As far as Otto Reich's endorsement of ARENA, this is nothing new, I would be surprised if that endorsement wasn't accompanied by a great deal of aid from such objective groups as the National Endowment for Democracy and USAID. El Salvador has a special relationship with the US, the world's third largest US embassy was built in El Salvador, a sort of "Fuck you" to the popular movements there. It was also, coincidentally, according to some salvadoran friends of mine, built on indigenous burial grounds. The current embassy was built after a teenager blew the top off the old one with a shoulder-mounted weapon of some kind during the revolutionary war. Also coincidental are the party colors of ARENA, red, white and blue (which in some circles earns them the moniker, "the pepsi party").  Good old Anne Patterson was the previous ambassador to El Salvador, now she's running the show in Colombia. Another example of US support of ARENA is the "Torre de la Democracia" fiasco, a giant glass tower built in San Salvador, built by USAID targeted by the FMLN while it was being built (who builds a glass skyscraper in the middle of a civil war?), then given to Banco Cuscatlan, run by Alfredo Christiani of Death Squad and ARENA fame. Yes the love between the US and ARENA runs deep, and it don't matter if it's Reagan, Bush, Clinton, or Bush II in the White House.