Former US Senator threatens Salvadoran democracy

According to recent polls coming out of El Salvador, Salvador Sanchez Ceren and the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) remain well-positioned heading into next month's runoff election against Norman Quijano and the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) party. CS-Sondea released a poll which gave the FMLN a 56 to 44 percent lead over ARENA. 1,800 Salvadorans took part in the February 6th to 9th survey. A CID Gallup poll also found that the FMLN leads the intended vote over ARENA, 55 to 45 percent.

These poll results are obviously important for the FMLN. Most late first round polling had given the FMLN a sizable lead over its competitors, but that lead disappeared when likely voters were asked about a potential second round runoff between Sanchez Ceren and Quijano. The FMLN is stronger than most of us thought.

Given that Salvadorans obviously don't know what they are doing, former US Senator from the Carolinas Jesse Helms Jim DeMint threatened El Salvador and all Salvadorans with Armageddon should they exercise their democratic right to go out and freely vote for their preferred candidate.

After a bit of speculating and worst-case scenario-ing, DeMint says that the US should cut off Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and highly regulate the $4 billion dollars in remittances sent back to the country by hard working Salvadorans in the US each year.

It is up to the Salvadorans to save their democracy.

However, a dose of truth-telling from their friends here will help them make an informed decision. That can only begin when responsible members of Congress haul in officials at the State Department and demand an explanation of who lost El Salvador.

I'm not really sure what to think. Senator DeMint is entitled to his opinion. While he is no longer in an important position, US Senator, he should exercise some restraint and common wisdom when trying to undermine other countries' democratic processes.

Cut TPS and regulate remittances? That's recycled. Republican members of Congress threatened El Salvador with those punishments in 2004 and 2009. And most of the other material in the op-ed showed up in O'Grady, Abrams, and Cardenas already so whatever.

However, for some reason I'm now more inclined to support the FMLN than I used to. When I spent 1997 in El Salvador, my friend Salvador used to call me pecenista (PCN). I actually felt more comfortable with the Democratic Convergence (CD) or as a pedecista (PDC). I think that is why the FMLN supporters I hung out with never truly trusted me - that and hanging out with the embassy guards who thought that I worked for the agency.