Upside Down World interview with Funes

Upside Down World, an online magazine "covering activism and politics in Latin America" from a progressive point of view, has published a lengthy interview with Mauricio Funes, the FMLN's candidate for president of El Salvador. The interview is well-worth reading. The first question asks Funes to place his campaign within the leftward shift of politics seen in Latin America in recent years. Funes answer:
We are often asked, ‘Well, what type of left do you represent?’, and I have said: “We represent the left of hope. We are a sensible left, a reasonable left, a left that is betting on change, a stable change.

We are looking for a type of society that builds functioning institutions in El Salvador, a democracy that functions, a viable nation.

Given the current international context, we do not aspire to build socialism in El Salvador. What we hope to build is a more dynamic and competitive economy, placing ourselves in the international playing field in a highly globalized and competitive world. We hope to have a stronger and more dynamic economy than what has been built up until now.

To do this we need the institutions that work, and for democracy to become a symbol that also exists in our country. We do not need to be close to Chavez, close to Lula…or close to Bush in order for our institutions and democracy to work. What we need is to build a model of public management that responds to the needs of Salvadorans and that will resolve Salvadoran problems.

The remainder of the interview addresses many issues of US-El Salvador relations, as well as questions about water policy, mining and bio-fuels. Since the article is titled Part I of the interview, hopefully more will soon be available.

Comments

Jorge Ávalos said…
Tim, I don't know if you realize how weird this interview really is. While dismissing Avila, he sounds just like him.
Anonymous said…
sounds like avila???... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQt-znplya8

"ha eso me refería yo"... come on, man... this avila guy couldn't even sell you a mother's day gift from an Avon catalog...
El-Visitador said…
«We do not need to be close to Chavez, close to Lula…or close to Bush»

Heh.

Apparently, the only people this guy and his party need to be close to is the FARC.

The same FARC who have Ingrid Betancourt, several U.S. citizens, and 700 other innocents kidnapped right now.

This guy is a booby trap, and some people are only too happy to fall for it.
Anonymous said…
I agree "el-visitador"...and let me tell you, fmln militants will always use the same shield "campaña sucia, campaña sucia, campaña sucia" give me a break!
Jorge Ávalos said…
I was referring to very specific subjects. ILEA, for example. FMLN militants are going to be horrified when they read what Funes has to say about it. Or the CAFTA. The FMLN has always opposed the free trade agreements, flatly, not just the lack of consultation with the people, which by the way, is false. Quite a lot of people participated in creating the agreement, it couldn't be done in any other way, because now producers must comply with a lot of health and safety issues, and with labor laws (where there is still weak compliance). Also when Funes talks about working with Americans in fighting drug trafficking and crime, makes him sound just like Avila, who insists that crime can be won with more technology and greater use of force; that's the opposite of what the FMLN has been saying for over a decade.