Don’t Fear El Salvador’s Leftists
Don’t Fear El Salvador’s Leftists
Written by William Walker – Former US Ambassador to El Salvador
WASHINGTON — On Sunday, El Salvador will hold elections for a new president. In Washington, some on the right are raising alarms that the party of El Salvador’s onetime leftist guerrilla army, the F.M.L.N., will win re-election, with a former guerrilla commander as the new president.
The drumbeat started early this month when Elliott Abrams, who oversaw the Reagan administration’s Central America policy during El Salvador’s civil war, warned in The Washington Post of the dangers of an F.M.L.N. victory. He cited the party’s connections with the Colombian leftist movement FARC, and accusations of its involvement in the drug and arms trades. Other conservatives have echoed his warning. Implicit is a threat that if Salvadorans make the wrong choice, America will reduce its support.
From 1985 to 1988, I worked closely with Mr. Abrams at the State Department. I respect his honesty, but I believe he is wrong in this case. I travel often to El Salvador on business. I have seen how much the country, and the F.M.L.N., have changed in the 22 years since the war ended in 1992. I believe those spreading fear are stuck in the past.
I served as the American ambassador during the final three and a half years of the war, and the first months of peace. I know well how grisly that war was; the State Department protected me with Delta Team security, believing I was high on the F.M.L.N.’s hit list. But a lasting peace was negotiated in 1992, and in 2009 the F.M.L.N., relying on the ballot box, fairly won the right to govern.
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