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TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0665
INFO RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC PRIORITY
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RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SAN SALVADOR 000102 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/03/2019 
TAGS: PGOV KPLS KDEM ES
SUBJECT: ELECTION UPDATE: ARENA GAINS MOMENTUM, BUT HAS A 
LONG WAY TO GO 
 
REF: SAN SALVADOR 60 
 
Classified By: Robert I. Blau, Charge d'Affaires, for reasons 1.4 (b) 
and (d) 
 
¶1. (C) Summary: The (conservative, pro-U.S.) ARENA party's 
campaign has gained some momentum.  The January 18 
legislative and municipal elections resulted in the best-case 
scenario for ARENA, and the voter base has appeared 
increasingly energized in the ARENA events of the past week. 
Poll numbers support this apparent trend.  ARENA released its 
platform January 28, pledging to create jobs, improve health 
care and education, and develop infrastructure.  The platform 
was well-received by party supporters, but it offers little 
insight on how it will achieve or pay for its goals, and the 
media are beginning to pay attention to that detail. 
(Center-right) Christian Democrat Party (PDC) candidate 
Carlos Rivas Zamora announced the end of his campaign, which 
will further bolster ARENA's prospects.  The Supreme 
Electoral Tribunal (TSE) released its final statistics from 
the January 18 elections, and the number held to previous 
projections (reftel).  The TSE claimed to have been the 
victims of hackers during the election.  There were two 
re-votes held in San Isidro and San Agustin, and ARENA won 
both municipalities.  The European Union released a report 
criticizing the partisanship of Salvadoran media outlets in 
the campaign.  End Summary. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
Presidential Race: ARENA Gains Momentum 
--------------------------------------- 
¶2. (SBU) News dailies La Prensa Grafica and El Diario de Hoy 
have released their first post-election poll results. 
According to El Diario de Hoy, which reported a 4-point lead 
for (left-wing) FMLN candidate Mauricio Funes in December, 
Funes now holds a 2.6 point advantage.  La Prensa Grafica had 
previously reported a 12-14 point lead for Funes, and now 
says that lead has dwindled to six.  The actual numbers may 
vary, but ARENA clearly gained some momentum from the 
legislative and municipal elections, especially in winning 
the key San Salvador municipal battle. 
 
--------------------------------- 
Legislative and Municipal Results 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (C) After a full week of tallying results wrought with 
technical difficulties, the TSE began to effectively report 
results on January 25.  It released the final election 
numbers later in the week.  These were in line with initial 
projections; the composition of the Legislative Assembly did 
not change at all from the first reports, and only a handful 
of municipalities shifted.  The FMLN gained three Assembly 
seats overall.  ARENA lost two.  The key result, however, is 
the performance of the (right-wing) National Conciliation 
Party (PCN).  With 11 seats, it has the ability to form a 
majority with either ARENA or the FMLN, giving the PCN the 
key to the Assembly.  In recent months, the PCN had been 
negotiating with the FMLN, but is unlikely to formalize an 
alliance until after the March 15 presidential elections (or 
the April 19 runoff).  The final electoral tallies were: 
 
Legislative Assembly Seats (total: 84) 
 
ARENA 32 
CD     1 
FDR    0 
FMLN  35 
PCN   11 
PDC    5 
 
Municipalities (total: 262, coalitions also listed) 
 
ARENA        122 (down from 148) 
CD             1 
FDR-CD         1 
FMLN          75 (up from 58) 
FMLN-CD       18 
PCN           33 (down from 39) 
PDC            9 (down from 14) 
PDC-FMLN       2 
PDC-FMLN-CD    1 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
TSE Claims Hackers Derailed Its Web Site Reporting Effort 
--------------------------------------------- ------------ 
 
¶4. (C) News Daily La Prensa Grafica reported January 28 that 
Walter Araujo, President of the TSE, claimed that the 
 
organization's web site had been attacked by hackers.  The 
report says Araujo reported this to the Attorney General on 
Election Day.  No subsequent information has been released 
concerning the credibility of this claim.  The TSE had a 
series of technical glitches leading up to the elections. 
Its web site was completely inaccessible for two full days 
after the elections, and once it went live, only contained 
preliminary data (70 percent of election returns) for the 
entire week that followed.  The TSE's organization failures 
and technical problems were widely criticized during and 
after the recent vote.  On the other hand, the final vote 
counts themselves were not questioned. 
 
--------------------------------------------- - 
EU Observers Criticize Partisan Media Coverage 
--------------------------------------------- - 
 
¶5. (SBU) According to online news source El Faro, the 
European Union team of election observers concluded that 
various media outlets unfairly demonstrated partisan 
behavior.  The EU report cited three television stations, 
four newspapers, and four radio stations as having given 
biased reporting, and that ARENA benefitted most from the 
slant.  An EU spokesman also publicly chastised its own 
observation team members for showing their personal biases, 
which, in the cases publicized, were pro-FMLN. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
San Isidro and San Agustin Re-votes: ARENA Prevails 
--------------------------------------------- ------ 
 
¶6. (SBU) The two municipalities requiring re-votes, San 
Isidro and San Agustin, proceeded largely without incident. 
In San Isidro, Cabanas, voting resumed January 25 after 
authorities suspended it January 18 due to escalating voter 
disputes (reftel).  While the media reported minor 
irregularities, voting was peaceful, and it concluded with an 
ARENA municipal victory.  San Agustin, Usulutan, also 
required a second round of voting on February 1.  The 
original municipal election there resulted in a tie between 
the ARENA and FMLN candidates.  Press reported tensions 
between party supporters and the occasional voting 
irregularity, but the voting center was mostly free of 
problems.  The ARENA candidate emerged victorious. 
 
--------------------------------- 
PDC Presidential Candidate Robbed 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) PDC Presidential candidate Carlos Rivas Zamora was 
robbed outside his parents' home January 25.  Two assailants 
stole his car, personal documents, cash, and his laptop, 
which contained information relating to his campaign.  Media 
reported that Zamora had stopped at his parents' home to 
deliver his laptop to his sister, when attacked.  Zamora's 
wife and daughters were in the car, but were allowed to exit 
the vehicle.  The attack occurred in broad daylight, at 
approximately 2 PM on a Sunday afternoon.  Media reports say 
the police believe that Zamora was not targeted as a 
political figure and consider the robbery a crime of 
opportunity. (Note: The GOES provides security to 
presidential candidates only if they request it.  Rivas 
Zamora did request it, but the GOES had not yet complied. 
The GOES provided security soon after the incident.  End 
Note.) 
 
-------------------------- 
Rivas Zamora Ends Campaign 
-------------------------- 
 
¶8. (C) On February 2, Rivas Zamora announced that he would 
terminate his bid for the presidency.  The move was unrelated 
to his January 25 robbery.  Rivas Zamora's decision was not 
unexpected, and demonstrates the PDC's commitment to 
preventing the FMLN from taking the presidency.  PDC voters 
will naturally swing to ARENA's side without prompting, but 
ARENA would benefit further from public PDC support.  The 
party has not yet done this, but El Diario de Hoy reported 
that an ARENA source indicated the PDC was on board.  The 
PCN, for the moment, is continuing its presidential campaign, 
but may also drop out, which would eliminate the possibility 
of an April runoff. 
 
--------------------------------------------- 
ARENA's Platform: Addressing Voters' Concerns 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶9. (C) On January 28, ARENA announced its platform, a 
monumental 337-page document promising to address the entire 
 
range of voters' concerns.  Months ago, ARENA identified the 
key themes that were most important to voters (which they 
cited in conversations with us in October), and assembled an 
extensive set of working groups to develop policy proposals. 
Most notable was the campaign's first sign of a break with 
the Saca administration.  Nothing in the platform 
specifically criticizes Saca, but the suggestion is clear; 
several of the main points (such as decreasing and limiting 
subsidies and combating governmental corruption) subtly point 
to a shift from the policies of the Saca administration. 
 
¶10. (C) The platform emphasizes creating new jobs as ARENA's 
top priority.  Candidate for Vice President Arturo Zablah's 
speech made specific reference to the government as both 
employer and consumer as one way to reach that goal.  They 
pledged to limit subsidies and improve governmental 
transparency, with the aim of reducing corruption.  They 
raised several proposals to improve living conditions and the 
quality of life of lower income families.  The ARENA platform 
also aims to reduce the prices of medicine, introduce a 
system of potable water, improve education, and develop 
infrastructure in outlying regions.  Towards the end of his 
speech, Avila made a point of stressing the importance of the 
family unit, and made specific mention of trusting in faith 
in God as Christians, significant because recent press has 
suggested that an evangelical leader has a specific (though 
unspecified) problem with Avila. 
 
¶11. (C) On January 29, Avila and Zablah, accompanied by ARENA 
campaign coordinator Cesar Funes and Foreign Policy Advisor 
Oscar Santamaria briefed the diplomatic corps on ARENA's 
platform, and took questions on the campaign.  Avila 
expressed appreciation for missions that fielded observers 
for January 18 municipal and legislative elections, crediting 
them with helping ensure there was no electoral fraud.  Cesar 
Funes echoed those sentiments, noting the absence of violence 
in the January vote and expressing confidence for ARENA's 
chances in the final weeks before the March 15 presidential 
vote. 
 
¶12. (C) Zablah addressed the economic portions of the 
platform, highlighting proposals to promote housing 
development with funds from pension investments, proposals to 
encourage youth employment with tax incentives and subsidies, 
and to target subsidies.  Zablah said an Avila administration 
would use tax incentives to encourage economic development. 
He said an ARENA government would move to tackle the high 
price of medicine, though he said it would be difficult to 
end VAT taxation on those items.  He noted that he did not 
oppose the so-called Washington Consensus, but did object to 
a perceived double standard, with developed economies 
maintaining agricultural subsidies that limited Salvadoran 
access to those markets.  Avila's remarks focused more on 
public security, reflecting his years as Director of El 
Salvador's National Civilian Police (PNC).  He remarked on 
his own success as police chief in bringing down the homicide 
rate, noting the recent uptick as a warning against 
complacency, and pledged to continue working towards 
long-term solutions for El Salvador's crime problem. 
 
¶13. (C) Comment: ARENA's platform, much like that of the FMLN 
(released six months ago), lacks any indication of how it 
plans to pay for or achieve its lofty goals.  Despite its 
length, the platform is a series of vague promises and 
general statements of intent.  The media is beginning to 
question the plan, as they did months ago with the FMLN's 
proposals.  Major news dailies have begun dissecting the 
details of the platform and noting the lack of substance. 
The platform itself looks less important than the use of it 
by party leaders to mobilize supporters. 
BLAU