AFTER THREE WEEKS of wheeling and dealing, the right-wing dominated Constituent Assembly in El Salvador has elected a new President - Alvaro Magana, President of the member of the Party of National Reconciliation Hipotecerio Bank. (PCN).
elect a Constituent Assembly — all the parties who participated were right wing or ultra right wing and left wing forces.
fascist ARENA party, headed by death squad leader Major Roberto D'Aubuisson. His party, in alliance with other right wing parties, now have sufficient votes Assembly to outvote the Christian Democrats.
For the United States the outcome of the election was a rassment. D'Aubuisson is well known as the leader ot the death squads, and despite his popularity inside the anti-communist Magana leading The fraudulent elections on 28 March to were boycotted by the revolutionary The result was a surge of support for the in the Constituent middle class, to make the leader of the death squads President would isolate the US's support for the Salvadorean more internationally. 1 here nave been three weeks of wheeling and dealing to try to find a President acceptable to the three ruling power torces now in play - the army, the United States and the Constituent Assembly: In D'Aubuisson and his sup incallil porters inside the Constituent Assembly staged which outflanked all the horseFirst, D'Aubuisson himself was elected President of the cond ARENA pushed through assembly number of constitutional changes which have turned the administrative plu cedures upside down.
The assembly voted to itself the power to elect the President and Vice-President of the Republic, the head of the electoral commission for year's presidential all judges including those of the Supreme Court,. and all government ministers. In other words, whoever gets appointed President, Zanu his use their Collel the Assembly to call the shots.
But D'Aubuisson, besides not being able to get the agreement of the United States to appoint himself as President, had to contend with another potentially hostile factor the army. In El Salvador the military split into two - the army proper the 'paramilitary' National Guard.
parallel army, , if anything more Ol utal and murderous than the army.
The death squads are particularly linked to the by US and other counterRoberto D'Aubuisson, National Guard. The Salvadorean miltary has historical links not ARENA, Dal alive newcomer on the political scene, but the Party of National Conciliation.
The army made a 'very strong suggestion that Magana ought be Evenelected President tually D'Aubuisson was forced by this pressure to But he could not accept El Salvador hard man agree. When he made the proposal Constituent Assembly he was booed and hissed by the supporters his own ARENA party, who wanted no compromise They, like D'Aubuisson, understand that despite the sweeping powers of the assembly, Magana backed by the army and the US can create an alternative power centre.
The EI Salvador government is bound now to be permanently racked by But the of style and emphasis bet ween Magana and D'Aubuisson, the outcome for the people of 1 Salvador will be the sam bloody repres HOIC SION