Dirt tactics used by the governing ARENA Party in the lead up to next year's elections in El Salvador. Son of FMLN leader tours Australia to garner international observers to keep it clean ...
Jorge Schafik Handal Lara Pullin Warwick Fry Community Radio 2NimFM Latin Radical (http://vensol.blogspot.com)
1. Jorge Schafik Handal, son of the guerilla commander, and Salvadoran presidential candidate of the same name, addresses a meeting of Resistance, in Brisbane, where he fields some keen questions from youthful members of the Socialist Alliance, and others. He is on a mission to Australia to garner support for a team of independent observers for next year's elections in El Salvador, which by all indications, the governing ARENA coalition, will try to steal, despite the FMLN's commanding lead in the current polls.
Jorge explains some of the problems confronting the FMLN, and their ways of dealing with them. Direct download: Pt1SchafikBrisbane.mp3
2.Jorge Schafik Handal, son of the FMLN guerilla commander in the same name has been in Australia seeking observers for the Salvadoran elections next year, which he believes the governing ARENA coalition will try to steal. In this segment he acknowledges the support he has received from all sectors of Australian society.
3.Lara Pullin with the latest update on the situation in El Salvador where the governing ARENA coalition has scrapped the agreements on electoral reform with the Organisation of American States. With even the most conservative polls giving the FMLN opposition party a commanding 20 point lead, the right wing ARENA party is resorting to increasingly desperate tactics in a bid to steal next year's elections - even threatening to expel independent observers who will be arriving there to observe the elections, including a number of Australians.
4.Lara Pullin phones back with breaking news of the political harassment of Human Rights organisations and a Women's organisation. After a series of phone calls making death threats, the offices of the women's organisation was vandalised. Salvadoran police had no interest in investigating because 'nothing had been stolen'.
5.Lara Pullin with a weekly report, and just in case anyone hasn't realised it yet, the Salvadoran Death Squads are real, they are back, and they are sheltered by their former operatives and sponsors with government posts in the ARENA party. One of 13 peasant activists who demonstrated against water privatisation laws has been assassinated. The Suchitoto 13 (demonstrators) arrested and threatened under anti-terrorism (!) laws had the terrorism charges dropped, but the Death Squads were able to administer their own version of justice with impunity. Lara Pullin gives us the background on this latest travesty of human rights.