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Francisco
Flores: four years later
On last June 1st, President
Flores attended to a solemn session at the Legislative Assembly. The
objective of the ritual was to present the situation of the country to the
legislators. Since the law does not stipulate that sincerity and
transparency are the key elements of this kind of reunions, Flores took
advantage of the situation to flaunt about the accomplishment of his
administration. He insisted to speak before his detractors –the 80% of the
Salvadorans who, according to the last opinion polls, disagree with the
policies of Flores- about an endless list of actions that, in his opinion,
were possible thanks to his governmental team. Flores said that he
outperformed his most important goals. If “the success of a government is
measured by the fulfillment of his promises –Flores said-, that is why I am
here, not with vague ideas, but with the certainty of actual results, to say
that I have completed my tasks”.
The pressing journalists will have to investigate if the roads, the
hospitals, and the schools were actually built. It will also be necessary to
find out if it is true that the inhabitants of San Salvador do have access
to potable water, as Flores mentioned in his speech. The economists will be
able to tell if it is true that his administration has managed to
“reconstruct the country, honor our debts, duplicate the public investment,
build the most important social structure in the history of the country”.
They also should be able to tell if the fiscal deficit has been reduced
without increasing the taxes. The experts of the Comptroller’s office will
have to confirm if everything has been done “with a clear mind and honesty”.
Finally, it will be necessary to investigate if the Salvadoran children are
not dying anymore from dengue, malaria, or tuberculosis, just as the
President announced.
However, beyond the verification of each deed from the self-proclaimed
governmental contributions, there is a difference between the presidential
discourse and the reality that most Salvadorans live. Flores said that four
years ago he made the commitment to “work in order to transform El Salvador
into a better country”. On June 1st of 2003, his intimate conviction allows
him to affirm with a paraphrase of the second epistle from Paul to Timothy,
that his government has fought a good battle, that he has completed his job,
and that he is about to capitalize the results.
It is evident that the presidential discourse had the objective to stop the
amount of critics that the Flores administration has received during the
last few days. In this context, the target was the FMLN. That is why the
President declared that “we Salvadorans have managed to build the present
every day –even during the adverse situations- the present that we want and
the future that we expect. The foundations are firm, the way is outlined,
let us not stop, let us not delay. We cannot overlook our objectives because
of those who irresponsibly intend to throw away our efforts. Our children
cannot start all over, because we have walked a long way. Let us appreciate
what we have accomplished. It has not been easy, and it has not been enough,
but it has been ours, and it has not been imposed by the ideologies that
have repeatedly failed”.
On the other hand, Flores addressed his words to his “brothers from ARENA”,
who have questioned the performance of his administration. He reminds them
that his government has been the only one that has resolved the perennial
problems, such as the construction of roads of access to the rural
communities, schools, and sports facilities. “Fifty poor and isolated
municipalities are now connected to the development process through paved
roads and 162 new bridges. The roads than several generations needed are now
a reality”. In addition, the figures that Flores offers seem superior than
the ones offered during the past four years, and sometimes these figures
duplicate the indicators.
Finally, behind the words used by Flores, there is a wink aimed to the
Salvadoran voters. The President is reminding them about the endemic
situation that has characterized the country. Without saying it, he thinks
that his predecessors –including Calderon Sol and Cristiani- were not able
to resolve the problems caused by poverty, the lack of roads, or the
deficient availability of potable water. Despite of this –probably because a
presidential reelection is not allowed-, he recommends that the people
should consider to vote for his party. Flores asked the Salvadoran
population not to throw away what he has worked so hard for during the four
years of his administration.
No one can deny that Flores has the right to defend the actions of his
administration. All of the international laws and the National Constitution
acknowledge that the people have the right to defend themselves. And, to
tell the truth, during the last days, the Flores administration has been
vilified by most people. Therefore, the President used the tribune of the
Legislative Assembly in a moment when everyone expected the report of his
actions, in order to start defending his administration.
In reference to the underhanded recriminations that Francisco Flores made
about his colleagues, there is no sign of a more intense rebelliousness. The
legislators from ARENA offered a press conference to praise their President.
The most important morning newspapers, known by their support to the
official party, endorsed the declarations made by Flores. Both of the former
presidents, who did criticize the Flores administration for the deficient
results obtained during the municipal elections, did not make any
observations about the discourse of Flores. However, despite the secrecy
that has surrounded the events, there is no doubt that his discourse will
not contribute to ease the relations between the “elephants” of ARENA. In
this context, to agree about the name of the ideal presidential candidate
can become a difficult exercise for the most influential members of the
party. Francisco Flores once expressed, in a solemn manner, his resentment
and his frustration about the declarations made by the honorary presidents
of the party after the municipal elections.
The opposition, on the other hand, especially the FMLN, immediately called
the President a liar because of his alleged achievements. The leaders from
the FMLN made public that they disagreed with the presidential discourse.
For them, the results that were made public by the President are not
realistic. This is how the left-wing party supports the results of the
opinion polls that evaluated the negative aspects of the governmental
performance. They also upbraided the governmental decision that indicates
that the city halls cannot collect their taxes through the telephone
receipts. This measure is a low blow against the municipalities because it
becomes an obstacle to obtain resources and take care of the demands made by
the population. Flores seems to be willing to sacrifice the municipal
autonomy in order to make it seem as if the bill of the electric energy has
been reduced.
The most crucial question should be “did the President achieve his goal or
not?”, in order to make the population and his adversaries see if they made
a fair evaluation about his governmental performance. In this country, the
news media do not organize this sort of opinion polls. It would have been
interesting to ask the Salvadorans, in a brief and a serious opinion poll,
their point of view about the presidential discourse, after the comments of
the opposition. In any case, despite the evident flaws of the news media’s
coverage, it would be convenient to analyze a governmental strategy that
insists on advertising the great achievements of the Flores administration.
It is necessary to notice that the incompatibility between the official
interpretation of the country’s situation, and the opinion of the
Salvadorans, which has been a constant ever since Flores arrived to the
Presidential House. The President’s stubbornness has been his trademark when
it comes to this subject. His speech probably did not have the desired
effect in the population. They have not been able to improve their
purchasing power because of the economic irrationality that has been
implemented.
Flores used the wrong communication strategy once again. The solution for a
sick person who thinks that he will inevitably die –even if it were an
imaginary illness- is not to deny the veracity of his symptoms. It is
necessary to make a diagnosis with the collaboration of the patient in order
to help him accept and understand the perspective of the doctor. On June
1st, Flores told the Salvadorans that the economic situation is not bad and
that everyone should stop pretending that there is something wrong with it.
Politically speaking, this attitude only goes to show that the government is
not listening to the problems of the population.
In addition, Flores forgot to mention the most important aspects of those
problems. The strike at the social security system, which has been the most
vulnerable subject during the last months, was not even mentioned by the
President. Flores chose to ignore that a considerable amount of citizens
either sympathize with the workers of the public health system or see in his
attitude an intransigent position that makes him avoid his responsibilities.
Once again, the President shows his political myopia.
Flores has been fighting against the interests of the voters ever since he
became President, compromising the image of his party. That is why if ARENA
loses the presidential elections, its members will harshly criticize Flores’
self- pleasing speech.
Without a doubt, Flores could have taken advantage of the circumstances to
renew his compromise with the Salvadoran population. It would have been a
bold decision to sacrifice his Minister of Health and the director of the
Social Security Institute as a sample of his good will to resolve the
conflicts of the public health system. Instead, the government decided to
praise an obviously obsolete public health system. It seems as if the
President does not fully understand his role.
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