In El Salvador, social movement organizations are joining forces and speaking out in support of the country’s democratically elected leftist government as it faces escalating attacks from the local right-wing opposition.

The Alliance’s formation comes in the wake of warnings from the leftist government of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) about right-wing efforts to stage a coup d’état against the administration. In recent weeks, representatives from across Salvadoran civil society have condemned the mounting atmosphere of insecurity, including gang violence targeting State agents and the mass-transit system, right-wing provocations and a relentless anti-government campaign of the country’s conservative mass media.On Monday, August 17, 33 organizations from across El Salvador’s social movement joined forces to launch the Social Alliance for Governability and Justice (ASGOJUS). The alliance brings together a diverse coalition including the Association of Judicial Branch Employees Unions (ANEJUS), the alternative media Association of Radios and Participative Programs of El Salvador (ARPAS), the feminist organization Las Mélidas; progressive youth groups PROGRE and Black Sheep, the environmental non-profit Salvadoran Ecological Unit (UNES), and many more. Juan Carlos Sánchez, of the “Five More” Movement, explained, “the Alliance seeks to guarantee the sovereign power of the Salvadoran people, and has the objective of denouncing injustice and fighting for national sovereignty.”

The Salvadoran Social and Union Front (FSS), in a July 31 press conference, denounced efforts to undermine leftist governance, stating: “The crimes and actions of bad politicians of [the right-wing opposition political party] ARENA must not prevail before a State that guarantees the rights of Salvadoran society; the citizenry does not deserve to live under the instability and anxiety generated by seditious and terrorist groups.”

In a statement published last week, the International Democratic Federation of Women “FEDIM” in El Salvador wrote: “We denounce the destabilizing actions that are being promoted by right-wing groups in El Salvador that have generated a climate of instability, violence, murders and sabotage against the population with the objective of forcing the government to regress in the social guarantees and policies achieved in the country that benefit the population and women.”

At the ASGOJUS inauguration in the capital city of San Salvador on Monday, National Healthcare Forum Director Margarita Posada announced, “As the Alliance, we will carry out actions to denounce the injustices and interventions of oligarchic sectors … [They] make it appear that the country is doing badly, that it has fallen to violence and the people’s desperation, but things continue to advance, the country will not be stopped.”