A new era: El Salvador's President Mauricio Funes
Yesterday, Mauricio Funes was sworn in as President of El Salvador - marking the historic end of the conservative ARENA party's two-decade rule and the historic beginning of the leftist Farabundo Marti Liberation Front's (FMLN) first attempt at the presidency. After fighting U.S.-backed troops for over 12 years, the FMLN converted itself from a Marxist guerrilla-based group to a political party in 1992, after the signing of the peace accords. Yet, despite its multiple candidates for president throughout the years, it had never been able to pull ahead of ARENA's candidate until this year. Many attribute this in part to the United States' previous strong stance against the prospects of a government run by the FMLN in El Salvador, since in the 1980s, the United States poured $6 billion into El Salvador to fight the rebel group. However, the Obama administration has changed the way the United States views El Salvador and the FMLN. And to show its support for the new, democratically elected government, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton attended the inauguration of Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes wearing a bright red suit - the color of the FMLN - and called Funes' election a testament to democracy, according to Reuters. A Washington Post article reports that "After meeting with Funes on Monday evening, Clinton told him: 'The United States stands ready to assist you and your new government. This is a commitment President Obama and I share.'" A common fear appearing both in the news and on Capitol Hill after Funes' victory (see our previous blog post) was that President Funes would follow in the path of Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega. However, Funes has sought to distance himself from the far left and instead align himself with moderates like Brazilian President Lula da Silva and President Obama. The only revolution Funes spoke of during his inaugural address was a "peaceful and democratic revolution" that erases "inequalities, improves the population's quality of life, and regains the efficiency of public management." And, according to the Los Angeles Times, Funes' "Cabinet has more economic pragmatists than ex-guerrillas, and he promised economic austerity along with a fight against corruption, drug trafficking and organized crime." During his speech, Funes praised both Obama and Lula, stating that "When my adversaries, distorting facts and staining the honor of people, tried to falsely discredit us, me and my beloved party, the FMLN, turned to the strong examples of Obama and Lula, as proof that progressive leaders, instead of being a threat, can be a new, safe path for their people. . . . Obama, I said, proved that it is possible to reinvent hope. And Lula, I said, showed that one can make a government popular, democratic, with a strong economy and fair distribution of wealth." The FMLN's and Funes' victory in El Salvador is not only a historic event for the country, it is an important marker for the passing of Cold War sentiments and the beginning of a new era of foreign relations. To mark this event, 15 heads of state attended yesterday's inauguration, in addition to Secretary of State Clinton and Spanish Prince Felipe de Asturias and many other delegations from all over the world. While, according to El Nuevo Herald, 17 heads of state were to attend the events, a last minute change led to "no-shows" for Hugo Chávez and Daniel Ortega (the Wall Street Journal also reports that Bolivian President Evo Morales missed the ceremony). President Ortega did show up for the evening festivities, however the Venezuelan government cited "possible assassination attempts" as President Chávez's excuse for his decision not to attend. Yet, it is coincidental that the two heads of state from whom Funes tried to distance himself during his campaign were the day's "no-shows". It is still too early to know which way President Funes will go - whether he will ally himself with the politics and style of President Chávez, or whether he will stick with Presidents Obama and Lula. After day one, Funes seems to be leaning toward Lula and Obama, yet only time will truly tell.