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