Election reflections

The line of voting booth workers waiting outside of the polls at 4am! When I got there, it was already an intense competition between the FMLN and ARENA workers seeing who could sing their party song the loudest. I think they started around 2:30 in the morning...

The very last vote being counted at the voting center that I was stationed at.

VIVA EL SALVADOR!! VIVA EL FMLN Y MAURICIO FUNES!

 

When I arrived in El Salvador in August of 2008, the political campaign between the conservative party, ARENA, and the liberals, FMLN, was already going strong. I had never seen a political campaign quite like this one before. ARENA 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. On the opposite side of things, the FMLN had very limited funding for campaigns, but had an incredible following of 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.

Many of you already know, but many probably have no idea that March 15th was one of the most important days in the history of El Salvador. Sunday, March 15, was the election day for the President and Vice-President. As I have mentioned earlier, I was an International Election Observer for the elections. Thus, I was at the voting polls from 4am till around 9pm on election day, observing the whole election process from the poll workers entering the polls, workers from the different parties marching down the street singing at 4am, to the very last vote being counted at the booths and Funes being (unofficially) claimed president. It was an extremely exhausting and emotional day, but well worth the lost sleep.

Honestly, words cannot express how I felt that day. I saw buses of Hondurans arrive trying to vote (a tactic often used in previous elections – busing people in from border towns to vote), people with fake id's voting, police filing into the voting polls with machine guns… I heard stories of the threats people braved to come vote, everything from losing their jobs to losing family members... but in the end Mauricio Funes, the FMLN candidate won the presidency of El Salvador. And "si se pudo" (“Yes, we did it!”... as thousands of Salvadorans were shouting while dancing in the streets on Sunday night). This is not just the change of power, but the first time in history that a liberal government has taken power in El Salvador. There is no place I would rather have been on Sunday. It was a beautiful thing to be a small part of this historical and emotional day. I watched whole families come out to vote, children begging to touch the ballots, and elderly kiss the ballots, with tears in their eyes. Seeing the hope in the eyes of so many amidst so much violence, poverty, pollution, and repression, showed me that the struggle for a more just and peaceful world is possible.

 

Being a part of the actual election day was not the only memorable part of the elections. FUNDAHMER, the organization I coordinate with, helped bring in a number of International Observers from the US, Canada, and Italy. Plus, the day after the elections, all the employees showed up with fresh ink on their thumbs. They had not committed a crime. They had been out to vote! In an ef

fort to stop people from voting two or three times, everyone had to ink their finger as part of the voting process. But when everyone arrived at the office that Monday morning between all the Salvadorans and the International Observers, you couldn’t contain the excitement that was bubbling up everywhere. Late morning we had a reflection as a group with the Salvadoran employees and friends of the foundation and many of the International Observers. We spoke of the elections, the things we saw, the joys and sadness that were a part of the day. I think it is best to leave the words unchanged. Because what people were saying was so powerful, I decided to write a few of them down. Below I quote a few co-workers, friends and international observers 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 (talking about his feelings on his way to vote):

 

“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 still had all the power but I was happy and excited to go out and vote.”

 

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, 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 fiestear, 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 a town 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 where the community has been insulted by ARENA, but we were never silenced. Now, the Areneros are those who are silenced.”

 

Armando Marquez (president of FUNDAHMER):

 

“Hermano Mercedes Ruiz murió sin ver sus sueños realizados de una realidad mas justa. Nosotros como hermanos le prometimos que seguiríamos luchando por el. Ahora creo que 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 I believe a part of that promise has been honored.”

 

Armando again:

 

“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 Fundahmer told us an impressive story:

 

“Yo me levante a la una 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, ellos 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 be conquered. But when we ran into a group of ARENA supporters with their big sound system, etc., their music silenced us. However, 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.”