(Read the unofficial CISPES translation of the original El Faro article here.)

On Monday, May 23, the Salvadoran digital news magazine El Faro published a series ofconfidential cables sent by the U.S. Embassy in San Salvador to variousofficials at the U.S. State Department that were leaked as part of WikileaksCablegate.  According to thedigital publication, the published cables demonstrate that “U.S. interventionin Salvadoran electoral processes has been calculated and sustained over time”and that “from 2005 to 2008 their diplomats analyzed practically every facet oftheir bilateral relationship with El Salvador in light of its effect on thepossibility of victory for ARENA—the party that guarantees U.S.-backed economicpolicies.”

For years, CISPES has denounced U.S. intervention in ElSalvador’s electoral processes as an egregious violation of the country’snational sovereignty and the self-determination of the people of ElSalvador.  Whether it is throughdirect statements by high-ranking State Department officials that attempt tosway Salvadoran voters’ decisions or through the manipulation of internationalaid, economic and trade policy, and the stability of Salvadoran immigrantsliving in the U.S., the leaked cables demonstrate, as El Faro says, “the constant effort of the Embassy to make thepolitical tempo of the bilateral relationship coincide with the Salvadoranelectoral calendar."