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Announcement :: Elections & Legislation

Do your part to ensure an FMLN victory!

Hey friends, lets help our brothers and sisters in El Salvador today! This is their chance! And here in the belly of the Beast, we have an important role to play.

-Nick L.

Call on Congress to reject manipulation of U.S. foreign policy and defend free and fair elections in El Salvador
U.S. Representatives Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ) and Marcy Kaptur (D-OH) are circulating a “Dear Colleague” letter to encourage other Representatives to sign on to a letter to President Barack Obama calling for the U.S. government to remain neutral in El Salvador's March 15 presidential race, respect the election results, and work toward a positive relationship with whichever party is elected. With less than a month remaining before election day, this urgent letter is now open for all Members of Congress to sign. (The deadline for signers is March 3; see below for the text of the letter to Obama and the “Dear Colleague”.)

Call your U.S. Representative TODAY to insist that s/he add his or her name to statement in defense of democracy in El Salvador by Rep. Grijalva and Rep Kaptur! Call the Congressional switchboard to be connected to your Representative's office: (202) 224-3121. *Call script at the end of this alert.



BACKGROUND

Public statements made by high level U.S. officials in the weeks leading up to El Salvador 's last presidential election, in 2004, threatened Salvadoran voters into re-electing the right wing ARENA party. Undersecretary of State Roger Noriega traveled to El Salvador a month before the election to publicly endorse ARENA candidate Antonio Saca and warn that relations with the U.S. would deteriorate if the opposition FMLN party were elected. The week before the election, Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO) threatened that the U.S. would stop the flow of remittances sent home by Salvadorans living in the U.S. in the case of an FMLN victory.

The threats made in 2004 were widely reported by the Salvadoran media as accurate statements of U.S. policy, and contributed to Saca's victory at the polls. In recent months, right-wing campaign advertisements have sought to resurrect these threats, claiming that the 2.5 million Salvadorans living in the U.S. , and the billions of dollars they send home every year, will be placed in danger if the FMLN's candidate, Mauricio Funes, is elected in March.

With a new administration in the White House, Salvadoran voters are awaiting assurance that the U.S. will respect their right to elect their own president, free from outside manipulation. Call on your Congressperson to assert that the U.S. must respect the democratic will of the Salvadoran people.

TAKE ACTION NOW!

1) Call the Congressional switchboard to be transferred to your Representative's office:

2) Ask to speak to the staff person in charge of foreign policy. If that person is not available, leave a voicemail.

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Call Script for support to Grijalva’s Dear Colleague letter on El Salvador elections

You can use the following script to talk with the congressional aid of your representative. If at any point you get cut off, be sure to make the final statement – “I encourage Representative _____ to sign on to this important letter in support of free and fair elections in El Salvador !

Here's what to say (the first two paragraphs are the most important):

* “My name is [your name] I am calling as a constituent to ask that [Representative's name] sign on to a Congressional letter to President Obama that has been initiated by Representative Raúl Grijalva [Gree-hall-vah]. This letter calls for U.S. neutrality with respect to the upcoming presidential election in El Salvador , and pledges that Members of Congress will seek a positive relationship with whichever party is elected.”
* “To sign on to this letter, please contact Daniel Brito at Representative Grijalva's office. His phone number is (202) 225-2435.”
* “This statement is urgently important. During El Salvador 's 2004 presidential campaign, Bush Administration officials and some Members of Congress threatened to punish the people of El Salvador if they elected the opposition party's candidate. Campaign ads being aired in El Salvador right now are resurrecting those threats. President Obama and his administration need to be made aware of this unfortunate precedent so they can chart a more responsible, respectful foreign policy.”
* “Furthermore, Salvadorans need to hear a clear message from Congress that assures them they can vote according to their own free will, rather than in response to threats and manipulation from the U.S. government.”
* “Thank you for your time, and I encourage [Representative's name] to sign on to this important statement in support of free and fair elections in El Salvador .”

For more information on the upcoming elections in El Salvador :

- CISPES elections blog: www.cispes.org/09electionsblog
 
 

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