Burke Stansbury from CISPE,. talks about the lead up to the critical 2009 Salvadoran elections. The winds of change are blowing, but will the party created by the founder of the Death Squads accept the fact? Amanda Peters, an accredited observer of the process gives us a report from El Salvador as the first results come in.
Amanda Peters Burke Stansbury Warwick Fry CISPES (Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador): http:cispes.org Nimbin Community Radio 2NimFM 102.3
Part 1: Burke Stansbury:
Burke Stansbury from the Washington office of CISPES talks with community radio about the first round of the El Salvadoran elections - Legislative and Municipal - to be held on January 17, 2009. Burke has is able to report that the chances of an FMLN victory (supported by a 10 to 15 point lead in the polls over the last year) are looking good, with the voting population shrugging off the scare tactics of the ARENA party's media blitz. There are still fears though, that ARENA, with a history of using violence, intimidation and terror (the founder of ARENA was also the head of the notorious Death Squads of the 1980s) may resort to more drastic tactics, before the Presidential elections in March. There is a loud call from the opposition FMLN party for international observers to be there to ensure the integrity of the elections. Direct download? StansBelSalElections10_Jan_2009.mp3 Category? Latin Radical -- posted at? 8? PM
Part 2? First results, Amanda Peters, on the ground?
Mon, 19 January 2009 El Salvador Elections - 1st results? A view from the ground 9.6Mb. 128kbps mono 10?
As this goes to air Salvadorans are breathlessly waiting the final count on the vote for the Mayor of El Salvador - a surprisingly close result given that the FMLN incumbent Mayor was leading in the polls and ARENA was trailing. It now looks as though the ARENA candidate has a chance, and the surprise result feeds a widely held belief that ARENA has resorted to fraudulent tactics in a desperate bid to win.
The good news for the FMLN is that it appears they have won a majority of seats in the Legislative Assembly, in spite of the fraudulent tactics of the ARENA government candidates. Amanda Blake was on the spot as an official observer, and as part of a delegation from CISPES (Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador). She spoke with community radio as the first results started coming in, and gives her nervous prognosis for the Presidential round coming up on March 15 Direct download? amandabpeters_20_Jan_2009elections.mp3 Category? Latin Radical -- posted at? 5? PM
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