Press Release

 Media advisory

Local  teacher, Judith Denise, to serve as international elections monitor in El Salvador

Elections on March 11 are the first since El Salvador’s historic power shift in 2009

What: International mission to observe El Salvador’s elections

When:  March 2-17, 2012

On March 3^rd, Judith Denise, a teacher from Montreal will travel to El Salvador to join an international mission of elections observers. El Salvador’s Supreme Electoral Tribunal has requested the participation of international observers for the legislative and municipal elections on March 11, 2012, the first elections to be held in El Salvador since the historic victory of the leftist Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) and President Mauricio Funes in March 2009.

The electoral process in El Salvador has historically been marked by institutional fraud carried out by the conservative ARENA party, founded by the infamous leader of the Salvadoran death squads, Roberto D’Aubuisson, which governed the country continuously from 1989 to 2009. A series of electoral reforms designed to promote transparency and to increase voter participation have been implemented within the first two years of FMLN government and the March 11^th elections will be a critical test of their success.

The results of the election will have significant impact on the Salvadoran community in Montreal. The FMLN has proposed several laws to extend greater rights and protections to the 2.5 million Salvadorans living outside the country, nearly a third of the entire population, including the ability to vote in the next presidential election in 2014. The outcome of the March 11 elections will determine the likelihood of such proposals will be adopted.

Denise will be accredited as an international observer by the TSE and will be reporting findings to the Salvadoran government. She will be available for interviews immediately preceding and following the elections on March 11^th, as well as upon return to Montreal.

To schedule an interview, please contact (Laura Jean in San Salvador 011-503-2237-8729)

Photos from election day will also made be available.