Open letter from U.S. Academics on Salvadoran Elections
Wethe undersigned are North American academics who study Latin America.We wish to make known several concerns with regard to the electoralprocess now underway in El Salvador and which include legislativeelections in January 2009 and presidential elections in March 2009. Inparticular, as academics who have studied electoral processesthroughout the hemisphere, we believe that there are a minimal set ofnorms and conditions necessary for elections to be free, transparent,and democratic. These include the freedom to participate in civic andpolitical activities without fear of violence, repression, orreprisals, and the existence of rules and regulations that assuretransparency in the voting process and that safeguard against thepossibility of electoral fraud. We wish to make known in this regardthe following four concerns:
1) We are against foreign interference in the electoralprocesses and the internal affairs of other countries. We observe inthe Salvadoran case that the United States government has brazenlyintervened in previous elections to influence the outcome and that onceagain it appears to be undertaking such intervention. Among variousincidents we draw attention to statements made by the U.S. ambassadorto El Salvador, Charles Glazer, in May 2008 on alleged andunsubstantiated connections between the principal opposition party inEl Salvador, the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) andthe FARC guerrilla organization of Colombia. Ambassador Glazer statedthat any group that collaborates or expresses friendship with the FARCis not a friend of the United States.1 Also, in February2008, the U.S. Director of Intelligence Director J. Michael McConnellmade public a report that, without any evidence whatsoever, chargedthat the FMLN was set to receive generous financing from VenezuelanPresident Hugo Chavez for its electoral campaign.2 In October, Ambassador Glazer made public reference to this report.3
Such statements constitute unacceptable outside interference in theelectoral process. They are a veiled threat against the Salvadoranpeople that, should they elect a government not to the liking of theUnited States, they will face U.S. wrath and possible reprisals. Weconsider this interference to be in violation of international normsand we call on the U.S. government to immediately desist from all suchinterference. The United States government must respect the right ofthe Salvadoran electorate to choose its government free from threats ofU.S. hostility or reprisals.
2) We are alarmed by the increase in political violence in ElSalvador over the past two years and the atmosphere of impunity withwhich this violence has taken place. There has been a spate ofassassinations the circumstances surrounding which strongly suggeststhat they have been political in nature. The victims of these crimeshave exclusively been leaders of trade unions, community and religiousorganizations and members or supporters of the FMLN. In 2007, accordingto the legal department of the Archbishopric of San Salvador, only 31percent of the homicides which that office investigated was attributedto maras (gang members) or to common crime, while 69 percent, showedclear signs of death-squad style and social cleansing crimes.45 In addition, the ElSalvador Human Rights Commission has denounced an increase in suchdeath-squad slayings against opposition leaders as the elections haveapproached and warned that these assassinations are generating aclimate of fear.The San Salvador-based Foundation for the Study of the Application ofthe Law has documented 27 murders of young social movement activistsand members of the political opposition over the past three years thatappear to be death squad slayings.
3) There have been a series of legal changes and reforms to theelectoral code that open up the possibility of fraud. Among these, weobserve that article 256 of the electoral law was partially derogatedunilaterally in December 2007 by the current government.6This article (256-D,c) stipulated that all ballots must be signed andsealed by election officials appointed to each voting center in orderto be valid, thus safeguarding against tampering with ballots once theyare deposited by voters. In addition, the current Salvadoran governmentunilaterally moved the official opening of the electoral period fromSeptember 17, 2008 to September 1, 2008. This meant that the electoralregister will be based on the 1992 national census rather than on thenew census conducted in 2007. The electoral register at this time lists4,226,479 Salvadorans registered to vote, on the basis of the 1992census. However, the new 2007 census indicates that there are only3,265,021 eligible voters, 961,458 less than the electoral register.7Relying on the outdated 1992 census opens the possibility ofballot-stuffing and related types of voter fraud by using the names ofpeople who are have died since 1992 or who have migrated and are nolonger residents of the country. Moreover, the Organization of AmericanStates concluding its audit of the electoral register at the end of2007 and in early 2008 presented its report, which included a list of103 recommended measures with regard to the electoral process,including 56 which that international organization characterized asobligatory, incompliance with which would put into jeopardy theintegrity of the elections.8 To date, the great majority of these recommendations have not been acted upon.
4) Finally, we are highly alarmed by statements issued in WashingtonD.C. on September 18, 2008, by the Salvadoran foreign minister, MarisolArgueta de Barillas, in a speech before the American EnterpriseInstitute (AEI).9 Ms. Argueta was personally invited by AEIvisiting fellow Roger Noriega, a U.S. assistant secretary of state forWestern Hemisphere affairs during the administration of George W. Bushand a man who shamelessly intervened in the 2004 Salvadoranpresidential elections. At that time, and while serving as assistantsecretary of state, he threatened that if the FMLN were elected theUnited States would seek to block the sending of remittances fromSalvadorans in the United States to their family members in El Salvadorand to deport Salvadorans residing in the United States.10In her speech before the AEI, the Salvadoran foreign minister openlycalled on the U.S. government to intervene in her countrys electoralprocess.
Ms. Argueta declared: The United States must pay close attention towhat is happening in El Salvador and the resulting national securityand geopolitical consequences, since our enemies are joining togetherand becoming stronger. The upcoming municipal and legislative electionsin January of 2009 and the next presidential elections in March 2009will be without a doubt, the closest electoral competitions in thehistory of El SalvadorThe opposition party is a remnant of the formerguerrilla movement. Some members of its leadership have been closelyrelated to ETA or to the FARC. Losing El Salvador will threaten thenational security of both El Salvador and the United StatesIt willgenerate instability in the country and in neighboring countries and itwill set El Salvador back 30 years, to when Central America was inturmoil. As President Ronald Reagan said 25 years agothe security ofthe United States is at stake in El Salvador.US foreign policy in theregion must be reassessed and there must be a review of growinganti-American sentiment and the coming to power of increasing numbersof anti-American governments in this backyard.11
These declarations virtually call for U.S. intervention in ElSalvador to avoid a possible electoral triumph by the FMLN, and toundermine in this way the right of the Salvadoran people to elect thegovernment of their choosing free from threats, pressures, andinterference by a foreign power. Given the long and sordid history ofU.S. intervention in El Salvador and in Latin America we view thesestatements with grave concern and we call on the Salvadoran governmentto desist from inviting U.S. intervention.
We wish to make these concerns known to the incoming Obamaadministration. We are hopeful that, with its renewed commitment tobetter diplomatic relations with Latin America and its message ofpolitical change, this new administration will not support anyintervention in the Salvadoran elections and nor will it tolerate humanrights 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 pastpresident of the Latin American Studies Association (2004-2006)
Lars Schoultz, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and pastpresident 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, andformer chair of the Latin American Studies Association Task Force onHuman 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 Johns 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
Barbara Weinstein, New York University
Kelley Ready, Brandeis University
NOTES:
1) La Prensa Gráfica, 21 mayo 2008. http://archive.laprensa.com.sv/20080521 /nacion/1063436.asp
2) La Prensa Gráfica, 6 febrero 2008. http://archive.laprensa.com.sv/20080206 /nacion/983447.asp
3) El Diario de Hoy 1 octubre 2008. Informe 2007. http://www.tutelalegal.org/
4) Informe 2007. http://www.tutelalegal.org/
5) La Pagina de Maiz, No. 195, 5/23/08; "Presentacion de Denucia ante FGR", 2/12/08
6) Corte Suprema de Justicia. http://www.jurisprudencia.gob.sv/Lgreformas.htm
7) La Prensa Gráfica 5 octubre 2008. http://archive.laprensa.com.sv/20081005 /nacion/1152235.asp
8) "Aspectos Relevantes en el Informe de Auditoria Integral al Registro Electoral Realizada por La OEA", http://www.isd.org.sv/trans_electoral/documents/ASPECTOSRELEVANTESENEL INFORMEDEOEA.pdf
9) Diario Colatino 3 octubre 2008. http://www.diariocolatino.com/es/20081003 /nacionales/59433/?tpl=69
10) Noticen, 3/25/2004, Latin America Data Base, University of New Mexico.
11) Noticen, 10/16/2008.