~~~~ JOIN THE SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA DELEGATION TO
MONITOR THE IMPORTANT ELECTIONS IN EL SALVADOR IN
EARLY MARCH! Register now! Plan to attend a CISPES
educational gathering at 11:00 a.m. on Saturday,
January 28, 2006 at the Peace Center, 8124 West 3rd
Street near Crescent Heights...five blocks west of the
intersection of Fairfax and West 3rd....
~~~~ Learn about the history of CISPES
~~~~~~Learn about the heroic history of the FMLN
{Farabundo Marti Front for National Liberation}
~~~~~~~~What are the struggles of Latin America in
which El Salvador plays such an important role?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ What is the role of solidarity in
supporting the social justice movements of Latin
America?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~and much, much
more!~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
====A free lunch will be served! A short video! Good
discussion! ====
====== map to our office at <www.mapquest.com> and
type in address [8124 West 3rd Street and zip code
90048==================================
The CISPES ELECTIONS MONITORING DELEGATION is March
3 to March 15, 2006. You can register by sending an
e-mail to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> and we will
provide an application form immediately. More details
at <www.cispes.org> We hope to hear from you~
=======================================================================
Stop Peace Accord Violations and the Looming Threat of
Electoral Fraud in El Salvador! Join CISPES in March
2006 to Observe Important Salvadoran Elections
The combination of institutional short-comings and a
recently approved electoral reform, as well as the
right-wing ARENA party dirty campaigning tactics, are
threatening the transparency of the upcoming elections
in El Salvador. In March 2006 El Salvador will elect a
new National Assembly as well as mayors in each of its
282 municipalities, and the opposition FMLN party
could make significant gains. These elections have the
potential to drastically shift the political direction
of a government that has constantly ignored the needs
of its people by approving US-promoted projects like
the CAFTA Free Trade Agreement and a new SOA-style
International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA).?
The right wing dirty tactics have gone as far as to
rely on public institutions to practically legalize
fraud, completely ignoring and violating the 1992
Peace Accords. Last month the Right pushed through
several key reforms to the Supreme Electoral Tribunal
(TSE) in the Assembly that allow critical decisions on
electoral oversight to be approved with a simple
majority instead of a requiring the votes of four out
of five magistrates.?The change gives the right-wing
parties near total control over electoral
process.?Perhaps even more appalling is ARENA strategy
of rearranging voters in ways that would benefit its
electoral outcome. In the week before the official
voting roles were closed, some 11,000 voters changed
voting locations to municipalities where the vote is
expected to be close.
The opposition has denounced these actions, and in
response ARENA has intensified its campaigning efforts
meant to undermine the FMLN by constantly accusing the
party of being connected to gangs, terrorists and
"de-stabilizing" forces in the country. In fact,
recently ARENA went as far as to accuse FMLN mayors of
having an unresolved debt with the government through
the MIDES (garbage disposal) project. The threat of
the MIDES ruling is that the right wing is trying to
use it to prevent popular FMLN mayors from running as
candidates in the upcoming elections. This situation
demonstrates ARENA capacity to utilize government
institutions to legitimize? their political attacks
on the FMLN.?As Salvadorans continue organizing to
expose the unjust conditions they live under, ARENA is
desperate to project its own corruption and
governmental failures to its political opponent. With
nearly unlimited media space, unregulated propaganda,
a vast array of corrupt funds, and US intervention on
its side, the right-wing sees a green light to use all
its power to promote its own candidates.
Thirteen years after the signing of the Peace Accords
that put an end to the war and legalized the FMLN as a
political party, the country's "transition to
democracy" continues to be fragile. Several reforms
that would guarantee accessible, fair and free
elections have yet to be implemented or respected;
meanwhile, despite denouncements by international
observers in past elections, the right-wing party has
persistently committed fraud by buying votes,
intimidating civilians, and threatening opposition
candidates. In the 2004 elections, the government even
tried to stop international observers from attending
the elections and have recently been making statements
about limiting the amount of international observers
at these upcoming elections.?Join CISPES is demanding
the transparency that will lead to free and fair
elections in El Salvador!
TAKE ACTION!
1. Attend the March 2006 CISPES Elections Observing
Delegation to El Salvador and promote fair elections
as an accredited international observer! Accompany the
Salvadoran people by standing with them during their
struggle for true democracy.?Apply for the delegation
by contacting your local committee, or downloading the
application at
http://www.cispes.org/english/Delegations. The
application deadline is January 15! *help with
fundraising is available*
- If you cannot travel yourself, donate money or
frequent fliers miles to CISPES, in order to help
finance those who want to go but cannot afford it.
CISPES 8124 West 3rd Street No. 104 Los Angeles,
Calif. 90048
323-852-0721 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
CISPES
Committee In Solidarity With The People of El Salvador
8124 West 3rd Street L.A. Ca. 90048
323-852-0721
Founded: 1980 - 25 Years of Solidarity
__________________________________________
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