Upside Down World interview with Funes

Upside Down World, an online magazine "covering activism and politics in Latin America" from a progressive point of view, has published a lengthy interview with Mauricio Funes, the FMLN's candidate for president of El Salvador. The interview is well-worth reading. The first question asks Funes to place his campaign within the leftward shift of politics seen in Latin America in recent years. Funes answer:

We are often asked, ‘Well, what type of left do you represent?’, and I have said: “We represent the left of hope. We are a sensible left, a reasonable left, a left that is betting on change, a stable change.

We are looking for a type of society that builds functioning institutions in El Salvador, a democracy that functions, a viable nation.

Given the current international context, we do not aspire to build socialism in El Salvador. What we hope to build is a more dynamic and competitive economy, placing ourselves in the international playing field in a highly globalized and competitive world. We hope to have a stronger and more dynamic economy than what has been built up until now.

To do this we need the institutions that work, and for democracy to become a symbol that also exists in our country. We do not need to be close to Chavez, close to Lula…or close to Bush in order for our institutions and democracy to work. What we need is to build a model of public management that responds to the needs of Salvadorans and that will resolve Salvadoran problems.

The remainder of the interview addresses many issues of US-El Salvador relations, as well as questions about water policy, mining and bio-fuels. Since the article is titled Part I of the interview, hopefully more will soon be available.