New Hope for El Salvador

There is an election going on in El Salvador, and for the first time a member of the FMLN, the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, is likely to win, defeating the latest candidate of the ARENA party.

I consider this good news. If you were around in the late 70's and early 80's you'll remember that ARENA was founded by Roberto D'Aubuisson, who later became the fascist dictator of the country; founded and commanded death squads that murdered Archbishop Oscar Romero, three American church women, and tens of thousands of Salvadoran civilians; and was Ronald Reagan and Elliott Abrams's best friend in Central America.



It's good that D'Aubuisson is dead, and the leaders of the current parties are at a generational divide from D'Aubuisson and his accomplices. Still, I question the news coverage that the election has received. For instance, NPR has carried stories on the election on its news programming this weekend, and they have mentioned the civil war in El Salvador, but they mention not a word about the death squads.

I have to wonder why not.