment