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DE RUEHSN #2873/01 3341844
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P 301844Z NOV 06
FM AMEMBASSY SAN SALVADOR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4557
INFO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SAN SALVADOR 002873 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/29/2016 
TAGS: PGOV KCOR PINR ES
SUBJECT: EL SALVADOR'S NEW POPULIST THREAT ? 
 
REF: SAN SALVADOR 2371 
 
Classified By: Charge Michael A. Butler, Reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (C)  SUMMARY:  Populist 41-year-old Mayor Wil Salgado of 
San Miguel (El Salvador's third-largest city) has publicly 
expressed his intention of running for president in the March 
2009 national elections.  Although a Salgado national victory 
in 2009 is highly unlikely, his popularity in the nation's 
eastern region has attracted the attention of both ARENA and 
the FMLN, as the two major parties study how his populist 
style might affect their own electoral possibilities. 
President Saca has told the Ambassador and other USG 
officials that he is concerned about the possibility of 
Salgado running on the National Conciliation Party (PCN) 
ticket and peeling-off right wing votes from the ARENA 
candidate, thus paving the way for an FMLN victory. Saca has 
said that he does not want a repetition of the recent 
Nicaraguan elections, in which a divided right caused Daniel 
Ortega's victory. Figueroa confided to Polcouns on November 
29 that ARENA, the PCN and the PDC (Christian Democrats) are 
close to making a deal to separate the March 2009 elections 
into two rounds, the first in January 2009 for deputies and 
mayors, followed by a second round in March for the 
presidency. According to Figueroa, the January round would 
guarantee the PCN and PDC enough votes and legislative seats 
to survive as minority parties.  In exchange, the PCN and PDC 
would guarantee ARENA that they would not run presidential 
candidates, thus allowing ARENA to run head-to-head against 
the FMLN. END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (C)  Jose Wilfredo Salgado Garcia was born March 13, 1966 
t a family of poor coffee workers on a coffee planttion 
near the town of Santiago de Maria in Usuluan Department. 
Following a youth spent in agriculural work, he served as a 
non-commissioned officr with the Salvadoran Special Forces 
during the ar years.  Salgado once claimed that during the 
ar, he was trained in a clandestine school for sniers, 
where in his own words, he "learned to violate human rights, 
and was turned into a killing machine."  (Note:  The Embassy 
has no credible information that Salgado was actually 
involved in any such human rights violations, nor does his 
name appear in the UN Truth Commission Report.  End Note.) 
Salgado continues to emphasize his military experience; the 
reception area of his office features a large painting in 
which he is depicted in Special Forces uniform brandishing an 
assault rifle.  Following completion of his military service 
in 1986, Salgado sold lottery tickets on the streets of San 
Miguel until an ex-colonel engaged his services as manager of 
a privately-run military commissary.  He later used the 
proceeds from that business to develop a successful chain of 
electrical appliance and household goods stores; Salgado now 
also owns both radio and TV stations. There have been 
widespread, but unconfirmed, reports that Salgado engaged in 
human and arms trafficking in recent past, and that most of 
his wealth has come from these activities. 
 
¶3. (C)  Salgado's successful business interests allowed him 
to build important political support and connections, and in 
2000 he was elected Mayor of San Miguel on the center-left 
Christian Democratic Party (PDC) ticket.  He switched to the 
Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) and won reelection in 
2003, and later defected to the center-right National 
Reconciliation Party (PCN), winning a third term in March 
¶2006.  Salgado is the most popular and powerful politician in 
the eastern half of El Salvador; he describes his style of 
leadership as simply responding to the needs of the 
community.  He frequently holds open office hours, during 
which he attends to constituents' personal requests, be it 
for a wheelchair, prescription drugs, assistance in building 
a house, or the pavement of a local street.  During 
occasional appearances on his own TV station, Channel 20, 
Salgado takes calls from constituents, attending to their 
needs immediately. 
 
¶4. (C)  In 1995, Salgado was arrested for being the alleged 
financier and ringleader of a group called "Sombra Negra" 
(Black Shadow), variously described as a law-and-order 
vigilante group, death squad, or simply as an organized-crime 
ring.  Salgado was quickly released for lack of evidence; 
experts disagree on whether the group existed, and if indeed 
it ever did, the police (PNC) do not believe it currently 
exists.  Salgado acknowledges the group's past existence, 
characterizing it as a "necessary evil", but denies ever 
having been a member; he once commented, "Deep down I like 
them, but they scare me."  Notwithstanding persistent rumors 
of corruption and involvement in illicit business dealings, 
Salgado has proven to be a "Teflon" mayor.  When the recent 
scandal broke regarding kickbacks and money laundering by 
fellow PCN member and Legislative Assembly Alternate Deputy 
Roberto Silva (ref. A), Salgado managed to brush off any 
possible connections with Silva and his companies, while 
admitting that Silva had once tried to bribe him to win 
contracts for public works projects in San Miguel.  Although 
Salgado's appliance and household goods stores have been 
investigated by the Ministry of Finance, no solid evidence of 
malfeasance or other misdealings has ever emerged to support 
allegations by former political supporter Guadalupe Sorto and 
others of corruption, narcotrafficking, or the planning of 
assassinations.  (Note:  The Embassy possesses no solid 
derogatory information on Salgado; he holds a valid B1/B2 
visa.  End note.) 
 
¶5. (C)  Violent crime, extortion, and other gang activity are 
rampant in San Miguel, as elsewhere.  In September, just as 
he was unveiling his presidential bid, Salgado announced that 
he was negotiating directly with San Miguel mara leaders in 
order to ameliorate the problem.  The political elite scorned 
him for attempting to negotiate with extortionists, but many 
of his supporters applauded the directness of his move. 
Salgado holds that the military must be part of any effective 
solution to the nation's crippling crime problem, and he 
favors instituting a death penalty in El Salvador.  He has 
argued for stricter gun control laws, and is in favor of a 
larger role for the private sector.  Although he identified 
himself with three different political parties within the 
span of five years, Salgado has remained consistently right 
of center; he describes himself as a "barefoot rightist," 
meaning someone from the lower classes ideologically loyal to 
the right.  Notwithstanding resentment within the PCN at 
Salgado's premature self-anointment as his party's candidate, 
he remains the PCN's strongest potential presidential 
candidate for 2009. 
 
¶6. (C)  COMMENT: Wil Salgado's electoral appeal at this time 
does not transcend the city of San Miguel and surrounding 
eastern departments, and his uneducated, crude persona is 
unlikely to propel him to national office.  Nonetheless, it 
is clear to ARENA that, were Salgado to run on the PCN 
ticket, he could drain enough anti-FMLN votes away, 
especially among rural, conservative voters, to make the 
presidency more attainable to the FMLN.  It is precisely for 
that reason, that the ARENA leadership will try to reach a 
backroom political compromise with the PCN to keep Salgado 
out. Knowing the PCN's penchant for political horse trading, 
one may be sure the price will be high. 
Butler