Watch El Salvador's two presidential candidates

There was never a debate between Mauricio Funes and Rodrigo Avila, but you can compare them in these two interviews conducted by Jorge Ramos of Univision:

Comments

Anonymous said…
Dear Tim:

"The Truth will set you free..."

It's the meassage in this election year, the fact that ARENA and Rodrigo Avila have censored the press by copyrighting something that should be public...is...What can we say??
No debate in a free democracy??? This reminds me of Cuba...or China...but El Salvador. It's a Democracy, is it?!

As we know, El Salvador has two major newspapers, and many tv channels,that instead of telling the truth they are deseminating lies...and propaganda as we saw in the headlines " Congresistas EEUU: en peligro TPS con FMLN."

In El Salvador, the people wanted a public debate of ideas, and CNN en Espanol was giving the presidential candidates a forum.
Mauricio Funes accepted, but Rodrigo Avila declined.
This enterview was taken out from You Tube, as Alianza Nacinalista was claiming copyrights...ha? Isn't that censorship???

Demonizing is nothing new...the Pilgrims did it with many in their witch hunts and trials...the Spaniars with the inquisition...and in war...but the forum of ideas are not being express equally in El Salvador. When the supposed press is just a puppet of ARENA.

Thank you,Tim for this forum, as a Salvadorean I appreciate your work and the comments of many in this blog.

The Truth is that El Salvador need change, and it will not happen unless people have choices...we have chosen ARENA for many years and the end result is not pretty.
And using MacCarthinism in order to shut down better ideas is not the answer...

Now, the people see the truth, and they will be free, and free indeed...
Anonymous said…
Well said, basically you said it all! -first Anonymous- what you are saying is TOTALLY TRUTH, these videos are material to make a good comparison and that "Alianza Republicana Nacionalista" is claiming the copyrights, God Bless the internet this kind of interviews are not being brocast by the local media and on top of that they are censoring ..WTF?
Which country am I living in?
Thank you TIM for posting and remark about our choices in terms of presidential candidate, can't wait on sunday.....
Anonymous said…
First Anonymous,

I am not familiar with the Central American governments as much as I would like to be. But while I was down in El Salvador I heard from many citizens that the FMLN is not going to help El Salvador. This became clear after a political rally held in the streets of San Salvador by FMLN resulted in fights, forgive me if I am wrong about my views.....
but I believe that FMLN will not set the nation free but rather simply relive the problems facing the nation after the civil war because remember the FMLN has connections to the problem that caused the civil war. If I have studied enough of Central American government El Salvador in particular. please undertsand what I am saying,
do we vote a part y that has slipped propaganda into the nation(FMLN) or do we elect a party that has for the most part done ok but still has it's problems but is at least playing by the rules(ARENA)?
Anonymous said…
Clearly you do not know El Salvador politics, as some salvadorean that thinks ARENA is the only option in our nation. Democracy isnt 20 year in the power and trying to retain it for the only fact that "party that has for the most part done ok but still has problems but is at least playing by the rules(ARENA)"
I wouldn't say MOST PART, becuase it is a shame in terms of government efficient that our nation is being support for our fellow in USA, instead our internal production, beyond that what make you think salvadorean are free? when you can not say anything against the government when employees are being threatened to lose their jobs if they vote fot the opposite, i would like to extend an invitation to come down over here and live some couple of months, but i will understand if you wouldn't come down here for vacation and to be shot, because that is also another issue that hasnt been improved AT ALL IN 20 YEARS!
Anonymous said…
Anonymous 1,
Thanks for replying the way you did.
you are correct, I do not know El Salvador politics. I am glad you have been able to inform me. I do know one thing and that is that El Salvador has crime in the political world by no doubt. I am disappointed that Rodrigo Avila declined from a debate. he should have taken the debate to show his the skill he MIGHT have. the truth is El Salvador is in need of a leader who can stop the crime that is in my own opinion the biggest issue right now.
Thank you,
Politics and the future.
Anonymous said…
also for another note what make me think that citizens in El salvador are safe?
nothing and I did not mean to imply that.
Carlos X. said…
One last parallel between this race and the last U.S. election: I believe turnout will be more critical for Ávila than for Funes, and that the marginal returns in turnout will favor ARENA. Like McCain in the US election, Ávila may be enjoying a minor, last minute surge. Clearly Ávila has fed almost exclusively on the undecided vote: he has been utterly unable to take away votes from Funes, so his hopes ride with being able to motivate indifferent and undecided voters and get them to incline towards him and actually get out and vote. Funes also needs to turn out his vote, but just his voters, but at the same time all of them. ARENA has better targetting ability, as they showed with the Quijano campaign. Hold on to your hats folks, it's gonna be a bumpy ride.
Anonymous said…
Politics and the Future:
You basically got everything backwards, I don't know if the info you got was from the employees at your hotel or the many Malls that are way out of reach to most of the Salvadorean population but one thing is correct, the FMLN party is NOT gonna fix El Salvador over night...just like president Obama can't undo or fix all the mess that president Bush caused in the past eight years. The ARENA party has done the same if not more damage to El Salvador for the last Twenty years in power, they are the same as the U.S Repubs because they were STARTED by the United States Republicans...enough is enough!!!

"remember the FMLN has connections to the problem that caused the civil war"

The FMLN wasn't the "cause" of the civil war, they were looking for an alternative that would stop the suffering of the Salvadorean population. They didn't just say to each other "You know what guys? why don't we go to war with the government for the hell of it?lulz all around guys...he he he"
I wonder who killed Father Romero,the Jesuits and many more because they were accused of being Commies...I sure wish there was an investigation by some sort of UN Truth Commission so we could find out who committed all this crimes and know the truth.

"do we vote a part y that has slipped propaganda into the nation(FMLN) or do we elect a party that has for the most part done ok but still has it's problems but is at least playing by the rules(ARENA)? "

This has got to be the best part about your comment LOL...are you sure you got your Parties straight? Did you mean to write FMLN where ARENA is and ARENA where FMLN is??? Because let me tell you, you have it 100% backwards friend...take care and may the will of our people set us free...
Anonymous said…
Anonymous 1,

clearly you are more talented and informed in the El Salvador Elections then I could ever be.
how ever as soon as you start saying that Bush did a bad job and start messing with the American government (Forgive me and correct me if I got your views wrong or misinterpreted the last comment) then you have just stepped on a land mine. when it comes to American Government I can handle more blows. I'm glad we have had this discussion who knew that this would spark such discussion? I never said that the FMLN would fix our problems over night, Obama and the FMLN can not fix problems over night and ARENA can not either. it will take time.
now is not the place for a discussion regarding American Government however I will not object but we both understand where we stand on issues and we can just call it good. Thank you for understanding and also for informing me on your view I really appreciate it. You have helped me a lot in understanding El Salvador Government. In closing please know I am not trying to be Rude and neither do I want to spark a heated debate or discussion. also please know that I am not supporting either side FMLN or ARENA I'm only going to watch the outcome.
Anonymous said…
Hey Politics and the future,

my fist comment was the only comment that I did: "the truth will set you free..." after that I don't know who you been talking to.
But God Bless America!!!
Anonymous said…
rodrigo avila is a joke!!!
arena's greatest mistake ever was to make him their presidential candidate, everyone knows this, even the hard core arena militants. most of them are even ashamed that it is he who is representing the party on such important elections against such a tough contender. and as far as arena's campaign slogan of "vote with wisdom" and their call to the public to "defend the liberties and freedom" just seems absurd. anyone who knows enough about el salvador would immediately know this is a farse. i guess it's relative to what we define as liberties and fredom, because when you are afraid to go out to down town san salvador or any neighborhood because you may be one of the 13 daily murder victims or be extortioned on the bus; is not liberty. when the media does not inform you of the real news and keeps you up to date but intimidates you and insinuates things that you may not really care about just to disestabilize your personal opinion on matters, well in short, that is not freedom of the press. when you are a talented youngster and cannot get a decent job because you are not friends with or not related to somebody in an upper oposition in the industry, that's not economic liberty. so what is really liberty and freedom in salvadoran daily life then?
Anonymous said…
I can see there has been a mis understanding among my writing.
I have seem to have written to the wrong user,
my fault i am sorry if I offended any users!
pija,
thanks for this interesting post, I'm glad you agree that there is a lot of crime in El Salvador(: perhaps that is the understatement of the year(:
anyways to who ever I was discussing with, Thanks for the good time!
Anonymous said…
You are welcome, and ppl dont forget to exercise your right to vote...

HOPE MAURICIO FUNES WINS!

:)
Anonymous said…
We have this party (ARENA), that allegedly is the party that will protect our "freedoms", while at the same time those aligned to said party curtail said "freedoms"?

Because, as someone mentioned before, having some companies THREATEN employees with being fired, UNLESS THEY VOTE FOR ARENA AND GIVE VISUAL PROOF (photos taken from cellphones they'll supposedly hand-out) of doing so, doesn't that violate one of the principle themes of democracy, neigh, of the free world: The right to choose.

What you do if someone threatened you in such a way?

Is there any real difference between this, and holding someone on gunpoint that if you do as they say the might as well shoot you?


Now, coming March 15, I cannot help but to wonder if the spirit of the elections haven't been violated. Of course, I never had much trust in it to begin with. Not when the entities that issue the ID cards (RNPN), and the ones responsible for making sure the elections are carried out as smooth as possible (Tribunal Supremo Electoral) are controlled by ARENA and affiliates--talk about rigging a race.

In the past, a fellow visitor posted an example of a man that appears to have two DUIs (ID cards), with different names, which would allow give to commit double-vote, now, I wish to submit an example of my own, posted below:

http://hunnapuh.blogcindario.com/2009/03/02985-otra-persona-con-dos-duis-denuncia-ciudadana.html

Of course, at least this card-carrier is alive, because in this country even the dead have the opportunity to vote...
Anonymous said…
Thank God for Los SIMPSONS!