[R-G] Letter on salvadorean elections by north american academics

[Anthony Fenton]

Letter signed by North American academics on the upcoming Salvadorean  
elections.

***

1 December 2008


We the undersigned are North American academics who study Latin  
America. We wish to make known several concerns with regard to the  
electoral process now underway in El Salvador and which include  
legislative elections in January 2009 and presidential elections in  
March 2009. In particular, as academics who have studied electoral  
processes throughout the hemisphere, we believe that there are a  
minimal set of norms and conditions necessary for elections to be  
free, transparent, and democratic. These include the freedom to  
participate in civic and political activities without fear of  
violence, repression, or reprisals, and the existence of rules and  
regulations that assure transparency in the voting process and that  
safeguard against the possibility of electoral fraud. We wish to make  
known in this regard the following four concerns:


  1.

     We are against foreign interference in the electoral processes and
     the internal affairs of other countries. We observe in the
     Salvadoran case that the United States government has brazenly
     intervened in previous elections to influence the outcome and that
     once again it appears to be undertaking such intervention. Among
     various incidents we draw attention to statements made by the U.S.
     ambassador to El Salvador, Charles Glazer, in May 2008 on alleged
     and unsubstantiated connections between the principal opposition
     party in El Salvador, the Farabundo Marti National Liberation
     Front (FMLN) and the FARC guerrilla organization of Colombia.
     Ambassador Glazer stated that “any group that collaborates or
     expresses friendship with the FARC is not a friend of the United
     States”^^1 <#sdfootnote1sym> Also, in February 2008, the U.S.
     Director of Intelligence Director J. Michael McConnell made public
     a report that, without any evidence whatsoever, charged that the
     FMLN was set to receive “generous financing” from Venezuelan
     President Hugo Chavez for its electoral campaign.^^2
     <#sdfootnote2sym> In October, Ambassador Glazer made public
     reference to this report.^ ^3 <#sdfootnote3sym>


Such statements constitute unacceptable outside interference in the  
electoral process. They are a veiled threat against the Salvadoran  
people that, should they elect a government not to the liking of the  
United States, they will face U.S. wrath and possible reprisals. We  
consider this interference to be in violation of international norms  
and we call on the U.S. government to immediately desist from all such  
interference. The United States government must respect the right of  
the Salvadoran electorate to choose its government free from threats  
of U.S. hostility or reprisals.


  2.

     We are alarmed by the increase in political violence in El
     Salvador over the past two years and the atmosphere of impunity
     with which this violence has taken place. There has been a spate
     of assassinations the circumstances surrounding which strongly
     suggests that they have been political in nature. The victims of
     these crimes have exclusively been leaders of trade unions,
     community and religious organizations and members or supporters of
     the FMLN. In 2007, according to the legal department of the
     Archbishopric of San Salvador, only 31 percent of the homicides
     which that office investigated was attributed to maras (gang
     members) or to common crime, while 69 percent, showed clear signs
     of “death-squad style” and “social cleansing” crimes ^^4
     <#sdfootnote4sym> . The San Salvador-based Foundation for the
     Study of the Application of the Law has documented 27 murders of
     young social movement activists and members of the political
     opposition over the past three years that appear to be death squad
     slayings.^^5 <#sdfootnote5sym> In addition, the El Salvador Human
     Rights Commission has denounced an increase in such death-squad
     slayings against opposition leaders as the elections have
     approached and warned that these assassinations are generating a
     climate of fear.


  3.

     There have been a series of legal changes and reforms to the
     electoral code that open up the possibility of fraud. Among these,
     we observe that article 256 of the electoral law was partially
     derogated unilaterally in December 2007^^6 <#sdfootnote6sym> by
     the current government. This article (256-D,c) stipulated that all
     ballots must be signed and sealed by election officials appointed
     to each voting center in order to be valid, thus safeguarding
     against tampering with ballots once they are deposited by voters.
     In addition, the current Salvadoran government unilaterally moved
     the official opening of the electoral period from September 17,
     2008 to September 1, 2008. This meant that the electoral register
     will be based on the 1992 national census rather than on the new
     census conducted in 2007. The electoral register at this time
     lists 4,226,479 Salvadorans registered to vote, on the basis of
     the 1992 census. However, the new 2007 census indicates that there
     are only 3,265,021 eligible voters, 961,458 less than the
     electoral register.^^7 <#sdfootnote7sym> Relying on the outdated
     1992 census opens the possibility of ballot-stuffing and related
     types of voter fraud by using the names of people who are have
     died since 1992 or who have migrated and are no longer residents
     of the country. Moreover, the Organization of American States
     concluding its audit of the electoral register at the end of 2007
     and in early 2008 presented its report, which included a list of
     103 recommended measures with regard to the electoral process,
     including 56 which that international organization characterized
     as “obligatory,” incompliance with which would put into jeopardy
     the integrity of the elections.^^8 <#sdfootnote8sym> To date, the
     great majority of these recommendations have not been acted upon.


  4.

     Finally, we are highly alarmed by statements issued in Washington
     D.C. on September 18, 2008, by the Salvadoran foreign minister,
     Marisol Argueta de Barillas, in a speech before the American
     Enterprise Institute (AEI)^^9 <#sdfootnote9sym> . Ms. Argueta was
     personally invited by AEI visiting fellow Roger Noriega, a U.S.
     assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs during
     the administration of George W. Bush and a man who shamelessly
     intervened in the 2004 Salvadoran presidential elections. At that
     time, and while serving as assistant secretary of state, he
     threatened that if the FMLN were elected the United States would
     seek to block the sending of remittances from Salvadorans in the
     United States to their family members in El Salvador and to deport
     Salvadorans residing in the United States.^^10 <#sdfootnote10sym>
     In her speech before the AEI, the Salvadoran foreign minister
     openly called on the U.S. government to intervene in her country’s
     electoral process.


Ms. Argueta declared: “The United States must pay close attention to  
what is happening in El Salvador and the resulting national security  
and geopolitical consequences, since our enemies are joining together  
and becoming stronger. The upcoming municipal and legislative  
elections in January of 2009 and the next presidential elections in  
March 2009 will be without a doubt, the closest electoral competitions  
in the history of El Salvador…The opposition party is a remnant of the  
former guerrilla movement. Some members of its leadership have been  
closely related to ETA or to the FARC. Losing El Salvador will  
threaten the national security of both El Salvador and the United  
States…It will generate instability in the country and in neighboring  
countries and it will set El Salvador back 30 years, to when Central  
America was in turmoil. As President Ronald Reagan said 25 years ago… 
the security of the United States is at stake in El Salvador.…US  
foreign policy in the region must be reassessed and there must be a  
review of growing anti-American sentiment and the coming to power of  
increasing numbers of anti-American governments in this backyard.”^^11  
<#sdfootnote11sym>


These declarations virtually call for U.S. intervention in El Salvador  
to avoid a possible electoral triumph by the FMLN, and to undermine in  
this way the right of the Salvadoran people to elect the government of  
their choosing free from threats, pressures, and interference by a  
foreign power. Given the long and sordid history of U.S. intervention  
in El Salvador and in Latin America we view these statements with  
grave concern and we call on the Salvadoran government to desist from  
inviting U.S. intervention.



We wish to make these concerns known to the incoming Obama  
administration. We are hopeful that, with its renewed commitment to  
better diplomatic relations with Latin America and its message of  
political change, this new administration will not support any  
intervention in the Salvadoran elections and nor will it tolerate  
human rights violations and electoral fraud.



SIGNED:



William I. Robinson, University of California at Santa Barbara


Hector Perla, University of California at Santa Cruz


Charles Hale, University of Texas at Austin and past president of the  
Latin American Studies Association (2006-2007)


Noam Chomsky, Massachusetts Institute of Technology


Immanuel Wallerstein, Yale University


Arturo Arias, University of Texas at Austin and past president of the  
Latin American Studies Association (2001-2003)


Craig N. Murphy, Wellesley College and past president of the  
International Studies Association (2000-2001)


Ramona Hernandez, City College of New York and Director of Dominican  
Studies Institute


Helen I. Safa, Emeritus, University of Florida and past president of  
the Latin American Studies Association (1983-1985)


Carmen Diana Deere, University of Florida and past president of the  
Latin American Studies Association (1992-94).


Sonia E. Alvarez, University of Massachusetts at Amherst and past  
president of the Latin American Studies Association (2004-2006)


Lars Schoultz, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and past  
president of the Latin American Studies Association (1991-1992)


Thomas Holloway, University of California at Davis and past president  
of the Latin American Studies Association (2000-2001)


John L. Hammond, Hunter College and Graduate Center, CUNY, and former  
chair of the Latin American Studies Association Task Force on Human  
Rights and Academic Freedom



Miguel Tinker-Salas, Pomona College


Greg Grandin, New York University


Manuel Rozental, Algoma University


Mark Weisbrot, Center for Economic and Policy Research, Washington, D.C.


Jeffrey L. Gould, University of Indiana


Arturo Escobar, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill


Mark Sawyer, University of California at Los Angeles


Ramon Grosfoguel, University of California at Berkeley


Peter McLaren, University of California at Los Angeles


Gilberto G. Gonzales, University of California at Irvine


John Foran, University of California at Santa Barbara


Christopher Chase-Dunn, University of California at Irvine


Alfonso Gonzales, New York University


Gary Prevost, St. John's University and the College of St. Benedict


Sujatha Fernandez, Queens College, City University of New York


Howard Winant, University of California at Santa Barbara


Jon Shefner, University of Tennessee


Daniel Hellinger, Webster University


Agustin Lao-Montes, University of Massachusetts at Amherst


Millie Thayer, University of Massachusetts at Amherst


Jeffrey W. Rubin, Boston University


Ellen Moodie, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign


Brandt Gustav Peterson, Michigan State University


Adam Flint, Binghamton University


Richard Stahler-Sholk, Eastern Michigan University


Richard Grossman, Northeastern Illinois University


Manel Lacorte, University of Maryland


Ana Patricia Rodríguez, University of Maryland


Beth Baker, California State University at Los Angeles


Aaron Schneider, Tulane University


Misha Kokotovic, University of California-San Diego


Marc McLeod, Seattle University


Michael Hardt, Duke University


Bruce Ergood, Ohio University


Beatrice Pita, University of California at San Diego


Rosaura Sanchez, University of California at San Diego


Nancy Plankey Videla, Texas A&M University


Kate Bronfenbrenner, Cornell University


LaDawn Haglund, Arizona State University


Judith A. Weiss, Mount Allison University, Canada


Susanne Jonas, University of California at Santa Cruz


Robert Whitney, University of New Brunswick (Saint John), Canada


Aline Helg (U.S. citizen), Université de Genève, Switzerland


Stephanie Jed, University of California at San Diego


Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, California State University


James J. Brittain, Acadia University, Canada


Margaret Power, Illinois Institute of Technology


Philip J. Williams, University of Florida


R. James Sacouman, Acadia University


Carlos Schroder, Northern Virginia Community College


Frederick B. Mills, Bowie State University


Judith Blau, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill


Egla Martinez, Carleton University, Canada


Walda Katz-Fishman, Howard University


Judith Wittner, Loyola University


Yajaira M. Padilla, University of Kansas


Tanya Golash-Boza, University of Kansas


Erich H. Loewy, University of California at Davis


Jonathan Fox, University of California at Santa Cruz


Steven S. Volk, Oberlin College


Marc Edelman, Hunter College and the Graduate Center, CUNY


W. L. Goldfrank, University of California at Santa Cruz


Benjamin Kohl, Temple University


Lourdes Benería, Cornell University


Philip Oxhorn, McGill University


Ronald Chilcote, University of California at Riverside


Judith Adler Hellman, York University, Toronto


Barbara Chasin, Montclair State University


Matt D Childs, University of South Carolina


Sarah Hernandez, New College of Florida


Catherine LeGrand, McGill University


Nathalia E. Jaramillo, Purdue University


William Avilés, University of Nebraska, Kearney


Dana Frank, University of California at Santa Cruz


Robert Andolina, Seattle University


Sinclair Thomson, New York University


Patricia Balcom, University of Moncoton


Josée Grenier, Université du Québec en Outaouais


Manfred Bienefeld, Carleton University


Susan Spronk, University of Ottawa


May E. Bletz, Brock University


David Heap, University of Western Ontario


Dennis Beach, Saint John’s University, Minnesota


Aldo A. Lauria-Santiago, Rutgers University-New Brunswick


William S. Stewart, California State University, Chico


Sheila Candelario, Fairfield University


Erik Ching, Furman University


Marc Zimmerman, University of Houston


Maureen Shea, Tulane University


Héctor Cruz-Feliciano, Council on International Educational Exchange


Karen Kampwirth, Knox College


Marco A. Mojica, City College of San Francisco


Nick Copeland, University of Arkansas


Silvia L. López, Carleton College


Marie-Agnès Sourieau, Fairfield University


Karina Oliva-Alvarado, University of California at Los Angeles


Erin S. Finzer, University of Kansas


Dina Franceschi, Fairfield University


Lisa Kowalchuk, University of Guelph


Amalia Pallares, University of Illinois at Chicago


B. Ruby Rich, University of California at Santa Cruz


Edward Dew, Fairfield University


Nora Hamilton, University of Southern California


Deborah Levenson, Boston College


Linda J. Craft, North Park University


Thomas W. Walker, Ohio University


Jocelyn Viterna, Harvard University


Cecilia Menjivar, Arizona State University


Ricardo Dominguez, University of California at San Diego


María Elena Díaz, University of California at Santa Cruz


Guillermo Delgado-P, University of California at Santa Cruz


Guillaume Hébert, Université du Québec à Montréal


Leisy Abrego, University of California at Irvine


Michael E. Rotkin, University of California at Santa Cruz


John Blanco, University of California at San Diego


Steven Levitsky, Harvard University


John Beverley, University of Pittsburgh


Evelyn Gonzalez, Montgomery College


Tom O'Brien, University of Houston


Pablo Rodriguez, City College of San Francisco


John Womack, Jr., Harvard University


James D. Cockcroft, State University of New York


Mark Anner, Penn State University


John Kirk, Dalhousie University


Jorge Mariscal, University of California at San Diego


Susan Kellogg, University of Houston


Susan Gzesh, University of Chicago


Luis Martin-Cabrera, University of California at San Diego


Lawrence Rich, Northern Virginia Community College


Jeff Tennant, The University of Western Ontario, Canada


Meyer Brownstone, University of Toronto and Chair emeritus, Oxfam Canada


Charmain Levy, Université du Québec en Outaouais, Canada


Liisa L. North, York University


Denis G. Rancourt, University of Ottawa, Canada

1 <#sdfootnote1anc> La Prensa Gráfica, 21 mayo 2008. http://archive.laprensa.com.sv/20080521/nacion/1063436.asp

2 <#sdfootnote2anc> La Prensa Gráfica, 6 febrero 2008. http://archive.laprensa.com.sv/20080206/nacion/983447.asp

3 <#sdfootnote3anc> El Diario de Hoy 1 octubre 2008.

4 <#sdfootnote4anc> Informe 2007. http://www.tutelalegal.org/

5 <#sdfootnote5anc> La Pagina de Maiz, No. 195, 5/23/08; "Presentacion  
de Denucia ante FGR", 2/12/08

6 <#sdfootnote6anc> Corte Suprema de Justicia. http://www.jurisprudencia.gob.sv/Lgreformas.htm

7 <#sdfootnote7anc> La Prensa Gráfica 5 octubre 2008. http://archive.laprensa.com.sv/20081005/nacion/1152235.asp

8 <#sdfootnote8anc> "Aspectos Relevantes en el Informe de Auditoria  
Integral al Registro Electoral Realizada por La OEA",http://www.isd.org.sv/trans_electoral/documents/ASPECTOSRELEVANTESENELINFORMEDEOEA.pdf

9 <#sdfootnote9anc> Diario Colatino 3 octubre 2008. http://www.diariocolatino.com/es/20081003/nacionales/59433/?tpl=69

10 <#sdfootnote10anc> Noticen, 3/25/2004, Latin America Data Base,  
University of New Mexico.


11 <#sdfootnote11anc> Noticen, 10/16/2008.