• by Joaquin Roy
• Tuesday, March 17, 2009
• Inter Press Service

The victory of Mauricio Funes, El Salvador's new president elect and candidate of the Farabundo Marti Front for National Liberation (FMLN), completes a striking movement to the left in Latin American politics. Today, with the exception of Mexico and Colombia on one side and Cuba on the other, the continent is governed by either the moderate left with social democratic leanings or by neo-populists, writes Joaquin Roy, ''Jean Monnet'' professor and Director of the European Union Centre of the University of Miami.

In this analysis, the author writes that the case of El Salvador, ruled for almost two decades by the right-wing authoritarian ARENA party, is important for two reasons: first, because the victory of Funes is due in part to the fact that he jettisoned his party's radical component, which is still guided by the star of guerrilla ideology; and second, because it completed the total domination of Central America by parties that are considered leftist or social democratic.

It should be remembered that the triumph of the FMLN is the result of the support of just over 50 percent of the electorate; meanwhile, the other half of the country remains unconditionally supportive of ARENA. The same can be said of the victory of Chavez in the last referendum: the country is viscerally divided in two. One need only remember that the election of Barack Obama did not override the fact that almost half of the voters voted for McCain. Such a clear-cut division is not ideal for these tormented times.

(*) Joaquin Roy, ''Jean Monnet'' professor and Director of the European Union Centre of the University of Miami (jroy@Miami.edu).

//NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN THE UNITED STATES AND SPAIN//

© Inter Press Service (2009) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service

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