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FM AMEMBASSY SAN SALVADOR
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0573
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RHEHNSC/NSC WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SAN SALVADOR 000037 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/09/2019 
TAGS: PGOV KPLS KPEM ES
SUBJECT: EL SALVADOR ELECTION UPDATE: JANUARY 9 
 
Classified By: The Ambassador, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) 
 
¶1. (U) Summary: This is an update regarding the Salvadoran 
municipal and legislative elections scheduled for January 18, 
and the presidential elections scheduled for March 15.  This 
report includes results of the December 21 Supreme Electoral 
Tribunal (TSE) test of the electronic data system, an ongoing 
investigation regarding the involvement of gang members in 
electoral violence, and allegations of corruption regarding 
election day transportation. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
SECOND ELECTORAL TEST REVEALS TECHNICAL ISSUES 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶2. (U) The Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) conducted a 
second electronic transmission data test December 21.  The 
TSE concluded that although the data transmission was an 
improvement over the December 7 test, there were still some 
technical failures.  According to the Deputy Director of the 
Electoral Surveillance Board Lilian de Benavides, some 
electoral centers successfully received transmission reports, 
but the national system did not detect the transmitted 
information. 
 
¶3.  (U) Other problems included blackouts in some voting 
centers. For example, in Juayua (located in the Western zone 
of the country) a blackout prevented electoral information 
from being successfully transmitted.  Also, some voting 
centers did not open and the test was not conducted as 
planned.  The TSE plans on conducting a third test next week. 
 
------------------------------------- 
GANGS LINKED TO ELECTORAL ACTIVITIES 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (U) On January 6, the National Civilian Police (PNC) 
confirmed that gang members were participating in electoral 
propaganda campaigns in the municipalities of Apopa, 
Soyapango, San Marcos, Usulutan, and Santa Ana.  These 
municipalities have reported electoral violence incidents in 
the recent months.  PNC Director Jose Luis Tobar Prieto 
publicly asserted that gang members increase the risk for the 
political violence. Tobar Prieto did not mention which 
political parties have been linked with gangs but said the 
political parties involved have been notified about the 
situation.  Conservative newspaper El Diario de Hoy linked 
the gangs to the FMLN, and showed a photo of a youth with 
gang-style tattoos wearing an FMLN bandana.  FMLN 
presidential candidate Mauricio Funes publicly distanced 
himself from the gangs, although he commented that he could 
not veto the political sympathies of Salvadoran citizens, be 
they gang members or otherwise. 
 
¶5. (U) The PNC reported January 6 that it received 45 
complaints of electoral violence between October and December 
¶2008.  The Attorney General,s Office (AG) reported 10 
ongoing investigations regarding electoral violence in San 
Salvador.  Additional investigations are taking place in 
Sonsonate and San Vicente. 
 
---------------------------------- 
ELECTION DAY TRANSPORTATION ISSUES 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (U) The TSE announced January 7 that a transportation 
company closely aligned with ARENA had been given the 
concession to provide transportation to voters on election 
day.  The TSE plans to spend $54,756 to transport 
approximately 750,000 voters to polling sites.  The owner of 
the transportation company, Catalino Miranda, is closely 
linked to the (conservative, pro-U.S.) National Republican 
Alliance (ARENA) and other transportation companies, who were 
not called to bid on the concession, are alleging corruption. 
 
¶7. (U) On January 7, The Legislative Assembly passed a 
temporary decree to allow the TSE to transfer $765,645 to 
political parties for payment of transportation expenses. 
The money will be divided according to the votes obtained in 
the 2003 municipal election, and political parties that did 
not participate in the election will receive $5,000. 
 
----------------------------- 
ARENA STILL DRAFTING PLATFORM 
----------------------------- 
 
¶8. (C) ARENA platform coordinator (and Ambassador to the 
U.S.) Rene Leon told PolCouns January 8 he expected the Avila 
campaign would roll out its platform (plan de gobierno) on 
January 27.  He said the plan was nearly finished.  The most 
controversial sections, he said, was the one on "Values" 
which expounded an "Opus Dei" vision of El Salvador: mass 
marriages to formalize common-law marriages, opposition to 
abortion, opposition to same-sex marriage, and a call for 
teachers in public schools to promote religious values. Leon 
said much of this agenda was being pushed by ARENA candidate 
Rodrigo Avila's wife Celina Denys de Avila and a small group 
of Catholic conservatives within ARENA.  He questioned 
whether such a hard-line approach on social values would win 
votes, and said this was one area of the platform that was 
not driven by a desire to draw differences with the FMLN, 
rather because a small group in ARENA holds these ideals 
dear.  Leon planned meet with the Avilas and others later 
that day to discuss the chapter. 
 
¶9. (C) Leon said he and ARENA had been open to input in the 
platform from ARENA VP Candidate Arturo Zablah and his 
Alliance for Change group, but suggestions of including 
language that would question dollarization or free trade 
deals had been ruled out.  He said the bulk of input received 
from Zablah and his advisors came from the September 2007 
platform circulated by the Alliance for Change when Zablah 
was exploring a run for the Salvadoran presidency. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
FMLN HOLDS ELECTION EVENT FOR DIPLOMATIC COMMUNITY 
--------------------------------------------- ----- 
 
¶10. (C) The (left-wing) Farabundo Marti National Liberation 
Front (FMLN) held an event for the diplomatic community 
January 7 to express their support for international election 
observers and raise their concerns with Salvadoran Electoral 
Law.  The event was attended by diplomats from Europe, 
Venezuela, Ecuador, and Mexico. 
 
¶11. (C) The FMLN raised concerns they have with specific 
articles in the Salvadoran Electoral Law which are 
contradictory and could lead to ambiguity.  The FMLN 
specifically mentioned the case in which (left-center) 
Revolutionary Democratic Front (FDR) has been able to remain 
on the January 18 ballot in Morazan, La Paz, and Sonsonate 
even though the party did not register any legislative 
candidates in those departments.  The FMLN plans to petition 
the TSE to overturn the recent &controversial8 decision 
(3-2) to allow the FDR to remain on the ballot in these 
departments.  (Comment:  In our view, the TSE's decision is 
in direct violation of article 239 of the electoral code, 
which states that candidates must be registered in order for 
their party to appear on the ballot.  End Comment.) 
 
¶12. (C) Additionally, the FMLN obliquely criticized the OAS 
certification of the current Salvadoran Voter Registry and 
applauded the European Union election monitoring mission's 
more vocal and aggressive comments regarding deficiencies 
with the registry.  In comments after the FMLN,s 
presentation, the Venezuelan Political Counselor was quite 
critical of the voter registry and the inefficiencies in the 
Electoral Law created by recent legislative reforms.  His 
comments seemed to put the FMLN representatives on the 
defensive, and TSE Magistrate Eugenio Chicas responded by 
saying these elections would have to be conducted based upon 
the current laws passed by the Assembly. 
 
¶13. (C) Interestingly, the FMLN anticipates that the January 
18 election should be called, via preliminary results, by 8-9 
PM on election night with all the &actas8 (voting summaries 
from each voting board) being transmitted electronically to 
be reviewed and tabulated at the TSE.  Chicas also said that 
a Dominican company had been contracted by the TSE, "at 
significant additional cost," to conduct a review, if the 
results have not been finalized by January 23.  By law, the 
results must be finalized within 48 hours of the election. 
GLAZER