El Salvador’s Slow-Motion Democratization and Its Delicate Days Ahead
President Mauricio Funes’ first year in office was heavily scrutinized as it came to a close. The moderate leader of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) was simultaneously seen as leaving many challenges unanswered and all but ignoring the leftist legacy of his FMLN party. However, his middle-of-the-road presidency was also accompanied by streaks of solid accomplishments and bred a good deal of optimism regarding its future.
Funes began his presidency hoping to obtain balance in the long suffering and polarized nation. He now finds himself walking an awkward middle line. The Funes administration is fast becoming known amongst Salvadorans as the «President Without a Party» and «the Party in Power without a President.» Funes promised a moderate leadership throughout his campaign, but in a nation deeply divided between a once Marxist-led FMLN that now technically holds office and a twenty-year-old reigning right wing ARENA party, Funes’ ability to continue to govern successfully as a moderate has been questionable.
This analysis was prepared by COHA Research Associate Whitney Cole
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