The following was written the day after the elections back in March.
At Monday’s morning meeting all of the Fundahmer employees showed up with fresh ink on their thumbs. They had not committed a crime. They had been out to exercise one of the rights that is given to them in the Salvadoran constitution. They had to voted the previous day and had had their fingerprints taken in an international effort to avoid fraudulent voting.
When I arrived in El Salvador in January of 2008, the political campaign between the right wing party, ARENA, and the left wingers, FMLN, was already going strong. I had never seen a political campaign quite like this one before.
The right wing party gave away free chickens and tin for roofing in exchange for votes, and inundated the media with insinuations of a strong alliance between Mauricio Funes, the FMLN candidate, and Hugo Chaves and Fidel Castro. The left wing party had very limited funding for campaigns, but had an incredible following and people, rich and poor, who were dedicated enough to give their time, efforts and talents free of charge in order to support a party they believed in.
Finally, for the first time in El Salvador’s history, they have their first leftist president and have managed to achieve a relatively democratic voting process.
In this same meeting, we spoke of the elections and the joys and sadness that were such a part of this day. I would rather let the words be unchanged, so I will quote co-workers, friends and international observers bellow who participated in the process and the celebration so that you can get a better feel of what the post election environment was like.
Javier:
“Sentí miedo por estar tomando en cuenta que el gobierno derecha en este momento todavía tenia todo el poder, pero alegre y emocionado para ir a votar.”
“I felt scared because I was aware that the right wing government at this moment in time still had all the power but I was happy and excited to go out and vote.”
Ana:
An older woman from Italy who came to observe the elections assured the Fundahmer staff and others present that they are never alone.
Pat from Canada:
“I had many powerful experiences yesterday, but one image that I will always keep in my heart is of a young girl who was wearing a red FMLN hat. When she voted she folded the paper and kissed it. So, (she says to the Salvadorans in the room) your youth are going to be the hope for the future.
A friend of Pat’s, Jean, who was at her side, shared that “in Canada, not many people actually go out and vote, so this has been an inspiration of democracy for many of us.”
Miguel Zepeda:
“Sacacoyo es un pueblo mayoritariamente Arenero pero cuando gano FMLN y empezamos a festejar, se fueron a esconder con la cola entre las patas. Muchas veces la comunidad ha sido insultada por ARENA, pero nunca nos callamos. Pero ahora encima de ARENA es donde callo.”
“Sacacoyo is an area that is mostly pro-ARENA but when the FMLN won and we started to celebrate, they all went and hid with their tail between their legs. There have been many instances in which the community has been insulted by ARENA, but we were never silenced. Now, the Areneros are those who are silenced.”
Armando Marquez (my boss):
“Hermano Mercedes Ruiz murió sin ver sus sueños realizados de una realidad mas justa. Nosotros como herman@s le prometimos que seguiríamos luchando por el. Ahora se cumple parte de esa promesa.”
“Brother Mercedes Ruiz (the man who the organization was named after) died without seeing his dreams of a more just reality come true. As his brothers and sisters, we promised him we would continue to fight for him. Today part of that promise has been honored.”
Armando also expressed excitement about the strong youth presence in the election and the celebrations of victory.
“Después de recoger a las delegaciones de observadores/as, yo ya me quería dormir. Pero mi esposa me dijo que saliéramos un ratito para ir a ver a las fiestas. Aunque resistí un poco, me convenció. Cuando fuimos a ver a las fiestas, 90% de la gente celebrando eran jóvenes. Estaban celebrando toda la gente que habían dado su vida para este día.”
“After going around and picking up all the delegations of observers, I wanted to go to bed. But my wife said that we should go out for a little to see the celebrations. Although I resisted for a moment, she convinced me. When we went, we saw that 90% of the people celebrating were of the younger generation. They were celebrating all the people who had given their lives for this day.”
Abraham, a friend who works in the self sustainability department of Fundahmer told us an impressive story:
“Yo me levante a la 1 de la mañana para ir a la Feria Nacional para apoyar en el proceso. Con Juanca y Casco fuimos caminando y cantando ‘el pueblo unido jamás será vencido.’” Pero, cuando encontramos un grupo de Areneros con su sistema de sonido etc. la música de ellos nos callo. Cuando un gran puño de gente del FMLN vio esto vinieron a cantar con nosotros y se callaron los Areneros por nuestras voces, el canto y nuestra unidad.”
“I woke up at 1 in the morning to go to the Feria Nacional where I would support the voting process. With Juanca and Casco (two friends) we were walking and chanting “the people/the poor who are united will never expire.” But when we ran into a group of Areneros with their sound system, etc., their music silenced us. A group of fellow FMLN supporters saw this and they came over to chant with us. Through our voices, our song and our unity we silenced them.”
