They Don’t Work For You Anymore

Here is some reaction to yesterday's election in El Salvador from Christine Wade, Associate Professor of Political Science and International Studies and Curator of Louis L. Goldstein '35 Program in Public Affairs at Washington College in Maryland.

It was certainly unexpected. Despite polls that predicted a double-digit victory for the FMLN’s Salvador Sánchez Cerén, there appears to be fewer than 6,000 votes separating him from his opponent. The polls were so decisive that I’d even drafted a post-mortem on ARENA’s failed election strategy, and an eye to future reforms for the party.

In what was perhaps the lowest point (and that’s saying a lot) in any election since the country’s transition to democracy in 1994, last night ARENA’s Norman Quijano proclaimed himself the winner, denounced the FMLN’s narrow victory as fraud, condemned the TSE, and said that the armed forces were watching the results and would be ready to defend democracy. That last one should really trouble you. It was unsettling.

For decades, El Salvador was governed by the military- either directly or indirectly. The Salvadoran military was responsible for an overwhelming proportion of the deaths and abuses that occurred during the country’s civil war. The 1992 peace accords restructured El Salvador’s military and placed it under civilian rule, with the president (currently Mauricio Funes) serving as the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces. One of the key elements to sustaining the Salvadoran peace has been the military’s return to the barracks. This is why so many scholars, analysts, and human rights activists have expressed concerned about the use of the armed forces in policing efforts.

Much has been made of Sánchez Cerén’s past as a former FMLN guerrilla during the current campaign, but relatively few have remarked on ARENA’s shady past. That the presidential candidate of a party borne out of death squads would invoke the armed forces in his “victory” speech last night merely underscores the extent to which some within ARENA’s Cold War echo chamber have failed to embrace the new role of the armed forces and the basic principles of democratic institutions. And while the drama of the day and uncertainty of the evening may have helped to fuel Quijano’s rhetoric, this much is clear: defending ARENA (or any party) against alleged voter fraud is not within the military’s purview. Let’s hope that cooler heads within the party prevail within the coming hours and days. Until then, perhaps it bears reminding Sr. Quijano of the new rules of the game: the military doesn’t work for you anymore.