Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front
Encyclopedia
The Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (in Spanish
: Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional, FMLN) is, since 1992, a left-wing political party in El Salvador
and formerly a coalition of five revolutionary guerrilla organizations. The FMLN was formed as an umbrella group on October 10, 1980 from the left-wing guerilla organizations: the Fuerzas Populares de Liberación Farabundo Martí
(FPL), Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo (ERP), the Resistencia Nacional
(RN), the Partido Comunista Salvadoreño (PCS) and the Partido Revolucionario de los Trabajadores Centroamericanos
(PRTC). The FMLN was one of the main participants in the Salvadoran Civil War.
After peace accords were signed in 1992, all armed FMLN units were demobilized and their organization became a legal political party. The FMLN is now one of the two major political parties in El Salvador.
In the elections of March 15, 2009 the FMLN won the presidential elections with former journalist Mauricio Funes
as its candidate. Two months earlier in municipal and legislative elections, the FMLN won the majority of the mayoralties in the country (though losing San Salvador
) and a plurality of the National Assembly seats (35 out of 84).
, who led workers and peasants in an uprising to transform Salvadoran society after the devastation caused by the eruption of the volcano Izalco in 1932. In retaliation, the military regime
led by General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez
, who had seized power in a 1931 coup
, launched an effective but brutal counterinsurgency campaign. Known as "La Matanza
" ("The Massacre"), this campaign saw the killing of some 30,000 people under the guise of being supporters of the insurgency. A good number of those killed were peasants and members of the various indigenous groups that inhabited El Salvador. Thousands of innocent civilians were killed.
was formed in the 1930s. Principal leaders were Farabundo Martí
, Mario Zapata and Alfonso Luna. Some later leaders of the Communist Party of El Salvador included Cayetano Carpio
and Schafik Handal
. From the 1950s through the 1970s, the Communist Party of El Salvador opposed armed struggle and mainly engaged in legal electoral and trade union organizing. After the Cuban revolution
in 1959, and with a growing radicalization in the 1960s, some within the Salvadoran Communist Party began to advocate armed struggle to overthrow the Salvadoran military dictatorship. They ultimately had to leave the Communist Party to initiate the armed struggle.
, left the Communist Party to form a new organization to wage armed struggle to overthrow the military dictatorship. This new organization became the Popular Liberation Forces "Farabundo Marti" (in Spanish: Fuerzas Populares de Liberación "Farabundo Martí", also known by the Spanish acroym, FPL). Throughout the 1970s the FPL grew and became the largest and most influential organization on the Salvadorean left. In the 1970s many other revolutionary organizations were formed as well. Three others ultimately became part of the FMLN in 1980 along with the FPL and the Communist Party. These were the Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo (ERP), Resistencia Nacional
(RN), and the Partido Revolucionario de los Trabajadores Centroamericanos
(PRTC).
. They were based primarily in Morazán
and had a perspective that focused almost entirely on the military aspect of the struggle, and less on the aspect of political organizing. This group was based on defending the people in army struggle and opposing the army force.
(RN), was formed in 1975 as a split from the ERP. The RN was formed by people who left the ERP after the leadership of the ERP assassinated a group within the organization that advocated more of a mass orientation, as opposed to the militarist orientation the ERP had at the time. The assassinated group included famous Salvadoran poet Roque Dalton
. The RN put into practice the line that Dalton and his co-thinkers in the ERP had advocated, putting more emphasis on sectoral organizing amongst the masses of people (in unions, student organizations, etc.). The RN was primarily based in Morazán
as guerrilla commandos as well as in the city of San Salvador as clandestine urban forces mainly composed of university students.
The National Resistance conducted fewer attacks against the dictatorship in El Salvador compared to the FPL or ERP, but the RN operatives were much more effective in destabilizing the national tyranny with much fewer deaths on both sides. The armed wing of the Resistencia Nacional was FARN (Fuerzas Armadas de la Resistencia Nacional) known as RN-FARN.
was formed as a union of revolutionary mass organizations. CRM later merged with the Frente Democrático Salvadoreño
to form the Frente Democrático Revolucionario.
It is alleged that some credit for the unity of the five organizations that formed the FMLN may belong to Cuba's
Fidel Castro
, who facilitated negotiation between the groups in Havana
in December 1979. Despite this and claims from the U.S., neither the Cuban nor Soviet government were significantly responsible for financially and materially backing FMLN. While all five groups called themselves revolutionaries
and socialists
, they had serious ideological and practical differences, and there had been serious conflicts, even including in some cases bloodshed, between some of the groups during the 1970s.
On May 22, 1980 the success of negotiations led to the union of the major guerrilla forces under one flag. The Unified Revolutionary Directorate Dirección Revolucionaria Unificada was created by the FPL, RN, ERP and PCS. DRU consisted of three Political Commission members from each of these four organizations. The DRU manifesto declared, "There will be only one leadership, only one military plan and only one command, only one political line." Despite continued infighting DRU succeeded in coordinating the group's efforts and equipped forces.
On October 10, 1980 the four organizations formed the Frente Farabundo Martí de Liberación Nacional (FMLN). In December of the same year, the Salvadoran branch of the Partido Revolucionario de los Trabajadores Centroamericanos broke away from its central organization and affiliated itself to FMLN. Thus the following organizations composed FMLN (listed in the order of size at the time of the peace accords in 1992):
Youth organizations of FMLN at the time of armed struggle included:
Student unions (High Schools):
Student unions (Universities):
and Chalatenango
, which remained largely under guerrilla control throughout the rest of the civil war. Revolutionaries ranged from children to the elderly, both male and female, and most were trained in FMLN camps in the mountains and jungles of El Salvador to learn military techniques.
Another FMLN largest offensive was in November 1989. In that offensive, the FMLN caught Salvadoran government and military off guard by taking control of large sections of the country and even entering the capital of San Salvador. In San Salvador the FMLN quickly took control of many of the poor neighborhoods and used civilians as human shields until the military bombed their positions—including bombing residential neighborhoods http://www.fsmitha.com/h2/ch24salvador.htm—to drive the FMLN out. One of the most famous battles in San Salvador took place in the Sheraton Hotel (13°41′27.36"N 89°14′31.15"W), where guerrillas and army soldiers battled floor-by-floor. The FMLN's November 1989 offensive did not succeed in its stated aim of overthrowing the government. But many analysts pointed to the FMLN's show of strength in the 1989 offensive as the turning point in the war, where it became clear that the government would not be able to militarily defeat the FMLN. Soon after the November 1989 offensive, the U.S. government started to support a negotiated solution to the civil war, whereas up to that point they had pursued a policy of military defeat of the FMLN. Since the U.S. government was the major funder of the Salvadoran government and military, they exercised considerable influence over the course of events. So when the U.S. began to advocate negotiations instead of a military solution, a negotiated peace accord between the FMLN and the Salvadoran government was reached in fairly short order in 1992, despite a few incidents that could have marred the accord, such as the high-profile murder of the peace-seeking FPL commandante Antonio Cardenal, aka Jesus Rojas.
Citations for Salvadoran military bombing of civilian population:
Douglas Tweedale, “Rebels pull back; Next move unclear in Salvador war,” United Press International, November 19, 1989 reports hours of bombardment of FMLN-occupied areas of San Salvador during the early morning of November 19. Via Ochoa thesis cited below.
Paying the Price: Ignacio Ellacuria and the Murdered Jesuits of El Salvador by Teresa Whitfield, Temple Press 1994, p. 3: "...the FMLN occupied areas that were poor and heavily populated. All feared the civilian cost of the armed forces' counteroffensive. Artillery and aerial bombardment had left some families trapped in their homes without food, water, or power; others were fleeing their neighborhoods, running through the streets beneath the paltry protection of white flags."
"El Salvador 1989: The Two Jesuit Standards and the Final Offensive", by Ignacio W. Ochoa, 2003, master's thesis in Latin American studies at San Diego State University, p. 56: "At daybreak [on November 18] army airplanes were dropping highly destructive bombs over the civilian areas under FMLN control; helicopters constantly flew over using heavy artillery. In response, the guerrillas began to use anti-aircraft artillery within the city itself." The author was in San Salvador, at and near the University of Central America campus, during November 1989.)
After the ceasefire established by the 1992 Chapultepec Peace Accords
, the FMLN became a legal political party. The FMLN has now participated in elections in 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2009. The 1994, 1999, 2004, and 2009 elections were for the Presidency. The 1994, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2006, and 2009 elections were for Legislative Assembly seats and mayor and municipal council positions.
The FMLN is currently, along with ARENA
, one of the two dominant political parties in El Salvador. Since 2000, the FMLN has gone back and forth with ARENA in controlling the largest number of Legislative Assembly seats. The FMLN has controlled the mayor's offices in many of the large cities of El Salvador since 1997, including the capitol of San Salvador and the neighboring city of Santa Tecla. The current FMLN mayor of San Salvador is Violeta Menjívar
, the first female mayor of San Salvador, who was elected in a narrow victory in 2006. The current FMLN mayor of Santa Tecla is Oscar Ortiz
, who has served in that position since 2000.
In the legislative elections
, held on March 16, 2003, the FMLN won 34.0% of the popular vote and 31 out of 84 seats in the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador
, becoming the political party with the most assembly members. The FMLN's candidate in the March 21, 2004 presidential election
, Schafik Handal
, won 35.6% of the vote, but was defeated by Antonio Saca of the Nationalist Republican Alliance
.
In the March 12, 2006 legislative election
, the FMLN won 39.7% of the popular vote and 32 out of 84 legislative assembly seats. The FMLN also retained the mayor's seats in the largest cities of El Salvador, San Salvador
and Santa Tecla
, as well as hundreds of other municipalities throughout the country. Two months before the elections of 2009, however, the FMLN lost the mayoralty of the capital, San Salvador.
At the January 18, 2009 legislative elections
, FMLN won 42.6% of the vote and 35 seats. FMLN is now the largest party in the Salvadoran legislature, though it does not have a governing majority.
On March 15, 2009, the FMLN's candidate Mauricio Funes won the presidential elections. He was inaugurated in June 2009 as the first president coming from the FMLN party.
("Renovators" or "Renewal Movement") and the Coriente Revolucionario y Socialista (CRS - Revolutionary Socialist Current). The two main leaders of the CRS were the historic FMLN leaders Schafik Handal
and Salvador Sanchez Ceren
. The main leader of the Renovadores was Facundo Guardado. As a charismatic former FPL commander, Guardado had a base of supporters in the FMLN. He criticized the historic leadership as being too communist and called for a renovated ideology. The CRS criticized Guardado for advocating social democratic
politics and for not being clearly against neoliberalism
. After a couple years of internal turmoil, in which the Revolutionary Socialist Current won the majority of the internal elections in the organization, Guardado became more frustrated, publicly attacked the FMLN leaders he didn't agree with, and took actions contrary to decisions the party had made. He was ultimately expelled and some of his supporters left the FMLN. Guardado tried to form the Renovadores as its own political party, but they received negligible support in the 2003 election and then ceased to exist as a party.
After the Renovadores vs Revolutionary Socialist Current factionalism, the FMLN's leadership decided to stop organized internal tendencies, and none have emerged since then.
, Rene Canjura. Canjura was a popular FMLN mayor of the municipality of Nejapa for three consecutive periods, and therefore under FMLN statutes, would not have been eligible to run for a fourth consecutive period. So he left the FMLN and successfully ran in 2006 as the FDR candidate. Other than him, no FDR candidates won any electoral victories in 2006.
, was elected President of El Salvador.
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
: Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional, FMLN) is, since 1992, a left-wing political party in El Salvador
El Salvador
El Salvador or simply Salvador is the smallest and the most densely populated country in Central America. The country's capital city and largest city is San Salvador; Santa Ana and San Miguel are also important cultural and commercial centers in the country and in all of Central America...
and formerly a coalition of five revolutionary guerrilla organizations. The FMLN was formed as an umbrella group on October 10, 1980 from the left-wing guerilla organizations: the Fuerzas Populares de Liberación Farabundo Martí
Fuerzas Populares de Liberación Farabundo Martí
.The Fuerzas Populares de Liberación "Farabundo Martí" was a left wing guerrilla military and political organization in El Salvador...
(FPL), Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo (ERP), the Resistencia Nacional
Resistencia Nacional
Resistencia Nacional is a Salvadoran political party.It began as a revolutionary organization founded on March 10, 1975 which became part of the FMLN coalition in 1980, against the military junta in the Salvadoran Civil War.- The Birth of The National Resistance...
(RN), the Partido Comunista Salvadoreño (PCS) and the Partido Revolucionario de los Trabajadores Centroamericanos
Revolutionary Party of Central American Workers – El Salvador
The Revolutionary Party of the Central American Workers – El Salvador was a political party in El Salvador. The party was one of five constituents of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front during the Salvadoran Civil War....
(PRTC). The FMLN was one of the main participants in the Salvadoran Civil War.
After peace accords were signed in 1992, all armed FMLN units were demobilized and their organization became a legal political party. The FMLN is now one of the two major political parties in El Salvador.
In the elections of March 15, 2009 the FMLN won the presidential elections with former journalist Mauricio Funes
Mauricio Funes
Carlos Mauricio Funes Cartagena is the President of El Salvador. He won the 2009 presidential election as the candidate of the left-wing Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front political party and took office on 1 June 2009.-Biography:Funes is married to Dr. Vanada Pignado, who was involved in...
as its candidate. Two months earlier in municipal and legislative elections, the FMLN won the majority of the mayoralties in the country (though losing San Salvador
San Salvador
The city of San Salvador the capital and largest city of El Salvador, which has been designated a Gamma World City. Its complete name is La Ciudad de Gran San Salvador...
) and a plurality of the National Assembly seats (35 out of 84).
History of the FMLN
The FMLN was named after the leader Farabundo MartíFarabundo Martí
Augustín Farabundo Martí Rodríguez was a social activist and a revolutionary leader in El Salvador.-Early life:Martí was born in Teotepeque, a farming community located in Departamento de La Libertad, El Salvador...
, who led workers and peasants in an uprising to transform Salvadoran society after the devastation caused by the eruption of the volcano Izalco in 1932. In retaliation, the military regime
Military dictatorship
A military dictatorship is a form of government where in the political power resides with the military. It is similar but not identical to a stratocracy, a state ruled directly by the military....
led by General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez
Maximiliano Hernández Martínez
Maximiliano Hernández Martínez was the President of El Salvador from 1931 to 1944...
, who had seized power in a 1931 coup
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
, launched an effective but brutal counterinsurgency campaign. Known as "La Matanza
1932 Salvadoran peasant uprising
The peasant uprising of 1932, also known as La matanza , was a brief, peasant-led rebellion that occurred on January 22 of that year in the western departments of El Salvador...
" ("The Massacre"), this campaign saw the killing of some 30,000 people under the guise of being supporters of the insurgency. A good number of those killed were peasants and members of the various indigenous groups that inhabited El Salvador. Thousands of innocent civilians were killed.
Communist Party of El Salvador
The Communist Party of El SalvadorCommunist Party of El Salvador
The Communist Party of El Salvador was the official Communist political party in El Salvador. The Communist Party was founded by Miguel Mármol in the 1930s....
was formed in the 1930s. Principal leaders were Farabundo Martí
Farabundo Martí
Augustín Farabundo Martí Rodríguez was a social activist and a revolutionary leader in El Salvador.-Early life:Martí was born in Teotepeque, a farming community located in Departamento de La Libertad, El Salvador...
, Mario Zapata and Alfonso Luna. Some later leaders of the Communist Party of El Salvador included Cayetano Carpio
Cayetano Carpio
Salvador Cayetano Carpio , aka Commander Marcial, was the leader of the Communist Party of El Salvador in the 1960s, until he quit the party to found the Salvadoran revolutionary political-military organization, the Fuerzas Populares de Liberación Farabundo Martí, also known by its initials, FPL)...
and Schafik Handal
Schafik Handal
Schafik Jorge Handal was a Salvadoran politician. Born in Usulután, he was the son of Palestinian Arab immigrants.-Biography:...
. From the 1950s through the 1970s, the Communist Party of El Salvador opposed armed struggle and mainly engaged in legal electoral and trade union organizing. After the Cuban revolution
Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution was an armed revolt by Fidel Castro's 26th of July Movement against the regime of Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista between 1953 and 1959. Batista was finally ousted on 1 January 1959, and was replaced by a revolutionary government led by Castro...
in 1959, and with a growing radicalization in the 1960s, some within the Salvadoran Communist Party began to advocate armed struggle to overthrow the Salvadoran military dictatorship. They ultimately had to leave the Communist Party to initiate the armed struggle.
Popular Liberation Forces "Farabundo Marti"
In 1970, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of El Salvador, Cayetano CarpioCayetano Carpio
Salvador Cayetano Carpio , aka Commander Marcial, was the leader of the Communist Party of El Salvador in the 1960s, until he quit the party to found the Salvadoran revolutionary political-military organization, the Fuerzas Populares de Liberación Farabundo Martí, also known by its initials, FPL)...
, left the Communist Party to form a new organization to wage armed struggle to overthrow the military dictatorship. This new organization became the Popular Liberation Forces "Farabundo Marti" (in Spanish: Fuerzas Populares de Liberación "Farabundo Martí", also known by the Spanish acroym, FPL). Throughout the 1970s the FPL grew and became the largest and most influential organization on the Salvadorean left. In the 1970s many other revolutionary organizations were formed as well. Three others ultimately became part of the FMLN in 1980 along with the FPL and the Communist Party. These were the Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo (ERP), Resistencia Nacional
Fuerzas Armadas de la Resistencia Nacional
Las Fuerzas Armadas de la Resistencia Nacional was the military arm of National Resistance, a Salvadoran communist organization that was founded on May 10, 1975 when ideological differences within the ERP and the assassinations of Roque Dalton and Armando Arteaga made some members break away from...
(RN), and the Partido Revolucionario de los Trabajadores Centroamericanos
Revolutionary Party of Central American Workers – El Salvador
The Revolutionary Party of the Central American Workers – El Salvador was a political party in El Salvador. The party was one of five constituents of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front during the Salvadoran Civil War....
(PRTC).
Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo (ERP)
ERP was formed in 1972. The principal leader of the ERP was Joaquín VillalobosJoaquín Villalobos
Joaquín Villalobos is a Salvadoran politician and former guerrilla leader.Villalobos was one the main leaders of the People's Revolutionary Army, or Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo, a group that emerged in El Salvador in the early 1970s as a loose federation of cells with roots in various...
. They were based primarily in Morazán
Morazán Department
Morazán is a department of El Salvador. Located in the northeast part of the country, its capital is San Francisco Gotera. It covers a total surface area of 1,447 km² and has a population of more than 200,000.-History:...
and had a perspective that focused almost entirely on the military aspect of the struggle, and less on the aspect of political organizing. This group was based on defending the people in army struggle and opposing the army force.
La Resistencia Nacional, (RN)
the Resistencia NacionalResistencia Nacional
Resistencia Nacional is a Salvadoran political party.It began as a revolutionary organization founded on March 10, 1975 which became part of the FMLN coalition in 1980, against the military junta in the Salvadoran Civil War.- The Birth of The National Resistance...
(RN), was formed in 1975 as a split from the ERP. The RN was formed by people who left the ERP after the leadership of the ERP assassinated a group within the organization that advocated more of a mass orientation, as opposed to the militarist orientation the ERP had at the time. The assassinated group included famous Salvadoran poet Roque Dalton
Roque Dalton
Roque Dalton García was a Salvadoran poet and journalist. He is considered one of Latin America's most compelling poets...
. The RN put into practice the line that Dalton and his co-thinkers in the ERP had advocated, putting more emphasis on sectoral organizing amongst the masses of people (in unions, student organizations, etc.). The RN was primarily based in Morazán
Morazán Department
Morazán is a department of El Salvador. Located in the northeast part of the country, its capital is San Francisco Gotera. It covers a total surface area of 1,447 km² and has a population of more than 200,000.-History:...
as guerrilla commandos as well as in the city of San Salvador as clandestine urban forces mainly composed of university students.
The National Resistance conducted fewer attacks against the dictatorship in El Salvador compared to the FPL or ERP, but the RN operatives were much more effective in destabilizing the national tyranny with much fewer deaths on both sides. The armed wing of the Resistencia Nacional was FARN (Fuerzas Armadas de la Resistencia Nacional) known as RN-FARN.
Partido Revolucionario de los Trabajadores Centroamericanos (PRTC)
The PRTC was part of a Central America-wide organization that advocated a regional revolution as opposed to a country-by-country revolution. The PRTC left their Central America-wide organization when they joined the FMLN.Civil war and emergence of the FMLN
On December 17, 1979, in period of national crisis, the three dominant organizations (FPL, RN and PCS) of the Salvadoran left formed the Coordinadora Político-Militar. The CPM's first manifesto was released on January 10, 1980, and the day afterwards the Coordinadora Revolucionaria de MasasCoordinadora Revolucionaria de Masas
Coordinadora Revolucionaria de Masas , a coordination of revolutionary mass organizations in El Salvador formed on January 11, 1980....
was formed as a union of revolutionary mass organizations. CRM later merged with the Frente Democrático Salvadoreño
Frente Democrático Salvadoreño
Frente Democrático Salvadoreño was a broad front of democratic organizations that was formed in El Salvador in March, 1980...
to form the Frente Democrático Revolucionario.
It is alleged that some credit for the unity of the five organizations that formed the FMLN may belong to Cuba's
Cuba
The Republic of Cuba is an island nation in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city...
Fidel Castro
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz is a Cuban revolutionary and politician, having held the position of Prime Minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976, and then President from 1976 to 2008. He also served as the First Secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba from the party's foundation in 1961 until 2011...
, who facilitated negotiation between the groups in Havana
Havana
Havana is the capital city, province, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city proper has a population of 2.1 million inhabitants, and it spans a total of — making it the largest city in the Caribbean region, and the most populous...
in December 1979. Despite this and claims from the U.S., neither the Cuban nor Soviet government were significantly responsible for financially and materially backing FMLN. While all five groups called themselves revolutionaries
Revolutionary
A revolutionary is a person who either actively participates in, or advocates revolution. Also, when used as an adjective, the term revolutionary refers to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor.-Definition:...
and socialists
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
, they had serious ideological and practical differences, and there had been serious conflicts, even including in some cases bloodshed, between some of the groups during the 1970s.
On May 22, 1980 the success of negotiations led to the union of the major guerrilla forces under one flag. The Unified Revolutionary Directorate Dirección Revolucionaria Unificada was created by the FPL, RN, ERP and PCS. DRU consisted of three Political Commission members from each of these four organizations. The DRU manifesto declared, "There will be only one leadership, only one military plan and only one command, only one political line." Despite continued infighting DRU succeeded in coordinating the group's efforts and equipped forces.
- Bloque Popular Revolucionario, BPR, armed wing Fuerzas Populares de Liberación, FPL, "Farabundo Martí"
- Partido Comunista Salvadoreño, PCS, armed wing Fuerzas Armadas de Liberación, FAL
- Partido de la Revolución Salvadoreña, PRS, armed wing Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo, ERP (El Salvador)
- Resistencia Nacional, RN, armed wing Fuerzas Armadas de la Resistencia Nacional, RN-FARN
- Partido Revolucionario de los Trabajadores CentroamericanosRevolutionary Party of Central American Workers – El SalvadorThe Revolutionary Party of the Central American Workers – El Salvador was a political party in El Salvador. The party was one of five constituents of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front during the Salvadoran Civil War....
, armed wing Ejército Revolucionario de los Trabajadores Centroamericanos, ERTC
Youth organizations of FMLN at the time of armed struggle included:
Student unions (High Schools):
- MERS - Movimiento Estudiantil Revolucionario de Secundaria (BPR)
- BRES - Brigadas Revolucionarias de Estudiantes de Secundaria (MLP)
- LPS - Ligas Populares de Secundaria (LP-28)
- AES - Asociación de Estudiantes de Secundaria (PCS)
- ARDES - Acción Revolucionaria de Estudiantes de Secundaria (FAPU)
Student unions (Universities):
- AGEUS - Asociación General de Estudiantes de la Universidad de El Salvador
- FUERSA - Frente Universitario de Estudiantes Revolucionarios "Salvador Allende"
FMLN in armed struggle
After the formation of the FMLN, they organized to launch their first major military offensive on January 10, 1981. During this offensive, the FMLN established operational control over large sections of the departments of MorazánMorazán Department
Morazán is a department of El Salvador. Located in the northeast part of the country, its capital is San Francisco Gotera. It covers a total surface area of 1,447 km² and has a population of more than 200,000.-History:...
and Chalatenango
Chalatenango Department
Chalatenango is a department of El Salvador, located in the northwest of the country. The capital is the city of Chalatenango. The Chalatenango Department encompasses 2,017 km² and contains more than 220,000 inhabitants. Las Matras Archaeological Ruins contains the relics of prehistoric...
, which remained largely under guerrilla control throughout the rest of the civil war. Revolutionaries ranged from children to the elderly, both male and female, and most were trained in FMLN camps in the mountains and jungles of El Salvador to learn military techniques.
Another FMLN largest offensive was in November 1989. In that offensive, the FMLN caught Salvadoran government and military off guard by taking control of large sections of the country and even entering the capital of San Salvador. In San Salvador the FMLN quickly took control of many of the poor neighborhoods and used civilians as human shields until the military bombed their positions—including bombing residential neighborhoods http://www.fsmitha.com/h2/ch24salvador.htm—to drive the FMLN out. One of the most famous battles in San Salvador took place in the Sheraton Hotel (13°41′27.36"N 89°14′31.15"W), where guerrillas and army soldiers battled floor-by-floor. The FMLN's November 1989 offensive did not succeed in its stated aim of overthrowing the government. But many analysts pointed to the FMLN's show of strength in the 1989 offensive as the turning point in the war, where it became clear that the government would not be able to militarily defeat the FMLN. Soon after the November 1989 offensive, the U.S. government started to support a negotiated solution to the civil war, whereas up to that point they had pursued a policy of military defeat of the FMLN. Since the U.S. government was the major funder of the Salvadoran government and military, they exercised considerable influence over the course of events. So when the U.S. began to advocate negotiations instead of a military solution, a negotiated peace accord between the FMLN and the Salvadoran government was reached in fairly short order in 1992, despite a few incidents that could have marred the accord, such as the high-profile murder of the peace-seeking FPL commandante Antonio Cardenal, aka Jesus Rojas.
Jesus Rojas
Antonio Cardenal Caldera , also known by the nom de guerre Jesus Rojas , was a Nicaraguan and a major leader of the FMLN resistance movement in late-20th century El Salvador....
Citations for Salvadoran military bombing of civilian population:
Douglas Tweedale, “Rebels pull back; Next move unclear in Salvador war,” United Press International, November 19, 1989 reports hours of bombardment of FMLN-occupied areas of San Salvador during the early morning of November 19. Via Ochoa thesis cited below.
Paying the Price: Ignacio Ellacuria and the Murdered Jesuits of El Salvador by Teresa Whitfield, Temple Press 1994, p. 3: "...the FMLN occupied areas that were poor and heavily populated. All feared the civilian cost of the armed forces' counteroffensive. Artillery and aerial bombardment had left some families trapped in their homes without food, water, or power; others were fleeing their neighborhoods, running through the streets beneath the paltry protection of white flags."
"El Salvador 1989: The Two Jesuit Standards and the Final Offensive", by Ignacio W. Ochoa, 2003, master's thesis in Latin American studies at San Diego State University, p. 56: "At daybreak [on November 18] army airplanes were dropping highly destructive bombs over the civilian areas under FMLN control; helicopters constantly flew over using heavy artillery. In response, the guerrillas began to use anti-aircraft artillery within the city itself." The author was in San Salvador, at and near the University of Central America campus, during November 1989.)
After the peace accords: FMLN participation in elections
Chapultepec Peace Accords
The Chapultepec Peace Accords brought peace to El Salvador in 1992 after more than a decade of wrenching civil war.The treaty was negotiated by representatives of the Salvadoran government, the rebel movement FMLN, and political parties, with observers from the Roman Catholic Church and United...
, the FMLN became a legal political party. The FMLN has now participated in elections in 1994, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2009. The 1994, 1999, 2004, and 2009 elections were for the Presidency. The 1994, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2006, and 2009 elections were for Legislative Assembly seats and mayor and municipal council positions.
Nationalist Republican Alliance
The Nationalist Republican Alliance is a conservative political party in El Salvador. It was founded on September 30, 1981, by Roberto D'Aubuisson, in order to oppose the reformist military junta that was ruling El Salvador at the time...
, one of the two dominant political parties in El Salvador. Since 2000, the FMLN has gone back and forth with ARENA in controlling the largest number of Legislative Assembly seats. The FMLN has controlled the mayor's offices in many of the large cities of El Salvador since 1997, including the capitol of San Salvador and the neighboring city of Santa Tecla. The current FMLN mayor of San Salvador is Violeta Menjívar
Violeta Menjívar
Violeta Menjívar is a Salvadoran politician affiliated with the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front. She is the current mayor of San Salvador....
, the first female mayor of San Salvador, who was elected in a narrow victory in 2006. The current FMLN mayor of Santa Tecla is Oscar Ortiz
Oscar Ortiz (El Salvador)
Óscar Ortiz is the mayor of the Salvadoran city of Santa Tecla. He has served in that position since 2000, and was re-elected in 2003 and 2006. Ortiz is a member of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front the main left wing party in El Salvador...
, who has served in that position since 2000.
In the legislative elections
Salvadoran legislative election, 2003
The 2003 Salvadoran legislative election took place in El Salvador on 16 March 2003 to elect 84 deputies to the Legislative Assembly for a term of three years. The main opposition party, the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front , won the most seats in election at 31...
, held on March 16, 2003, the FMLN won 34.0% of the popular vote and 31 out of 84 seats in the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador
Legislative Assembly of El Salvador
The Legislative Assembly is the legislative branch of the government of El Salvador.The Salvadoran legislature is a unicameral body....
, becoming the political party with the most assembly members. The FMLN's candidate in the March 21, 2004 presidential election
Salvadoran presidential election, 2004
A presidential election was held in El Salvador on Sunday, 21 March 2004. The Salvadoran people elected a new president, together with his vice-president, for a five-year term.Antonio "Tony" Saca of the ARENA party won the election...
, Schafik Handal
Schafik Handal
Schafik Jorge Handal was a Salvadoran politician. Born in Usulután, he was the son of Palestinian Arab immigrants.-Biography:...
, won 35.6% of the vote, but was defeated by Antonio Saca of the Nationalist Republican Alliance
Nationalist Republican Alliance
The Nationalist Republican Alliance is a conservative political party in El Salvador. It was founded on September 30, 1981, by Roberto D'Aubuisson, in order to oppose the reformist military junta that was ruling El Salvador at the time...
.
In the March 12, 2006 legislative election
Salvadoran legislative election, 2006
A legislative election was held in El Salvador on 12 March 2006. The Salvadoran people elected 84 deputies to the Legislative Assembly for a term of three years.-Election results:...
, the FMLN won 39.7% of the popular vote and 32 out of 84 legislative assembly seats. The FMLN also retained the mayor's seats in the largest cities of El Salvador, San Salvador
San Salvador
The city of San Salvador the capital and largest city of El Salvador, which has been designated a Gamma World City. Its complete name is La Ciudad de Gran San Salvador...
and Santa Tecla
Santa Tecla, El Salvador
Santa Tecla is a municipality in the La Libertad department of El Salvador. It is the capital of the department of La Libertad.The city was named after Saint Thecla who was a saint of the early Christian Church, and a reported follower of Paul of Tarsus in the 1st century AD...
, as well as hundreds of other municipalities throughout the country. Two months before the elections of 2009, however, the FMLN lost the mayoralty of the capital, San Salvador.
At the January 18, 2009 legislative elections
Salvadoran legislative election, 2009
A parliamentary election was held in El Salvador on 18 January 2009. The leftist Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front was widely expected to win the most seats for the first time against the nationalist conservative Nationalist Republican Alliance...
, FMLN won 42.6% of the vote and 35 seats. FMLN is now the largest party in the Salvadoran legislature, though it does not have a governing majority.
On March 15, 2009, the FMLN's candidate Mauricio Funes won the presidential elections. He was inaugurated in June 2009 as the first president coming from the FMLN party.
Post-war splits and internal changes
At the end of the civil war in 1992, the FMLN became a legal political party. At the end of the war, the FMLN still comprised the five political parties—FPL, CP, ERP, RN, PRTC—each of which retained their own organizational structure but with a matriarch. During the civil war, and continuing in the post-war period, people did not directly join the FMLN per-se, but joined one of the five component groups.1994 - ERP and RN leaders split
After the end of the war, it became clear that there were serious divisions within the FMLN, some of which had existed during the war but had been somewhat hidden from the general public. Particularly it became clear between 1992 and 1994 that the leaders of the ERP and the RN had a number of disagreements with the leaders of the other parties. Soon after the 1994 Legislative Assembly elections, the leaders of the ERP and the RN left the FMLN, and at least initially taking many of their members with them. The leaders of this split (including FMLN commandante Joaquin Villalobos of the ERP) then formed the Partido Democrata (Democratic Party), which was short-lived. Many members of the ERP and RN who had left in 1994 then returned to the FMLN.1995 - Dissolving the five organizations to become a single party
After the 1994 elections and the 1994 split, momentum grew to unify the FMLN into a single organization without separate internal parties. In 1995, the five parties that had formed the FMLN dissolved themselves. It is at that point that the FPL, CP, ERP, RN and PRTC ceased to exist, and what remained was a unified FMLN. Then people could join the FMLN directly instead of having to join one of its component parties. While this decision liquidated the parallel organizational structures inside the FMLN, there still remained strong loyalties along historic organizational lines, some of which can still be seen today.Renovadores split
In the 1999 presidential election, the FMLN ran Facundo Guardado as their candidate. This was a contentious decision, and many in the FMLN did not support Guardado, as they believed that his politics were moving to the right. Out of this internal conflict, two organized tendencies emerged in the FMLN - the RenovadoresRenewal Movement
The Renewal Movement was a political party in El Salvador. The Renovadores started as an organized internal tendency within the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front around 1999, then split from the FMLN around 2002 when their principal leader, Facundo Guardado, was expelled from the FMLN...
("Renovators" or "Renewal Movement") and the Coriente Revolucionario y Socialista (CRS - Revolutionary Socialist Current). The two main leaders of the CRS were the historic FMLN leaders Schafik Handal
Schafik Handal
Schafik Jorge Handal was a Salvadoran politician. Born in Usulután, he was the son of Palestinian Arab immigrants.-Biography:...
and Salvador Sanchez Ceren
Salvador Sánchez Cerén
Salvador Sánchez Cerén is a Salvadoran politician and former teacher. Following the 2009 presidential election, he is the Vice President of El Salvador....
. The main leader of the Renovadores was Facundo Guardado. As a charismatic former FPL commander, Guardado had a base of supporters in the FMLN. He criticized the historic leadership as being too communist and called for a renovated ideology. The CRS criticized Guardado for advocating social democratic
Social democracy
Social democracy is a political ideology of the center-left on the political spectrum. Social democracy is officially a form of evolutionary reformist socialism. It supports class collaboration as the course to achieve socialism...
politics and for not being clearly against neoliberalism
Neoliberalism
Neoliberalism is a market-driven approach to economic and social policy based on neoclassical theories of economics that emphasizes the efficiency of private enterprise, liberalized trade and relatively open markets, and therefore seeks to maximize the role of the private sector in determining the...
. After a couple years of internal turmoil, in which the Revolutionary Socialist Current won the majority of the internal elections in the organization, Guardado became more frustrated, publicly attacked the FMLN leaders he didn't agree with, and took actions contrary to decisions the party had made. He was ultimately expelled and some of his supporters left the FMLN. Guardado tried to form the Renovadores as its own political party, but they received negligible support in the 2003 election and then ceased to exist as a party.
After the Renovadores vs Revolutionary Socialist Current factionalism, the FMLN's leadership decided to stop organized internal tendencies, and none have emerged since then.
2005 - FDR split
In 2004 and 2005, the FMLN experienced another split. Five FMLN Legislative Assembly members, along with a number of their supporters, left the FMLN to form a new political party, the Democratic Revolutionary Front (in Spanish: Frente Democratico Revolucionario). Some of the principal leaders of this split were Ileana Rogel and Francisco Jovel. The people who left to form the FDR chose this name because it has a legacy in the Salvadoran revolutionary movement; an organization by the same name was formed under the leadership of the FMLN during the civil war to bring together parties and individuals doing legal political work during the civil war. As opposed to previous splits from the FMLN which openly proclaimed that they were ideologically 'center' or 'center-left' or were no longer self-declared 'revolutionaries', the people who split to form the FDR claimed to still be part of the revolutionary legacy of the FMLN. In the 2006 elections, no FDR candidates won office, except for the incumbent mayor of NejapaNejapa
Nejapa is a municipality in the San Salvador department of El Salvador. It is the city after Apopa and before Quezaltepeque. People from Nejapa Are known as Nejapenses. One of the major traditions of Nejapa is "Las Bolas De Fuego" . It is celebrated Every 31st of August. Las Bolas de Fuego has two...
, Rene Canjura. Canjura was a popular FMLN mayor of the municipality of Nejapa for three consecutive periods, and therefore under FMLN statutes, would not have been eligible to run for a fourth consecutive period. So he left the FMLN and successfully ran in 2006 as the FDR candidate. Other than him, no FDR candidates won any electoral victories in 2006.
2009 - FMLN Candidate Elected President
On Sunday, March 15, 2009 an FMLN candidate, Mauricio FunesMauricio Funes
Carlos Mauricio Funes Cartagena is the President of El Salvador. He won the 2009 presidential election as the candidate of the left-wing Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front political party and took office on 1 June 2009.-Biography:Funes is married to Dr. Vanada Pignado, who was involved in...
, was elected President of El Salvador.
See also
- History of El SalvadorHistory of El SalvadorThe history of El Salvador has been a history of struggle against conquistadors, empires, dictatorships and world powers to be free. El Salvador was one of the regions that resisted the Spanish invasion led by Pedro de Alvarado who had to fight Atlantica and retreat several times back to Guatemala...
- El Salvador Civil WarEl Salvador Civil WarThe Salvadoran Civil War was a conflict in El Salvador between the military-led government of El Salvador and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front , a coalition or umbrella organization of five left-wing militias. Significant tensions and violence had already existed, before the civil...
- Jennifer CasoloJennifer CasoloJennifer Jean Casolo is an American citizen who was arrested on November 26, 1989 by Salvadoran government troops during the "Final Offensive" of the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front in San Salvador.-Controversy:...
- Cayetano CarpioCayetano CarpioSalvador Cayetano Carpio , aka Commander Marcial, was the leader of the Communist Party of El Salvador in the 1960s, until he quit the party to found the Salvadoran revolutionary political-military organization, the Fuerzas Populares de Liberación Farabundo Martí, also known by its initials, FPL)...
- Ferman CienfuegosFermán CienfuegosFerman Cienfuegos was the leader of the Salvadoran organization Fuerzas Armadas de la Resistencia Nacional...
- Roque DaltonRoque DaltonRoque Dalton García was a Salvadoran poet and journalist. He is considered one of Latin America's most compelling poets...
- Mauricio FunesMauricio FunesCarlos Mauricio Funes Cartagena is the President of El Salvador. He won the 2009 presidential election as the candidate of the left-wing Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front political party and took office on 1 June 2009.-Biography:Funes is married to Dr. Vanada Pignado, who was involved in...
- Leonel Gonzales
- Schafik HandalSchafik HandalSchafik Jorge Handal was a Salvadoran politician. Born in Usulután, he was the son of Palestinian Arab immigrants.-Biography:...
- Ana MariaAna MaríaAna María was the "nom de guerre" of Mélida Anaya Montes, the second in command of the FMLN, in El Salvador.An intellectual, she was considered as an icon among revolutionary women in the region...
- Joaquín VillalobosJoaquín VillalobosJoaquín Villalobos is a Salvadoran politician and former guerrilla leader.Villalobos was one the main leaders of the People's Revolutionary Army, or Ejército Revolucionario del Pueblo, a group that emerged in El Salvador in the early 1970s as a loose federation of cells with roots in various...