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Victor C. Bolles

Desocialisting El Salvador

An article in La Prensa Grafica of El Salvador (Voceros de Bukele denuncian bloqueo en la transicion) caught my attention the other day. The spokesmen of Salvadoran President-elect Nayib Bukele were complaining that their efforts to create a smooth transition prior to his inauguration were being stymied by party members of the leftist FMLN (Frente Farabundo Marti para la Liberacion Nacional). The outgoing administration of Salvador Sanchez Ceren is resisting Bukele’s New Ideas party’s request to have him take the oath of office in a public square and have countered with an offer to hold the ceremony in the “Blue Salon.” Further, they contend that the FMLN is trying to pack ministries and government unions with party adherents and relatives.


This comes on top of the scandal of ALBA Petroleos and its affiliates. For those of you that do not closely follow the goings on in Latin America, ALBA is the acronym for the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of our America, an alliance and trade partnership dreamed up by Hugo Chavez and funded by Venezuelan oil (which is one of the many reasons for the current sad condition of that poor country). The FMLN wanted El Salvador to be part of ALBA and ALBA Petroleos was one of the mechanisms that the FMLN hoped would take the country ever further to the left.


ALBA Petroleos got Venezuelan oil at discounted prices and sold it to local oil and gas distribution companies as well as their own ALBA gas stations at world prices, pocketing the difference. The money went to the FMLN and its causes but also was used to buy or create companies in other industries such as aviation, medicines and food distribution and use the Venezuelan subsidies to drive out the competition (along with lining the pockets of important party members).


Nayib Bukele used to be a member of the FMLN, but when he tried to advance in the party he was blocked by the old guard of former guerrillas who still wanted to control the party and the country. The FMLN was about to oust him for not licking the boots of the old guerrillas but he did the Salvadoran equivalent of “you can’t fire me, I quit” and formed his own party, New Ideas.