El Salvador’s elections are a chance to bring political stability, economic progress
El Salvador is a polarized society. A long history of dictatorships, followed by a vicious civil war; ended with the promise of peace and opportunity. But it’s a promise that has not been kept. Since the peace accords in 1992, two parties have dominated the political scene and Parliament — the ARENA, which came from death squads; and the FMLN, formed by former insurgent guerrillas.
Between them, they have ruled for three decades, each proving as corrupt as the other, both equally incapable of adequately addressing the massive problems of gang violence, extortion and the economic crisis that have held El Salvador’s development back. Their collective failure since 1992 has resulted in significant emigration from my country, including some 3 millions Salvadorans who have gone to the United States in search of a dignified life.
Since his inauguration in 2019, breaking the cycle of the two dominant parties, President Nayib Bukele has enjoyed unprecedented confidence among citizens, regularly polling around 90 percent approval. He initially rose into the public eye after his successful mayorship of San Salvador, where he continuously prioritized the citizens of the capital rather than any partisan agenda.
According to independent political polls, the Feb. 28 municipal and legislative elections are likely to see the parliament shift from ARENA-FMLN domination to a clear majority for the president’s newly formed party, Nuevas Ideas. The old parties have tried — and failed — to block this outcome.
Their current hold on the National Assembly provides their last chance to block Bukele’s reform efforts. In the last month — and with no grounds to do so — they attempted a legislative coup to impeach Bukele in order to skew the election results. Over three decades, they have filled all state institutions with their supporters, including the office that controls electoral machinery. There are fears that they could resort to dubious practices to prevent the predicted outcome.
Perhaps worse, there has been a baseless media campaign claiming, with no evidence, that Bukele has bribed gangs to ensure his electoral victory. By tarnishing the election process this way and challenging the incoming administration’s legitimacy with false claims of criminal influence, the old opposition is simply creating further instability in El Salvador.
The future of my country is in the balance. Over the past year, gang violence has been reduced significantly, but the economy continues to face challenges brought on by the COVID crisis. Recovery will be difficult, even more so if it is to be achieved in a period of willfully sustained political instability.
Such scenarios suit neither Salvadoran or U.S. interests and threaten the important bilateral relationship between our two countries. Bukele is focused on bringing new economic stability to El Salvador to allow our citizens to build dignified lives in their country, instead of migrating. Every effort has to be made, including by the Organization of American States (OAS), to ensure an electoral process that is free of fraud or false disputes over outcomes.
The new Biden administration
should look rationally at Bukele’s record and his plans once he has the support of the National Assembly in May. Together, they will bring the peace dividend to the people of El Salvador, which they have been denied for almost three decades.
This is a rare chance for political stability and progress, and both are within our reach. Everyone should
be pulling in the same direction to grasp this historic opportunity and not allow false accusations or electoral manipulation to derail El Salvador’s stability yet again. It is crucial that we let democracy speak on Feb. 28, and that the vote reflects only the will of the Salvadoran people.
The Panthers rallied from a 2-0 deficit with three goals in less than three minutes in the third period Thursday. Frank Vatrano scored the winning goal and Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 37 shots.
As the time ticked away, it did not look like the Panthers were going to find their way out of this mess.
In the latter stages of the third period Thursday, the two Dallas goalies had stopped 124 of 126 shots the Panthers had thrown at them in this three-game series.
But then the tide changed.
Within a span of 52 seconds in the third, the Panthers scored twice and then got a Frank Vatrano goal with 3:10 remaining as they came back to stun the Stars 3-2 at BB&T Center.
Florida, shutout the night before, had trailed 2-0 with 6:20 left before Aleksander Barkov broke the ice.
Less than a minute later, Anton Stralman threw one in from the point that found its way past rookie Jake Oettinger who had, before then, been fantastic.
Vatrano ended up winning it with his goal as Sergei Bobrovsky got back in the win column by stopping 37 shots.
Florida’s comeback came not long after a sandwich hit on Dallas’ Jackson Dickinson from Patric Hornqvist and Stralman broke the end boards which needed repair and brought a delay in the game.
“I think it comes down to one word and it is resiliency,” said Vatrano, whose team improved
to 6-0 following a loss this season.
“We mixed and matched some lines and that put some jump in our step especially right after those boards came out.”
Anton Khudobin, who shut out the Panthers on Wednesday night, had the day off and Jake Oettinger had a shutout of his own brewing.
Oettinger made 31 consecutive saves on the Panthers before Barkov cleaned up a loose puck coming off a shot from MacKenzie Weegar.
Moments later, the horn went off again as Florida tied the score on a long shot from a defenseman not known very much for his scoring.
Vatrano, who had a prime scoring chance stopped midway through the period, cashed in on his big chance to make it 3-2.
“It was just a matter of time before we scored,”
Barkov said.
“We weren’t getting any lucky bounces and then we did and ended up winning the game.”
Said Bobrovsky: “I felt good from the beginning and the guys stepped up. It’s a great win for us. When you’re down 2-0 and find a way to win, it gives you a boost of energy and puts points in the bank. That helps for later in the season. I have tremendous confidence in this team.”
After an even and scoreless first period (Dallas led 11-10 in shots), the Stars turned things up in the second.
Dallas took a 1-0 lead as Joe Pavelski followed up a rebound that came right to him off a shot from Justin Dowling at 2:10 of the period.
The Panthers had a number of prime scoring chances to tie things up including a point-blank shot from Carter Verhaeghe and a breakaway from Sasha Barkov. Oettinger wasn’t having any of it.
Late in the second, Jamie
Benn slid into the slot and deflected a 50-foot shot from teammate John Klingberg past Bobrovsky making it a two-goal game.
YANDLE MOVES UP IRONMAN LIST
Defenseman Keith Yandle
has not missed a game since March 26, 2009 — for the then-Phoenix Coyotes.
Thursday, he played in his 885th consecutive regular-season game.
That moved him past
Steve Larmer (1982-93) for the third-longest Ironman streak in NHL history.
Yandle is 29 games away from tying Garry Under for second all-time, a number he could reach this season. He is now 79 games from tying Doug Jarvis for the all-time Ironman record.
THIS AND THAT
With their third game in four nights, the Panthers shuffled things up Thursday and made a handful of roster moves.
Both Mason Marchment and Kevin Connauton were called up from the taxi squad and put in the lineup; Owen Tippett was put on the taxi squad and 2018 first-round pick Grigori Denisenko was called up from Florida’s shared AHL Syracuse team.
Defenseman Markus Nutivaara, whom Quenneville said had a setback in his rehabilitation, was placed on the injured reserve.
Gustav Forsling, the defenseman who was hurt in the second period Wednesday, is day-to-day per Quenneville.
For Connauton, Thursday’s game was his first with the Panthers upon making the team out of training camp on a professional tryout.