TRANSITION UPDATE:

Celebrating with the Salvadoran People on Inauguration Day

President-elect Mauricio Funes will take office on June 1^st, 2009 and massive celebrations are expected since this is the first time a left-wing party takes office in the country's history. FMLN official sources have stated that Funes will have two inaugural celebrations: the official ceremony and a celebration with the people.  

The official inaugural ceremony will take place in the morning at the International Convention Center (CIFCO). Representatives of 121 countries have been invited to the ceremony and many Latin American presidents have already confirmed their attendance. Thus far they include: Hugo Chávez from Venezuela; Luiz Inácio da Silva from Brazil; Felipe Calderón from México; Michelle Bachelet from Chile; Ma Ying Jeou from Taiwán; Daniel Ortega from Nicaragua; Manuel Zelaya from Honduras; Alvaro Uribe from Colombia; Rafael Correa from Ecuador; Fernando Lugo from Paraguay; Manuel Torrijos from Panamá and his successor Ricardo Martinelli.

The US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Prince Felipe of Spain will also be present.  Official sources have also confirmed the presence of the Inter-American Development Bank, Luis Alberto Moreno. 

According to Sigfrido Reyes, FMLN speaker, there will be a parallel celebration in the Cuscatlán Stadium because there is not enough space at the Convention Center for all the people who want to participate. An estimated of 60,000 people are expected to attend the ceremony at the Stadium, where "we hope that the people celebrate and that the elected officials symbolically take their oaths in front of them." 

Mauricio Funes' Cabinet

Two weeks before Inauguration Day some names for the new Cabinet were made public after long negotiations between the FMLN and Funes' team.  What has been clear is that Funes negotiated to include renowned economists and experts who are not necessarily FMLN party officials in key positions in the economic areas. According to the online newspaper El Faro, some of the people granted Cabinet positions thus far include: Alexander Segovia, an economist who graduated from Oxford University and Funes' economic advisor, will be the next Chief of Cabinet; Carlos Cáceres, the former Executive Director of the Banking System Association, will be the next Minister of the Treasury;  Héctor Dada, current Congressman for the Democratic Change Party (CD), will be the Economics Minister; Carlos Acevedo, another economist with the United Nations Development Program, has been chosen as the President of the Central Reserve Bank; Hato Hasbún, Funes' presidential campaign director, will be the Coordinator for State Modernization; and Hugo Martínez, a FMLN Congressman, will be the Minister of Foreign Affairs.  Other names of FMLN Congresspeople and renowned professionals have been mentioned but their positions have not been confirmed.

Some of the elected members of the cabinet are part of the Funes' transition team and belong to the economic subcommittee.  This commission has already started working on strategies to combat the economic crisis.  According to Alexander Segovia, the country's economy will experience a negative growth rate of - 2.0 % in 2009 and the fiscal deficit is expected to widen between US$100- 200 million more than what had been originally estimated by the Treasury Ministry.  The fiscal deficit already constitutes 4% of El Salvador's GDP.

Hillary Clinton will visit El Salvador

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will visit El Salvador on May 30^th with the purpose of strengthening relationships with the country. During her visit, Clinton will meet with officials of the new government and with Millennium Challenge Account (MCC) representatives and its beneficiaries.  According to MCC officials, Clinton will try to visit MCC project sites and she will more than likely meet with students and farmers who have received scholarships and technical assistance through the program.

Clinton will also meet with the current Minister of Foreign Affairs to promote an initiative called "Pathways to Prosperity in the Americas."  This initiative involves all countries in the Americas that have free trade agreements with the United States.  According to US Assistant Secretary Tom Shannon the purpose of this initiative is "to find a way to not only consolidate what our free trade partners have accomplished (..), but also to look for ways to highlight the positive aspects of trade and to address or ameliorate the negative aspects of trade."  Clinton stated that during her visit she will stress that the US will do its part so the benefits of economic growth and trade are shared widely. She added that the Pathways to Prosperity Initiative will "promote a strategic platform for the expansion of economic opportunities, the promotion of social justice and the generation of a healthy competition to achieve real progress."

On May 13^th, during the 39th Washington Conference of the Council of the Americas, Clinton announced that she will attend the inauguration of President-elect Mauricio Funes and then she will fly to Honduras to attend the Organization of American States (OAS) General Assembly.

Deputy Secretary of State, James Steinberg expressed that the fact that Clinton will visit El Salvador and recognizes a government led by the former guerilla movement that the US combated through military aid to the Salvadoran government during the 1980s, marked a new era in the hemispheric relations. "However our individual trajectories might unfold, we cannot turn back on the charter and our shared vision of a robust democratic order," he added.

Funes visits Venezuela

President elect Mauricio Funes visited Venezuela last Monday, May 18^th.  During a meeting that lasted five hours, Funes and Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez created a binational commission  to promote aid and socioeconomic development between the two countries.   Funes expressed that El Salvador is going to increase trade relationships with Venezuela and will receive aid to promote health and social programs.  Venezuela will also continue to provide El Salvador with cheap oil to allow Salvadorans to enjoy lower gas prices and also for the government to generate some profit that will be invested in desperately needed social programs.

Funes evaluated the meeting as sincere, transparent and cordial. "We have found a government and a president with a lot of solidarity," Funes expressed.  The meeting with Chávez has generated a lot of expectations in terms of getting support so that El Salvador can face the economic crisis. Funes thanked Chávez for his offerings and for his "big heart, solidarity and vision of unity."

Chávez also confirmed his attendance to Funes' inaugural ceremony on June 1^st.  "Next June 1^st, God mediates, I will be visiting you and sharing with the heroic people that history day," Chávez declared.

- Claudia Rodríguez Alas, DC Policy Office Director