Vice President Proposes Amending Constitution

C O N F I D E N T I A L SAN SALVADOR 000025

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/01/21
TAGS: PGOV ES
SUBJECT: Vice President Proposes Amending Constitution

CLASSIFIED BY: MMCGEE, CDA, FCS; REASON: 1.4(D)


1. (C) Summary: At a high-profile public event on January 17, Vice
President Salvador Sanchez Ceren called for sweeping constitutional
reforms to enable plebiscites and other forms of "participative
democracy" in El Salvador. The move stokes growing fears that the
Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) is following Hugo
Chavez's playbook with the ultimate goal of perpetuating itself in
power. Fierce opposition by the FMLN's rivals and onerous
constitutional requirements for passing an amendment give this
proposal little chance of passing any time soon. End summary.




2. (C) On January 17, at an event commemorating the 18th
anniversary of the Salvadoran Peace Accords, Vice President
Salvador Sanchez Ceren declared his support for constitutional
reforms to authorize plebiscites and other "participative
democracy" initiatives. The announcement comes weeks after Sanchez
Ceren made a series of controversial comments decrying U.S.
intervention, calling for the GOES to join Hugo Chavez's ALBA
movement, and proposing Cuban-style health and education systems
for El Salvador.




3. (C) The constitutional reform comments appeared to surprise
some within the FMLN. When questioned about Sanchez Ceren's
comments, FMLN leader Nidia Diaz said that while the FMLN has long
advocated "participative democracy," the plebiscite proposal is not
part of their current agenda. (Note: The constitution requires an
amendment proposal to pass two consecutive legislative assemblies,
the second time by two-thirds supermajority, before ratification.
End note.)




4. (C) Right-wing parties universally condemned the comments. The
(center-right) National Republican Alliance's president and former
President of El Salvador (1989-94),Alfredo Cristiani, said his
party would oppose such reforms, which he said are intended to
"permit the installation of a socialist dictatorship." A
spokesperson for the Great Alliance for National Unity (GANA),
which supported the FMLN on recent votes in the Legislative
Assembly, said GANA would not support Sanchez Ceren's proposed
reforms.




5. Comment: Sanchez Ceren's remarks are the clearest signal yet
that the hard-left FMLN core wants to follow Hugo Chavez's path of
socialist revolution via the dismantling of democratic
institutions. The swift negative reaction of the right,
particularly from a party like GANA, which until now has acted like
a party-for-sale, suggests the FMLN's rivals see such
"participative democracy" as a threat to their interests, if not to
Salvadoran democracy. Given the strong opposition of the FMLN's
rivals, as well as the high statutory hurdles for amending the
constitution, there is little chance the FMLN could push through
such a proposal any time soon. End comment.
McGee