Another election result likely to get very little publicity in the American press.
Ruling right-wing wins El Salvador election
By Sara Silver and John Authers in San Salvador
Published: March 22 2004 6:16 | Last Updated: March 22 2004 6:16
news.ft.com
The ruling right-wing Arena party in El Salvador enjoyed a landslide victory in Sunday's presidential election on a record turn-out, delivering a decisive defeat to the left-wing opposition, and ensuring the survival of the regime which has been the most reliable supporter of the US in the region for the last decade.
Preliminary results showed Arena's candidate Tony Saca, a 39-year-old former sports broadcaster, winning almost 60 per cent of the vote, against 36 per cent for Schafik Handal, a former Marxist guerrilla leader in the country's civil war and leader of the left-wing FMLN. The wide margin means that Mr Saca can avoid an expected second-round run-off against Mr Handal.
Voters' turn-out, at 63 per cent, was the highest since the government and FMLN signed peace accords which ended the war a decade ago.
Mr Saca's victory will see El Salvador keeping its small contingent of troops in Iraq. His government is also expected to continue with liberalising economic policies in line with the so-called Washington consensus.
At the beginning of the year, some polls showed Mr Handal in a slight lead, but this was steadily eroded in a campaign that featured frequent allusions to the civil war. Mr Saca's party also has ties with the war. It is widely believed that Arena's founder was the mastermind behind the army-backed right-wing death squads which targeted political opponents.
Mr Saca's supporters celebrated at his victory rally by singing the Arena "marching song" from the war era, which includes such phrases as "Liberty is written in blood", and "El Salvador will be the tomb of the reds".
The high turn-out at the polls could have been spurred by comments from US officials in the closing week of the campaigns that a victory for Mr Handal might endanger relations with the US, which has a huge migrant Salvadoran population.
El Salvador's main media, which overwhelmingly support the government, gave heavy coverage to the US warnings. With remittances from Salvadorans in the US accounting for 14 per cent of the country's GDP, many voters were not prepared to risk any damage to US relations.
Mr Handal accepted the result in a defiant speech, in which he refused to congratulate Mr Saca on his victory. He said, "we don't congratulate Mr Saca, because his vote has been achieved with fear, lies and blackmail, and a vote with fear is a vote without liberty. These methods aren't democratic and they aren't legitimate."
Mr Handal promised that the FMLN, which has the largest bloc in congress, would attempt to block ratification of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (Cafta) with the US, signed at the end of last year, as well as further privatisations.
In his victory speech, Mr Saca emphasised his promise to deal with the country's severe problem with violent crime, and to defeat the left.
"Salvadorans have elected me to administer the future, and not return to the past," he said. "We are going to celebrate the salvation of El Salvador in the polling booths. They said yes to democracy, to the future, and to a secure country."
Mr Saca, who takes office in June, is the fourth successive president from Arena. He described himself as a candidate of renewal, and promised to get congress to approve Cafta.
He also confirmed, to ecstatic applause from his supporters, that he would not re-open diplomatic relations with Cuba, and that the Salvadorans in the US were just as important as the Salvadorans who remain in El Salvador. |
