Congressional debate reverberates in El Salvador

Congressional concerns about a pro-terrorist government coming to power in El Salvador are reveberating in the Central American country as the March 15 presidential elections approach.

The FMLN's ties to terrorism and to state sponsors of terror are increasingly viewed with alarm in Washington. Friends of El Salvador are worried that if the FMLN wins, the US will be forced to treat the longtime ally as a hostile regime. (Photo: FMLN militant waves Venezuelan flag at Salvadoran presidential campaign rally)

"The participation of [FMLN vice presidential candidate] Salvador Sanchez Ceren in a protest against the United States after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks will be one of the core reasons to terminate remittances [to El Salvador from the US] and TPS [immigration privileges for Salvadorans], El Diario de Hoy reports.

"California Congressman Dana Rohrabacher stated yesterday on the floor of Congress that shortly after 9/11, the FMLN 'issued a communique that argued that the United States, due to its policies, was responsible for having been attacked by terrorists,'" according to El Salvador's leading newspaper.

"'Four days after 9/11,' Rohrabacher stressed, 'the FMLN organized a protest in the capital to celebrate the Al Qaeda terrorist attack and to burn the flag of the United States. The leader of that march was Salvador Sanchez Ceren, the current FMLN vice presidential candidate.'

"That action of Sanchez Ceren prompted United States authorities to consider the FMLN as a group that 'promotes violent anti-American acts.'

"If the FMLN wins the elections, an anti-terrorist law created in the wake of 9/11 will obligate the United States government to review its foreign relations with El Salvador and to consider severe measures, like terminating TPS and the flow of remittances of Salvadorans if they are tied to terrorist groups or promote violent anti-American actions," the report states.

Not just the conservative ARENA party is concerned. The center-left Christian Democrat Party (PDC) is also worried - and agrees with the analysis. "'The United States congressmen are clear because they handle important, real information,' according to Rodolfo Parker, secretary general of the PDC, 'it is not speculative to speak of the relation that the FMLN has with Hugo Chavez and of Chavez with narcoterrorism and the FARC.'

"He continued, 'What the United States values are changes toward the future, but an FMLN victory would be a change toward the past, in the entire relationship, so El Salvador would enter the network of 21st Century Socialism and narcoterrorism."

US fears El Salvador alliance with Hugo Chavez

"US Fears Alliance of FMLN and Hugo Chavez." That's the front-page headline of El Salvador's leading newspaper, El Diario de Hoy.

True enough.

Which is why the US should make sure the FMLN never is in a position to threaten democracy and freedom in the region.

Salvadorans voting the FMLN into power will be making a costly mistake. They will provoke the US into enforcing its own counterterrorism interests, and this means de-funding economies whose governments support terrorists.

El Salvador and the United States have a great partnership. It will be a terrible mistake for the Salvadoran voters to mess with it, since our countries have become so interdependent.

FMLN front group organizes election observers

"More than 60 members of the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES) have arrived in El Salvador as accredited international observers for the March 15 presidential election. These observers, some of whom have been in El Salvador monitoring the campaign for more than three months, are available for interviews starting immediately, as well as on election day on Sunday and throughout the week following the election. CISPES will maintain an Election Day Blog with first-hand observers' reports and other news from around El Salvador, including preliminary election results as they are available, at http://cispes.org/09electionsblog/."

This statement is from the CISPES website. CISPES is an FMLN front organization founded in 1980 to support a communist guerrilla victory in El Salvador. In 2008 the US alleged that CISPES was serving illegally as a "foreign agent" of the FMLN.

Pro-FMLN congressman calls for US neutrality

A congressman who sympathizes with the FMLN has issued a statement signed with 32 of his colleagues calling for "neutrality" in the Salvadoran elections.

The FMLN's main American front group, the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES), is publicizing the effort.

Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) led the campaign, sending the letter to President Barack Obama. The letter, according to CISPES, rejected previous US "intervention" in El Salvador - a reference to President Reagan's successful efforts to battle the FMLN into military defeat in the 1980s. (In the video, Grijalva mis-names his own country in Spanish, calling it the "United States of North America.")

According to its website, CISPES has been working since February to get congressmen to sign the letter demanding "neutrality," in a bid to prevent Washington from using its influence to persuade Salvadorans not to vote for the FMLN.

Speaking in Spanish on a CISPES video, Rep. Grijalva calls on the US not to intervene in the elections, and expresses solidarity with the radical regimes of Bolivia and Venezuela.

FMLN support for Al Qaeda noted

The Salvadoran presidential elections have focused new attention on the FMLN's support for Al Qaeda's attacks on the United States in 2001.

"Four days after 9/11, the FMLN had a march in their capital city to celebrate the attack by Al Qaeda and to burn the American flag," said Congressman Paul Broun of Georgia in a statement on the House floor. "The leader of that march was Salvador Sanchez Ceren, who today is the FMLN's candidate for vice president.

"The FMLN political party in El Salvador supports designated terrorist organizations, such as the FARC [of Colombia], and state sponsors of terror such as Iran and Cuba," said Broun, a former Marine.

American lawmakers are worried that if Salvadorans vote to install a pro-terrorist government, the US will have to invoke existing counterterrorism policies that will have a detrimental effect on the population. El Salvador is a long-standing American ally.

"The FMLN has a long history of hostility towards us," said Broun. "Under current law, the election of a pro-terrorism party in El Salvador would have real consequences. Since the 9/11 attacks, the US has enacted stronger tools to fight terrorism and those who funnel money to support it.

"I want to make clear that these actions would not be punitive; they are not meant to chastise Salvadorans, but the US will not aid sponsors of terrorism," the Georgia lawmaker said. "We have an obligation to protect the US and our citizens against those seeking to do us harm."

Congressmen warn that US might have to stop remittances

Members of the US Congress friendly to El Salvador are concerned that the United States might have to cut off remittances to the country in the event the FMLN wins the presidential election on Sunday.

The cash flow into the country from Salvadorans working in the United States, the lawmakers say, would be used to support international terrorism.

Lawmakers cite the FMLN's connections with international terrorist groups, its not-so-covert backing from Venezuelan dictator Hugo Chavez, and its leaders' hostility to the United States.

One of the most significant effects of an FMLN victory would be a US attempt to cut off the flow of dollars to the country's economy in the event it became a pro-terrorist regime.

"El Salvador receives nearly $4 billion a year in remittances—almost 20% of its annual gross domestic product—from several million Salvadorans living in the United States," notes Rep. Connie Mack, in a statement of support for the Salvadoran people. "As we look to the future, we must weigh the potential ramifications of this election and its impact on our relations -- more importantly, the longstanding and open policies related to TPS and the flow of remittances," he said.

"Should the pro-terrorist FMLN party replace the current government in El Salvador, the United States, in the interest of national security, would be required to reevaluate our polices toward El Salvador including cash remittances and immigration policies, to compensate for the fact that there will no longer be a reliable counterpart in the Salvadoran government," said Rep. Trent Franks in a speech on the House floor today.

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, who has supported El Salvador's democracy for more than 20 years, made a strong statement as well. "The country policy regarding the unregulated flow of remittances should be urgently reviewed, and, in most cases, those remittances must be immediately terminated, if a pro-terrorist party wins power or enters the government of a country," Rohrabacher said. The FMLN, he added, is a pro-terrorist party.

Anniversary relating to FMLN murders of 2 American soldiers

The FMLN stands poised to win the presidential election just days before an anniversary relating to the group's cold-blooded murder of two wounded American army officers.

On March 17, 1992, the government of El Salvador took custody of two FMLN operatives for the execution-style murders of LTC David H. Pickett and PFC Earnest Dawson, Jr., after the guerrillas shot down their US Army helicopter. Chief Warrant Officer Daniel Scott died in the crash.

An FBI investigation ascertained that Pickett and Dawson were injured but alive, and that the FMLN murdered them.

According to GlobalSecurity.org, after the FMLN shot down the helicopter, Scott was dead from the crash, Dawson was unconscious, and Pickett was "remarkably conscious." This account says,

"Several local farmers were forced at gunpoint by the rebels to drag the crew out of the helicopter. LTC Pickett asked for some water. The rebels then directed the farmers to go get some water. After the farmers had crossed the ridge line of the hill, the rebels shot PFC Dawson once in the head and then Pickett with two bursts of automatic weapons fire. PFC Dawson was posthumously promoted to Specialist."

The murderers were identified as Ferman Hernandez and Severiano Fuentes, who confessed to the crime. A United Nations commission found that Hernandez gave the orders and that Fuentes carried out the actual murders. Both killers were allowed to go free under the terms of the State Department-brokered peace accords.

The FMLN has never made reparations for the crimes, which took place on January 2, 1991. FMLN presidential candidate Mauricio Funes and vice presidential candidate Salvador Sanchez Ceren, a former top FMLN commander, have expressed no remorse for the killings and offered no reparations to the United States or to the families.