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Proceso 1160
August 10 2005
ISSN 0259-9864
Editorial: Somber perspectives for the left wing
Politics: The FDR, an option for the social change?
Economy: The prices of petroleum increase once again
Somber perspectives for the left wing
The FMLN is not all there is when it comes to talk
about the left wing; however, this party is one of its most important
expressions. From a purely political criteria, the FMLN has been, to this point,
the party that has gathered the desire of those that, in El Salvador, are not
willing to attach themselves to the decisions of both the right wing and ARENA.
There have been other political groups that have intended to place themselves at
the left wing, but they have failed to become viable political options.
There are several reasons that explain this failure: its leaders were not able
to leave behind the part of their past that was somehow connected with the FMLN.
The proposals that they defended were not convincing enough for the social
sectors that they were aimed to. The new political projects were seen as a
betrayal against the ideals for which they fought in the past. It was hard to
see in those proposals something more than a purely electoral will…
There are a couple of other aspects that are extremely important as well:
a. Generally, the new left wing groups did not only emerge from the FMLN, but they also became involved in an intense dispute with that party –a dispute that began when they decided to walk away, but that continued after that-, wearing-out its possibilities to emerge and consolidate themselves as the new projects of the left wing.
b. In the context of that dispute, the strategy that they chose to survive in the elections was to take a portion of the votes away from the FMLN, something that limited, from the beginning, their possibilities to become the leading actors of the political system. It was naïve to think that those who vote for the FMLN did not have firm convictions, willing to abandon their party for another one, a party with leaders that thought that all it took to attract their votes was to proclaim themselves as the new left wing.
The main weakness of the left wing groups that have appeared in the political
scene of the post-war is that they have tried, as their basic strategy to
survive in politics, to take away votes from the FMLN. They have not intended to
become one more option, willing to occupy, along with others, a political space
that can be certainly wider in terms of parties and electorates. They intended
to get the FMLN out of the way, that is, to occupy its place, keeping their
votes and their share of power. As a result of that, a political failure came
along. And with these disappointing experiences, there was a thesis that claimed
that in El Salvador there was no more room in the left wing for another party
than the FMLN and that any political group of the left wing was doomed to
disappear.
This thought has been used by many to understand the situation and the
perspectives of the Revolutionary Democratic Front (FDR, in Spanish), the new
project of the left wing that has emerged from the most recent crisis of the
FMLN. For those who do not approve of the existence of the FDR, the future of
this party that is still in the process of becoming an organization, will not be
any different from the PD or the Renovator Movement. And that is because it is a
party that, in addition to the fact that it counts among its members people that
have betrayed the revolutionary cause and that have sold themselves to the
Neo-liberal right wing, intends to take away a portion of the electorate from
the FMLN, something that seems to be a doomed purpose.
It is possible that this interpretation is correct. However, it is important to
analyze the situation from different perspectives, even if it is just to explore
other ways to see the actions of the Salvadoran left wing. To begin with, it is
necessary to wonder about the identity of the FDR as a political project. This
is, without a doubt, a party of the left wing, but not a left wing against the
fundamental principles of the FMLN. For the FDR the project of the FMLN is not
at stake here, but the people that run the party; and it is the rejection to
this group of people what has led them to create a new political project. This
situation has new aspects when it is compared with the reasons that led to the
creation of the PD, for instance. The PD questioned the project of the FMLN; in
fact, it intended to become a project destined to replace the FMLN, something
that partially explains why it failed. The FDR intends to recover the best of
the FMLN, something that is overshadowed now because of the strict control over
the militants and the rest of the members of the party, a control exerted by
those who run the party.
In the FDR, therefore, the situation is very clear: the problem in the FMLN has
to do with the people who run the party: their intransigence, their intolerance,
their longing to control the party. That is why many of its members –who have
not complained about their democratic and their revolutionary ideals- are trying
to find a project in which the interests of the people that control the FMLN are
not a straitjacket for the militants. From the perspective of the FMLN, things
are also very clear: the FDR is where the ambitious people are, those that go
along with the game of the right wing, it is also a political project doomed to
disappear.
It is clear that the interpretation of the FMLN is just too simple and
comfortable. And even worse, it is dangerous for its electoral perspectives
because it does not see that, contrary to what happened to the PD and the MR,
the FDR might just be able to take away a considerable portion of the votes from
the FMLN during the next elections. To accept this eventuality means to accept
that their discomfort, because of the way the party has been managed, might have
already reached the foundations and the sympathizers of the party.
The official leaders of the FMLN do not seem to be willing to become
responsible, not even to be prudent, of a situation such as the one that is
taking place now. Therefore, it is not possible to see how the FMLN will be able
to prepare itself in a realistic manner not only to give a part of its
electorate to another left wing party, but also to remain as a key political
actor with a divided vote. In such context, the political perspectives of the
left wing are frankly somber.
The FDR, an option for the social change?
The departure of the Mayor of San Salvador, Mario Rivas
Zamora, from the FMLN in order to become part of the recently created FDR, and
the announcement that this political organization will compete in the elections
of next March, indicate the presence of a new electoral option of the left wing.
However, the FDR has to run a race against the clock since in just a few months
it has to meet all of the requirements to present itself before the electoral
registry, to activate its institutional structure, and to organize its electoral
strategy for the next year.
In other words, the FDR is somehow an improvised product. The circumstances that
created its birth came out of the blue: the search for “another” alternative of
the left wing before the presence of a FMLN that does not seem to accept the
existence of an internal disagreement.
Between the left wing that the country needs and the left wing that the
country has
The decision to become an electoral party has created a crisis for the FMLN –and
probably a crisis as well for the left wing in general-, an identity crisis from
which this party does not seem to recover. On the one hand, it has a valuable
historical patrimony for the country. The former and once armed left wing became
a key element in the beginning of the social and the political transformations
that El Salvador demanded for decades. This country was an authoritarian
monster, with elections that were only a bad facade, and with dominant sectors
that had an excluding mentality.
The Peace Accords, which back in 1992 were the first step to end with the
authoritarian social, economic, and political order, as well as the first step
to a new and yet unknown direction, also became part of a proposal about what
the left wing should be in the new circumstances of the country. The FMLN was
part of the global situation of the Latin American left wing: since it was
impossible to have a revolution, what was left? A confrontational left wing with
a radical discourse against the elites of power, in the style of Hugo Chavez, or
a negotiating organization, just like the one of Lula da Silva? A left wing able
to deal with a revolutionary discourse? A left wing that would use a moderate
discourse, similar to the ones of the right wing?
There has been a lot of talking going on about the left wing that the country
needs. For some, the left wing should be daring and aggressive to the extreme
–but this kind of attitudes, by the way, make it become an easy target for its
detractors, those that talk about the left wing as the enemy of democracy-. For
others, it should be an inoffensive left wing. Certainly, the country does not
need that left wing, but it does not need either that left wing that intends to
become the gatekeeper of the historical reason.
What is the left wing that the country needs? A left wing that gathers the
positive aspects of the forces committed with the democratization of the
society. A left wing that breaks up with the negative legacy of these forces:
the authoritarian actions inside it, the hegemonic conduct and the vertical
attitude in the political field.
A comeback is necessary, to build an ethical left wing, that is, a left wing
committed with the social transformations, with an open mind to establish a
dialogue and be democratic. Most of the times both of these aspects usually
contradict each other, because those who want a commitment with the majorities
many times feel as if they own the truth, as if they represent the will of the
people. On the other hand, those who insist in having an open political attitude
tend to see the social commitment as a feature of relative importance. None of
these visions can be a viable alternative.
A matter of identity
There have been quite a few parties created with a confusing blend of
opportunism and the desire to have nothing to do with the FMLN, image wise: the
break-up between the leaders of the ERP and the RN with the rest of the FMLN, a
break-up that brought with it the creation of the Democrat Party (PD, in
Spanish). This separation was announced as a mortal death blow against the
former guerrilla. In a questionable “aggressive move”, which is something
deserved for a better cause, the congressmen of the PD signed a political pact
with former president Armando Calderón Sol, which meant the ruin of the divided
ones.
This seems like a sitcom, comedy and tragedy combined, but eloquent at the same
time. It shows, on the one hand, that in El Salvador, to define an identity for
the left wing it is necessary to define the identity of a party before the
presence of the FMLN. On the other hand, it also shows that the FMLN carries a
sense of self-perception based on what it was during the war. Regardless of what
the FMLN is as a political party, it is also a symbol. If it does see itself as
such: as the political force that fought a war, as the “vanguard” movement of
the Salvadoran people. Outside its ranks, that symbolic value can be seen as
well.
To build a left wing of a different kind means to challenge that symbolic value.
The same thing happens with the FDR. They transformed this party into another
one called Democratic Convergence (CD, in Spanish), and in their way to find an
image that were different from the one of the former guerilla –some people
associated the CD with the guerrilla as their political rock-, this party just
made quite a few mistakes.
Inside the leadership of the FMLN this creates a problem of self-sufficiency.
The departures of certain members –even if they involve three of the most
important congressmen that left the party in the same week- are just seen as
something irrelevant.
The problem is that the future of the country is gambling with something more
than political attitude codes. On the other hand, the acronym FDR recalls the
identity of what a certain diplomatic and intellectual left wing was in the
past, a left wing that felt trapped in a corner because it had been a party of
groups and not a party of the masses. But the new FDR is not the FDR that
belonged to Ungo or Zamora during the eighties.
The progressive atomization of the left wing
Every construction of a force committed with the social change has to have a set
of premises as a foundation. In the first place, what social change? To talk
about a “social change” without defining its orientation is to talk nonsense.
Because then it is very easy to fall into an utopia that has nothing to do with
specific political actions, or adopt a cynic attitude disguised with pragmatism.
The FDR presents itself as a force that intends to rescue the ideals of the FMLN.
Is that set of ideals a realistic goal from an electoral perspective?
The second premise is something evident. No political force represents per se
the popular will everywhere and at all times. In a representative democracy such
as the Salvadoran one, there is not a direct representation of the popular will,
except on the election day. And there is more to it: no political force owns the
absolute truth.
From this perspective, the FDR has to see the most important problem that any
force of the left wing has to deal with: its objectives. If its objectives are
to become a reliable electoral force, its problems have to do with taking the
FMLN away from the electoral spotlight, something that represents a challenge.
This is a risk not only for the FDR itself and for the left wing in general, but
also for the Salvadoran society. A broken left wing , a left wing divided in
pieces is only playing the game of the right wing. It is useless to have a right
wing that holds the entire level of power of the society, and a group of parties
of the left wing with no power at, all acting as mosquitoes, being only able to
create inconveniences for the right wing.
If the objectives of the FDR are, on the contrary, connected with a project of
social transformations defined by an integral perspective of the country, and by
an ethical attitude towards the majorities, the electoral factor will have to be
nothing but simply a tool.
This project of social transformations still has to be defined. It has been
diluted in mere generalities, or in negative definitions (for instance, they are
against the free trade agreement, but they do not make any specific proposals,
they do not have any realistic solutions). Social transformations require a fair
national project. And in order to create a national project it is necessary to
discuss and build a consensus. If there is an FMLN that considers the departure
of its members as something “irrelevant”, and that sees the creation of other
political forces of the left wing as cheap tricks; if there is an FDR that, in
this case, understands the ethical patrimony of the FMLN as its own –as
something that exclusively belongs to them-, there are no conditions to
establish a consensus of the left wings.
Perspectives
Since the elections are just around the corner, to complete the organization
process of the FDR seems like a difficult task. Violeta Menjivar, who is running
for mayor of San Salvador, did not consider that it was possible for her former
colleague Ileana Rogel to be a candidate as well for the FDR. In the words of
Menjivar, the electoral competition in the capital city will be between two
people: her and Rodrigo Samayoa, the candidate of ARENA, a candidate that is
already doing anything he can to gain back a municipality that they lost eight
years ago.
Menjivar has her reasons to seem so confident. The capital city reveals itself
as a firm rock for the FMLN, according to the electoral behavior. And that is
exactly why it is expected that the campaign of ARENA turns into an implacable
force. It is important to remember the electoral defeat in 2004, in order to
expect any kind of tricks that will come from the official party.
In this sense, the FMLN cannot just be confident. It has to think in realistic
terms. It is true that the FDR is not a political force able to replace the FMLN
in terms of electoral acceptance yet, but it is also true that the FMLN is
losing control in the Legislative Assembly. Several analysts indicate that if
the members of the FMLN keep walking away from the party, the FDR could occupy
the place that the PCN now has: a legislative force capable to incline the scale
towards one side or another and favor the existence of a fraction that holds the
absolute majority. The FDR will have the challenge to use this possibility for
the country’s own good, and not to satisfy the political ambitions of unethical
politicians. Once again it is necessary to create a wide electoral alliance if
they actually want to stay away from another failure. The right wing seems to be
ready. What about the left wing?
The prices of petroleum increase once again
Early during this week there were news about the fact that
the prices of petroleum keep increasing. In the following days the prices of
both gasoline and diesel are expected to increase approximately by 25%. The
trigger effect has been caused by the hurricane Katrina, in the Gulf of Mexico.
The hurricane affected an area that is a fundamental zone when it comes to
establish the prices of petroleum and its products in the international market.
The impact of these news was such, that during last Monday the demand for
gasoline increased in several gas stations in the country. Many drivers went to
the gas stations to purchase gasoline before the prices changed.
During last week, there were news about a possible increase in the prices of
gasoline and diesel. However, back then, the expected increase was not that high
as to create an immediate higher level of demand in the gas stations. In this
context, the National Association of the Private Business Companies (ANEP, in
Spanish) predicted that there would be a strong impact on the economy. Raul
Melara, the executive director of this institution, indicated that “the tendency
of the prices will create a difficult situation for the manufacturers of plastic
products and for the shipping costs”, and he added that most of the companies
have reoriented their consumption level and optimized its operations. But he
also indicated that there was not much to do about these increasing prices.
The public transportation businessmen showed their interest in increasing the
bus fares. The National Coordinator of Transportation (CNT, in Spanish) met with
the Minister of Public Works, David Gutierrez, to negotiate the increase in the
urban and the rural bus fares. Rodrigo Contreras Teos, a spokesman for the CNT,
pointed at the need to increase the bus fares to $0.30 cents in the urban area,
and to increase the rural bus fares by 50%. Back then, the Minister of Public
Works did not give a definite answer to the request, he just said that he would
consider the proposal presented by the transportation sector.
To respond to the awkward situation created by these events in several sectors
of the society, the government, through the Ministry of Economy, revealed that a
few measures would be implemented to neutralize the impact on the economy as a
result of the increasing prices of petroleum. The measures that were announced
had to do with the following: the creation of preferential lines for the
circulation of vehicles, a campaign aimed to save combustible, the elimination
of the taxes for the importation of cars, a modification in the hydrocarbon’s
law that might allow the creation of gas distributors, and, finally the
possibility to send a special commission to Venezuela in search for preferential
prices.
As a result of the increasing prices of fuel, and because the country does not
count with a specific governmental policy, the directors of the Salvadoran
Association of Transportation and Shipping Businessmen (ASETCA, in Spanish) and
the Association of Businessmen for the Transportation of Passengers (ATP, in
Spanish) have agreed to go to Venezuela in search of better prices. The
directors of these associations intend to get an interview with President Chavez
in order to explain to him their need to purchase diesel at a lower cost.
Ricardo Vanegas, president of the ASETCA, stated that they did this “because we
think that it is possible to obtain the product, and because we had to give it a
try”. They have confirmed that the directors of these associations will travel
this week. If they get better prices with this, they will evidently show the
lack of initiative of the government to establish a negotiation process with
Venezuela, and the actual existence of better prices in that country.
Why until now?
It is important to highlight the sudden interest of the government on exploring
the possible existence of preferential prices in Venezuela. Many times before
the Minister of Economy, Yolanda de Gavidia, indicated that Venezuela did not
offer better prices. By the second semester of the year, the Salvadoran
population asked the government to do all that was possible to neutralize the
increasing prices of petroleum. Back then, the FMLN indicated that it was
possible to look for better prices in Venezuela through an interview with
President Chavez.
The director of the Salvadoran Association of Petroleum Distributors (ASPP, in
Spanish), Julio Villagran, talked about the possibility to find better prices in
that country. The government had an indifferent attitude before the suggestions
of the FMLN and the ones of the ASDPP, and it avoided the possibility to
approach Venezuela. In this context, the government created the idea that such
approach would not be possible because the differences between the Salvadoran
administration and Venezuela, as far as the international policies are
concerned, as well as the relations that both of these countries keep with the
United States.
Right now the government seems interested to approach Venezuela due to the fact
that the businessmen of the ANEP are concerned because of the increasing prices
of both gasoline and diesel. It seems that the Salvadoran government reacted
exclusively because of the needs of these business associations. All of the
attempts to look for better prices in Venezuela that were made by other
institutions were overlooked. But as soon as the business sector asked for help,
the government quickly reacted to assist it.
The increasing prices do not favor the real salaries
The increasing prices of gasoline and diesel are affecting the economy of the
Salvadorans. If the prices keep increasing the users of the public
transportation system will also be affected. Those who have their own vehicle
will have to spend more money on fuel. This is only one of the dimensions of the
problem. The prices of the local market could also increase due to this problem,
since the companies that deliver the goods to the market would be affected as
well.
The economist Carlos Acevedo indicated that “it should not seem odd if these
prices increase the inflation level by a couple of points”. During the last
years, the economy of the Salvadoran population has been affected by the
increasing bus fares, the tax reform, the increasing prices of the electric
energy, and the cost of the basic grains. The increasing prices of fuel have
negative effects on the Salvadoran society, and it is necessary that the
government and the organizations of the civil society work to create a policy to
face the problem.
An economic crisis allows to analyze consumption from an economic perspective.
It is an opportunity to reassign resources in order to improve the efficiency of
the budgets. Austerity plays an important role in these cases, and how austere a
country should become is determined by the income level that a person, a family,
or a company has before a crisis takes place, and the increase level of the
prices of the bare essentials. An analysis on the transportation system is a
particular case, this kind of service tends to behave as a complement of other
goods. Transportation is used to go to work, study, to go to a hospital, for
instance. In the end, the most important thing to do is to distinguish what are
the essential goods and services, those that are necessary for an appropriate
nutrition, education, and health.
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