By AMANDA MARTINEZ
While most of the local Salvadoran community followed the historic presidential win by former guerilla party Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) via radio programs like Radio Cadena Mi Gente and internet streams of popular Salvadoran TV station Channel 21, others said it’s something they wouldn’t miss an opportunity to see firsthand.
Seven Bay Area residents traveled to El Salvador to act as international election observers and witness the election and first-ever defeat of the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) by 49-year-old Mauricio Funes.
“We anticipated the win but were afraid of election fraud,” said Susana Solis, who is in El Salvador as a representative of the Community in Solidarity With the People of El Salvador (CISPES).
As an observer near San Salvador, Solis said she saw irregularities in voting that included people voting twice or using fake voter IDs, and fraudulent voting by busloads of people coming from nearby countries Guatemala, Nicaragua and Honduras.
The uncertainty around the amount of foul play in the voting process left many observers nervous. “It felt like the anticipation before an earthquake,” said Andrea Hightower, who observed in Tejutepeque, a city 25 miles from the capital, and one considered an ARENA stronghold. She said she saw voters accompanied to the polls and told how to cast their ballots.
Hightower, who works in the Mission District Global Exchange, said that as a former resident of El Salvador it was important for her to bear witness to the election.
But not all observers just watched. Salvador Cordona, who lives in San Francisco and works as the general coordinator of the FLMN in Northern California, has dual citizenship and was able to cast a vote. “It was something incredible to be a part of,” he said.
He’s one of 300 people who flew from the United States to vote in the election. Cordona said that although there was much anxiety throughout the day, it quickly disappeared once the popular candidate Funes was announced as the winner, receiving 51 percent of the vote.
“I think he won because most people feel they know him very well through his work,” said Cordona, referring to Funes’ very public career as a journalist.
In his more than 15 years as a TV reporter and news director, Funes became best known for his uncensored and often critical reporting of the dominant government.
“People know that he was honest and that he risked and lost his career for the sake of truth,” said Cordona.
Funes, he said, has a fresh perspective on politics and an openness to change—a value his campaign touted. Cordoba said his view of Funes was confirmed on election night when Funes acknowledged his victory, but asked the country for unity and collaboration. The response by the country, Cordon said, was priceless to see.
“I can only describe it as a river of red,” said Cordona, describing the celebratory march that resulted from people dressed in the official color of the FMLN. Cordon said he joined more than 25,000 people in a massive celebration held less than three blocks from current President Antonio Saca’s home in Colonia Escalon near the nation’s capital.
Vanessa Bohm, who observed on behalf of CARECEN, the Central America Resource Center in the Mission District, said the celebration included cheering, singing and
fireworks on the steps of elite mansions. The festivities, fueled by the energy of a young population, went on until the morning hours.
Funes is scheduled to take office June 1.
The contingent of Bay Area observers are scheduled to come home in the next week and will hold a report back in the Mission District in the first days of April. The group can be followed on the CISPES election blog.
SLIDESHOW BY HÉLÈNE GOUPIL