By Brandon R. Cottrell
Impunity Watch Reporter, North America
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador – El Salvador’s Electoral Court confirmed yesterday that Sanchez Ceren, the former rebel and left wing presidential candidate, won the March 9th presidential election by securing 50.11% of the votes. As a result, Ceren becomes the first former rebel to serve as president in El Salvador.
Ceren, who defeated conservative candidate Norman Quijano (who received 49.89% of the vote), will serve a five-year term beginning June 1, 2014. Quijano, who had challenged the election result on the basis of fraud and other foul play, ultimately could not produce enough evidence to prove fraud.
Ceren, who was a guerrilla commander during El Salvador’s Civil War in the 1980’s and 1990’s, has served as the vice president for the past five years. As vice president, he was behind many of the social spending programs in El Salvador and during his campaign he pledged that there would be even more spending, with the hope that such spending will combat the inequality that plagues the country.
In Latin America, there is an emerging trend of leftist candidates, who had been involved guerilla movements, being elected president. Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, and Venezuela are all countries that have such presidents. Quijano, whose campaign ads attempted to characterize Ceren Hugo Chavez, warned that the election of Ceren would result in chaos and violence. Ceren has combated such allegations by maintaining that he wants to position himself in the center of the political spectrum and has called for reconciliation and unity of the left and right.
As Ceren prepares to take office, there are numerous issues that he will be tasked with facing. Foremost, with the country averaging nine murders per day in 2014 and the continued rise of gang related extortion, security (and reducing the violence) is a must and was cited as the biggest concern for most voters.
Additionally, a 2012 gang truce, which had cut the murder rates, is reportedly in trouble—yet Ceren has remained silent on the subject, which will need to be addressed. Closely related, are El Salvador’s prisons, which are categorized as overcrowded and inhumane. While the left wing has spent considerable resources trying to rehabilitate its criminals as a means of crime prevention, many others “prefer the idea of locking [the criminals] all up and throwing away the key.”
Lastly, there are numerous human rights related issues that must be dealt with. Such issues include an amnesty law regarding former military leaders, the investigation of a 1981 massacre (where the army killed over 800 civilians), and women’s rights—including a complete ban on abortions. Almudena Bernabeu, an international lawyer, has said that “you cannot rebuild a society by excluding the majority of the citizens … and [f]ailing to provide justice to them (victims of the civil war and women generally) means excluding them. This is a very interesting moment for human rights in El Salvador.”
Meanwhile, Jose Miguel, president of the Institute of Legal Medicine, has said that “the most worrying thing is the intolerance and deep divisions within the population, so the biggest challenge for the new government is [unite the country].”
For further information, please see:
Al Jazeera – El Salvador’s Post-Poll Challenges – 17 March 2014
BBC – El Salvador Ex-Rebel’s Presidential Victory Confirmed – 17 March 2014
Reuters – El Salvador Court Ratifies Ruling-Party Presidential Candidate’s Win – 17 March 2014
Washington Post – Former Guerrilla Commander Wins El Salvador Presidential Election – 14 March 2014
