VZCZCXYZ0009
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHSN #0521/01 0612122
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 022122Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY SAN SALVADOR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1213
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY

UNCLAS SAN SALVADOR 000521 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV CU ES SOCI
SUBJECT: EL SALVADOR ELECTIONS: LA PAZ AND CUSCATLAN 
DEPARTMENTS 
 
¶1.  SUMMARY:  Poloff visited the cities of Zacatecoluca and 
Olocuilta in the La Paz Department on February 22.  Two days 
later, Poloff visited the cities of Cojutepeque and Santa 
Cruz Michapa in the neighboring Cuscatlan department. 
Zacatecoluca and Cojutepeque are the capitals of their 
respective department, and each currently has an incumbent 
FMLN mayor.  Similarly, both Olocuilta and Santa Cruz Michapa 
have incumbent National Conciliation Party (PCN) mayors 
likely to be reelected.  While ARENA candidates offer future 
municipal infrastructure projects if elected, the FMLN has 
guaranteed its adherents medical treatment in Cuba. In the 
visited cities, ARENA clearly appeared to have better 
campaign financing, as evidenced in larger distribution of 
leaflets and billboard displays. 
 
ARENA Poised for Victory in Zacatecoluca, La Paz 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶2.  According to a February 9 poll, ARENA candidate Medardo 
Alfaro holds a significant lead (31 percent) over FMLN 
candidate Raul Pineda.  During separate February 22 meetings 
with poloff, Alfaro and Pineda outlined similar agendas of 
cleaning up the city and rebuilding infrastructure.  (Note: 
Zacatecoluca was badly damaged during the 2001 earthquakes, 
and little infrastructure has been rebuilt to date.  End 
note.)  The incumbent FMLN mayor, Italo Lievano, razed the 
city's three earthquake-damaged municipal markets, sending 
vendors into the streets where they still remain.  Streets 
are now nearly impassable due to lack of maintenance and 
trash collection.  Poloff also spoke with Zacatecoluca 
residents and ARENA members Ely Salamanca and Jose Vizcarra, 
who hope that a win by Alfaro would entail increased 
cooperation and funding from the (ARENA) federal government. 
Salamanca and Vizcara nonetheless complained that ARENA had 
been inffective in informing the local community of 
candidates other than Alfaro. 
 
¶3.  On poloff's later visit to La Paz Department's smaller 
city of Olocuilta, PCN Mayor Antonio Funes claimed to have 
made many improvements during his time in office, and 
outlined several goals.  He states that he enlisted 
international donors to fund the construction of the "City of 
Education," a center where local teens could receive 
technical training.  He claims that although the federal 
government originally committed to fund enough teachers, they 
have not actually done so, and the municipality has been 
paying the salaries of 17 teachers.  Because of this funding 
issue, Funes admitted that they are charging student fees to 
defray expenses.  (Note:  It is illegal for public schools in 
El Salvador to charge fees.  End Note.) 
 
¶4.  COMMENT:  Although there seems to be consensus that 
Zacatecoluca needs a major revitalization, neither candidate 
appears likely to accomplish this goal.  A Millennium 
Challenge Account project is proposed for northern El 
Salvador, but there is at present little GOES or 
international development funding for projects in La Paz, 
notwithstanding the candidates' "wish lists" for heavy 
construction equipment, foreign assistance, and bank loans. 
END COMMENT. 
 
Cuscatlan:  Corruption and Castro 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  While waiting February 24 to meet with FMLN Mayor Leticia 
Cristina Rivas in Cojutepeque (Cuscatlan Department), poloff 
overheard the mayor's secretary phoning local residents about 
a Cuban-funded medical program.  When asked about the 
program, Rivas explained that the Cuban and Venezuelan 
governments planned to fund the travel and ophthalmologic 
surgery of 24 residents in each FMLN-controlled municipality 
in El Salvador prior to the March 12 elections. 
Early-February CID-Gallup polling for Cojutepeque indicates 
that Rivas is in first place with 26 percent support among 
intending voters, compared to ARENA candidate Guadalupe 
Serrano's 18 percent.  However, with 47 percent of the 
population still undecided, the election could go either way. 
 ARENA members in Cuscatlan complained to poloff that FMLN 
members had attacked them and torn down ARENA posters; such 
tactics on the part of both parties are not uncommon during 
campaign season in El Salvador. 
 
¶6.  Poloff afterwards spoke with Santa Cruz Michapa's PCN 
Mayor Jose Salvador Vanegas, a former bus line owner who 
reported that he had sold his business due to its 
unprofitability.  When poloff asked Vanegas about a 
gift-wrapped box on his desk, he responded that local 
residents liked to give him presents to thank him for his 
hard work. 
 
¶7.  COMMENT:  Mayor Rivas was quite the consummate 
politician, with well-rehearsed answers and the ability to 
 
deflect difficult questions and switch to subjects she 
preferred.  On the other hand, Mayor Vanegas seems destined 
to remain a small-town mayor, with little prospect of higher 
political office. 
Barclay