El Salvador’s former Marxist-Leninist guerilla organization turned political party hopes to gain strength ahead of the 2021 elections.
Final results have been released in the internal elections of El Salvador’s Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) party.
The FMLN’s membership chose candidates to run on behalf the former guerrilla group turned political party, in the country’s legislative assembly, Parlacen, and for the office of mayor and councilors in the municipal, legislative and Central American Parliament elections to be held on February 28, 2021.
The voting, which saw more than 50% of the participation of members amid limitations imposed by the COVID-19 situation, was held on July 26th in strict compliance with established health protocols.
El Salvador’s most prominent parties over the last three decades, the FMLN and right-wing ARENA, saw weak showings in the Presidential election of 2019, during which U.S.-backed Nayib Bukele was elected on behalf of his newly-formed party, Nuevas Ideas (New Ideas).
The leftist FMLN, with its Marxist-Leninist roots, have played an important role as opposition in the Legislative Assembly particularly in its criticism of Bukele’s mismanagement of the COVID-19 emergency, or what some have called a health crisis turned humanitarian crisis.
Salvadorans have run out of food amid the strict quarantine. Government assistance which was promised by the government early on, was insufficient or at in some cases never arrived, all while the national government militarized the health response and failed to consult with the scientific community and other experts.
Prominent lawmakers Jorge Schafik and Damien Alegria, took to the Assembly on Sunday evening, denouncing 16 cases of corruption under Bukele’s government and the “nepotism and dark negotiations” which the country has seen since the President took office in 2019. (https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/fmln-holds-internal-vote-prepares-for-2021-electoral-battles-20200802-0015.html)
