FUNES ABSENT FROM FMLN ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

C O N F I D E N T I A L SAN SALVADOR 000989

SIPDIS

C O R R E C T E D C O P Y (ADDED CLASSIFICATION LINE)

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/15/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL ES
SUBJECT: FUNES ABSENT FROM FMLN ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION

Classified by the Charge for reasons 1.4(b) and (d).


1. (C) Summary: On October 10th, El Salvador's leftist FMLN
party (Frente Farabundo Marti para la Liberacion Nacional)
celebrated the 29th anniversary of its founding, notably
without the participation of either President Funes or the
"Friends of Mauricio." The absence of Funes and Friends
indicates a growing rift between party hardliners and the
President, despite FMLN claims to the contrary. End Summary.


2. (C) El Salvador's leftist FMLN party celebrated the 29th
anniversary of its founding October 10 in San Salvador,
though without the participation of President Funes, whose
attendance at the event had been the subject of much
speculation. The conservative newspaper El Diario de Hoy
reported that before the event Funes asked FMLN cabinet
members to focus on their roles as public servants rather
than as party members. Nonetheless, some FMLN members defied
the implied prohibition, stating to the press that they were
merely exercising their rights as citizens. Attendees
included Vice President Salvador Sanchez Ceren, Strategic
Secretary Franzi Hato Hasbun, Minister of Foreign Affairs
Hugo Martinez, Minister of Public Security and Justice Manuel
Melgar, FMLN General Coordinator and Legislative Assembly
Party Leader Medardo Gonzalez, Vice Minister of Public
Transportation Nelson Garcia, Vice Minister of Foreign
Affairs Carlos Castaneda, Vice Minister of Health Violeta
Menjivar, and Vice Minister of Labor Calixto Mejia. Funes
supporters known as the "Friends of Mauricio" were not
invited. A spokesman for the FMLN said that everyone who
supported and sympathized with the FMLN was invited, even
though they hadn't been given personal invitations.


3. (C) On the eve of the anniversary, La Prensa Grafica
newspaper reported that FMLN spokesman Jose Luis Merino
supported President Funes' proposal for a "new political,
social and economic pact" for the nation, which Merino
likened to the Peace Accords that ended the civil war. In
other reports, Merino disavowed the September 26
anti-American tirade by Vice President Salvador Sanchez
Ceren, and acknowledged that the U.S. acted with "respect and
neutrality" in this year's elections. Noting an interview in
which the Charge referred to the U.S. Embassy as
"contributing to depolarization in the country," Merino said
the FMLN would take him at his word.


4. (C) Merino is one of the most powerful hard liners in the
FMLN, with close ties to Cuba, Venezuela, and the FARC. He
said at the anniversary event that the FMLN holds to its
socialist utopian ideals with an aim of creating a society
where all Salvadorans feel they are a part, but with the
participation of private business. However, he described
this socialist vision as one where businessmen create the
wealth, and the government "distributes these riches equally."


5. (U) Newspapers reported statements of unity with Funes
from both Gonzalez and Sanchez Ceren. They and Merino blamed
the media for the division. Gonzalez stated that the FMLN
and Funes are "now united more than ever," and discounted
"rumors" of a division, but also said that the ideals of the
eighties remain intact in the FMLN as it "takes the reins of
the Executive." He said the country needed "profound"
changes, and referred to "structural" problems. Sanchez
Ceren proudly affirmed the party's radical ideals and stated
that the FMLN has now begun "mastering the art of political
struggle." One article quoted Sanchez Ceren stating flatly
that "the FMLN is Schafik Handal and Schafik Handal is the
FMLN." Handal was the party's much-idolized former leader
and 2004 presidential candidate, who died in 2006 after
attending the inauguration of Evo Morales in Bolivia.


6. (C) Comment: The moderate Funes continues to distance
himself from the hard-line FMLN. As hardliners continue to
spout the rhetoric of the past, Funes carries on, enjoying
high popular support that the party cannot ignore. He does
not, however, appear to be able to discipline his party. The
fact that the FMLN is celebrating its pre-war
revolutionary/guerrilla beginnings, and not its founding as a
political party in 1992, is a telling indication of the
ongoing influence of hardline elements within the party.
Statements affirming the radical agenda of the party belie
comments that appear to support Funes.
BLAU