FMLN government sticks with Venezuela's Maduro

The left wing FMLN government of President Salvador Sánchez Cerén sent its congratulations to president Nicolas Maduro for his reelection Sunday in elections seen by most of the world community as a sham.  A statement from the Salvadoran president's office called the elections in Venezuela a fundamental step in the advance of democracy in the South American nation.

In doing so, El Salvador stood apart from most of its Latin American neighbors.   From al Jazeera:

Condemning Maduro's re-election, the Lima Group (a group of 14 Latin American countries) plus Canada said the members' diplomats in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, would return to their respective countries for consultations.  

Luis Almagro, secretary-general of the Organization of American States (OAS) did not acknowledge the results and in a video posted on his Twitter account, he said: "Yesterday was an infamous day for the democracy of the Americas ... we do not recognise him as the legitimate president of Venezuela". 

Recognizing the election results in addition to El Salvador were Russia, China, Iran, Cuba, Bolivia and Nicaragua.   No doubt some of the stance of these countries was a counter-reaction to the very strong condemnation by the US administration of the election before the polls were even closed in Venezuela.

The FMLN has a long history of close ties to  the socialist governments in Venezuela starting with Hugo Chavez and continuing with his successor Maduro.   With those ties came significant financial support when Venezuela was flush with oil wealth.   Despite the decline of financial support, the FMLN has remained faithful to its fellow socialists in Venezuela.   You can say one thing about the FMLN, it is loyal to its allies, no matter what.