Monday, March 16, 2009

bullets no, ballots si!

The Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front, which not so very long ago was a guerrilla rebellion in El Salvador, has won a decisive victory at the polls. It would be nice to think that the left had been converted to ballot-box democracy, and of course that may prove to be the case. The example of Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, however, doesn't provide much confidence. If not the old "one man, one vote, one time" principle of European communist parties, Chavez certainly seems to be setting up Venezuela for a long-term 'presidency' on the Cuban model. Mauricio Funes, the new president of El Salvador, was not himself a FMNLF guerrilla, and he promises to govern like the moderate leftist 'Lula' da Silva in Brazil. Fidel Castro gave us similar assurances, fifty years ago. Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

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