I thought it might be a good idea to give folks a general idea of the parties in El Salvador. The two largest political parties are ARENA, the Allianza Republicana Nacionalista de El Salvador, and the FMLN, the Frente Farabundo Martí para La Liberacíon Nacional. The FMLN is named after Farabundo Marti, a revolutionary who fought with Sandino and led an aborted revolution in El Salvador.

ARENA is the neoliberal party, generally associated with the wealthy landowners and oligarchs of El Salvador. Alfredo Christiani, a former president of El Salvador is the leader of ARENA. Up to the early part of the 1980's, El Salvador was controlled by a military Junta, now represented by the second largest right wing political party, the Partido de Conciliacion Nacional. While ARENA and PCN are both right wing parties, there is some conflict between the two as the PCN supports US objectives but has some concerns about the giving up of national sovereignty to the US.

ARENA has been giving away the farm, their privatizations have included the electric distribution system and the telephone system. ARENA has attempted to privatize the health care system almost every year since the early nineties, but has consistently backed down in the face of massive popular protest. One issue, of course, if the FTAA, CAFTA, and the PPP, or Plan Puebla Panama , all three supported by ARENA and opposed by the left factions of the FMLN.

The FMLN is divided into the renovadores, the socialistas revolucionarias, and the ortodoxos. Schafik comes from the Socialistas revolucionarias, and has run previously for the mayoral office in San Salvador. In 1999, the FMLN hired consultants from the United States who created a feel-good centrist campaign, to fit their centrist renovador candidate, Facundo Guardado. During the election campaigns, ARENA uses their anthem which includes the lyrics

"El Salvador sera la tomba, donda los rojos terminaran."
El Salvador will be the tomb where the reds will be terminated (loosely translated)

Often, a coffin with the word FMLN scrawled on the side is then lowered into the crowd, the significance should not be lost as ARENA was closely connected with the Salvadoran death squads of the 1980's dirty war. All of this with scantily clad cheerleaders singing along on stage.

Another issue at hand is that El Salvador is full of dirty secrets from the 1980's and beyond. During the 1980's, there was a secret hangar at the Ilopango Air Force Base, hangar 5, that was used by US intelligence for nefarious purposes, possibly including drug trafficking related to Iran contra. With the FMLN a strong force in the National Assembly and in control of the presidency, there's a good chance some of the US's dirty laundry could get aired. Be certain that the US will do all it can to ensure an ARENA victory.