from the WW4 Report

On March 11—just four days before El Salvador's historic election for president and vice-president—five Republican Congressmen gave speeches on the floor of the House of Representatives threatening that Salvadorans living in the US would lose their immigration status and be outlawed from sending money home to their families if voters in El Salvador elect the opposition FMLN party's candidate. "Those monies that are coming from here to there I am confident will be cut, and I hope the people of El Salvador are aware of that because it will have a tremendous impact on individuals and their economy," stated Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN). Similar threats by US officials were made during the 2004 Salvadoran presidential campaign.

The Republicans' statements were on the front pages of the widest circulating daily newspapers in El Salvador on the morning of March 12, the day after the presidential and vice-presidential campaigns legally closed—leaving the FMLN unable to respond to the threats. The Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES) mobilized its activists in the US to demand public statements of neutrality from the State Department in Washington and the US Embassy in San Salvador.

After receiving what it referred to as an "inundation" of phone calls from citizens around the US on March 12, the State Department released a statement of neutrality, saying "The US government reiterates its official position that it does not support either candidate in the upcoming presidential election in El Salvador on March 15th... The separation of powers and freedoms in the United States allows the debate in which members of the US Legislature have expressed their opinions, which do not necessarily reflect the official position of the United States." Later that day, the US Embassy in El Salvador also released a statement saying, "The US Government will respect the will of the Salvadoran people and will seek to work constructively with whoever wins that election."