Salvadoran Parliamentary Elections, 18 January 2009

[CultureKing]

Are the current leaders of the FMLN socialists in the Chavez/Morales style or the Lula/Bachelet style? They seem from the Wikipedia article to have had a lot of factions on both sides.

The FMLN's presidential candidate, Mauricio Funes, appears to be more moderate, in the Lula/Bachelet mold. However, others in the party are far more radical, including vice-presidential candidate Salvador Sánchez Cerén. In the 1980s, the FMLN was an extremist terrorist group backed by the USSR. The party as a whole has moderated somewhat since then, but extremists still remain.

I feel like ARENA has done just as much "terrorism" as has FMLN. I put quotations around terrorism because it was a civil war, and while horrible acts were committed I don't think it is quite accurate to call it terrorism. Personally I see the FMLN as being center-left currently.

[CultureKing]

Aha! Another defeat of the neoliberal reactionaries! Latin America is the best.

Neoliberal reactionaries? That's somewhat of a contradiction. Latin American economic policy has traditionally been extremely statist, so in this case the more reactionary party won. I'm not sure we should celebrate the triumph of a Cold War era Soviet-backed terrorist group.

ARENA aren't exactly all that clean either, for all the accusations of anti-Catholicism I get I'm not supporting a group like them which has murdered hordes of priests and nuns, among others...

These priests and nuns were Liberation theology heretics who were stockpiling weapons for, and generally abetting, the FMLN. I'm no saying they are completely justified, and in many cases it may have been excess force, and innocents may have perished. I'm not excusing that, but your post makes it sound like a great part of the Catholic Church in El Salvador weren't reaping what they sowed.

Seriously??? Arena was responsible for a greater number of deaths than the FMLN during the civil war, I am not saying either side was great but can't you at least recognize that arena was nothing close to even ok?
example:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/El_Mozote_massacre