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Description
On election day March 28, 1982, soldiers frisk people walking to the polls in San Salvador. A soldier is holding a Heckler & Koch G3, a battle rifle of German design. Election day throughout the country was chaotic but mostly peaceful. The Christian Democratic Party won a plurality of votes, but ARENA and the traditional military party (the National Coalition Party, PCN) gained control and named Roberto D’Aubuisson president of the Assembly. Under strong pressure from the Reagan administration to block D'Aubuisson from becoming president of the country, the newly elected Assembly named Álvaro Magaña provisional president on April 29, 1982. The Salvadoran government reported that 1,551,687 persons went to the polls although researchers at the University of Central America in San Salvador said the number of voters was between 600,000 and 800,000. There were long lines but not too many polling places, only thirteen, for example, in the capital of San Salvador. The U.S. administration considered the elections a democratic success but parties representing political views to the left of the Christian Democrats were not even represented, and many Salvadorans voted in fear of reprisals by the Salvadoran armed forces against those who didn’t vote. Journalist Lynda Schuster of The Wall Street Journal, for example, reported that soldiers had threatened to kill the villagers of San Benito if they didn’t cast a ballot. During those years Salvadoran were required to carry around an identification card, called cédula, which was stamped after the person had voted. As journalist Raymon Bonner writes in his book Weakness and Deceit, “thousands of Salvadorans peasants walked many miles, endured long lines, stood in the blistering sun solely because they wanted their cédulas stamped, not because they had faith in the democratic process or were opposed to the guerrillas.” El día de las elecciones el 28 de marzo de 1982, los soldados registran a las personas que se dirigen a las urnas en San Salvador. Un soldado sostiene un Heckler & Koch G3, un rifle de batalla de diseño alemán. El día de las elecciones en todo el país fue caótico pero en su mayor parte pacífico. El Partido Demócrata Cristiano obtuvo una pluralidad de votos, pero ARENA y el partido militar tradicional (Partido de Concertación Nacional, PCN) ganaron el control y nombraron a Roberto D’Aubuisson presidente de la Asamblea. Bajo una fuerte presión de la administración Reagan para impedir que D'Aubuisson se convirtiera en presidente del país, la recién electa Asamblea nombró presidente provisional a Álvaro Magaña el 29 de abril de 1982. El gobierno salvadoreño informó que 1 millón 551,687 personas acudieron a las urnas aunque investigadores de la Universidad Centroamericana en San Salvador dijo que el número de votantes estaba entre 600 mil y 800 mil. Había largas colas pero no demasiados lugares de votación, solo trece, por ejemplo, en la capital de San Salvador. La administración de Estados Unidos consideró las elecciones como un éxito democrático, pero los partidos que representaban los puntos de vista políticos a la izquierda de los demócratas cristianos ni siquiera estuvieron representados, y muchos salvadoreños votaron por temor a represalias de las fuerzas armadas salvadoreñas contra quienes no votaron. La periodista Lynda Schuster de The Wall Street Journal, por ejemplo, informó que los soldados habían amenazado con matar a los pobladores de San Benito si no votaban. Durante esos años, los salvadoreños debían llevar consigo una tarjeta de identificación, llamada cédula, que se estampaba después de que la persona había votado. Como escribe el periodista Raymon Bonner en su libro Weakness and Deceit, “miles de campesinos salvadoreños caminaron muchos kilómetros, soportaron largas colas, permanecieron bajo el sol abrasador únicamente porque querían sellar sus cédulas, no porque tuvieran fe en el proceso democrático o se opusieran a la guerrilla”.
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