El Salvador
The Washington Post discusses the Salvadoran contribution to the Iraq war—the last Latin American country to remain. Presidents from ARENA—El Salvador’s conservative party—have enjoyed close ties with the Bush administration. Even more relevant is the fact that El Salvador depends heavily upon remittances, and therefore needed the Bush administration to extend temporary legal status for 220,000 undocumented Salvadorans, and in general assure that Salvadoran immigration is not curtailed. The administration agreed to the extension just two weeks after President Saca announced that he would be sending another contingent of soldiers.
All the hoopla about the supposed leftward tilt in Latin America ignores Central America, where with some exceptions we often see governments that are closer ideologically to the U.S.
1 comments:
You’re absolutely right that realpolitik is involved. However, I do think that in El Salvador the president really believes in free trade, fighting terrorism, etc. That makes the decision to send troops as quid pro quo an easier one. Realpolitik would go out the window if the FMLN won, because ideology would trump it, and the troops would be withdrawn immediately, regardless of the potential loss of other benefits. Right now, Central American governments are just far more conservative than their South American counterparts (even if they aren't all sending troops).
Post a Comment