Background Splintering of leftist groups during the 1970s The
Communist Party of El Salvador (PCES) was established in the 1930. In 1970, PCES general-secretary
Cayetano Carpio split from the party and founded the
Farabundo Martí Popular Liberation Forces (FPL) as he viewed the party's reliance on the electoral process to transform
El Salvador as futile; he instead called for a "prolonged popular war" modeled on the
Viet Cong to overthrow
the military dictatorship that had ruled El Salvador since 1931. In 1971, the
People's Revolutionary Army (ERP) was established by dissidents of the PCES, FPL, and
Christian Democratic Party (PDC) led by
Joaquín Villalobos who called for a popular insurrection modeled on the
Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN). Throughout the 1970s, the FPL and ERP carried out
hit-and-run attacks against the Salvadoran government, and allied
mass organizations organized
protests and
strikes to create conditions that would start a
revolution. In 1975,
José Sancho established the
National Resistance Armed Forces (FARN) as a splinter group from the ERP after Villalobos ordered the
assassination of
Roque Dalton—the leader of the ERP's political wing. In 1977, PCES and FARN dissidents led by
Francisco Jovel created the
Revolutionary Party of the Central American Workers (PRTC). In 1979,
Schafik Hándal, Carpio's successor as PCES general-secretary, established the
Armed Liberation Forces (FAL) as the PCES's militant wing after the party adopted an "armed struggle" doctrine under Hándal's leadership. On 15 October 1979, the reformist elements of the
Armed Forces of El Salvador (FAES) overthrew General
Carlos Humberto Romero, the
president of El Salvador, in
a coup d'état and established the civil-military
Revolutionary Government Junta (JRG). Some leftist groups such as the PCES initially supported the JRG while others such as the ERP opposed it and renewed calls for an
insurrection. Eventually, negotiations between the JRG and some communist groups fell apart after Colonel
Adolfo Arnoldo Majano lost his influence in the JRG and the junta itself being unable to curb violence by far-right
death squads.
Negotiations and unification , a Salvadoran communist executed in 1932 after whom the FMLN was named In December 1979, Salvadoran leftist leaders met in
Havana, Cuba to negotiate the establishment of a united coalition to oppose the JRG. They viewed the FSLN's victory in the
Nicaraguan Revolution as a sign that they needed to set aside ideological differences and create a united
vanguard to launch a successful revolution. Cuban leader
Fidel Castro personally took part in the negotiations. In May 1980, the FPL, FARN, and FAL/PCES established the (DRU) as a united coalition for political and military planning. DRU initially excluded the ERP due to lingering animosity over Dalton's assassination, but it later allowed the ERP to join following pressure from Castro. On 10 October 1980, the DRU established the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), a merger of the DRU's members and the
Revolutionary Democratic Front (FDR), a coalition of the DRU member's affiliated mass organizations. The FMLN and FDR were sometimes referred to collectively as the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front–Revolutionary Democratic Front (FMLN–FDR). The FMLN was an umbrella group consisting of the DRU groups as its militant wing and the FDR as its political front. The FMLN was named after
Farabundo Martí, a peasant and communist leader who led a rebellion against the government of Brigadier General
Maximiliano Hernández Martínez in 1932 and was executed during subsequent reprisal killings known as that killed up to 40,000 people. The PRTC later joined the FMLN in December 1980. The FMLN was governed by five-member executive directorate that consisted of the
Salvador Sánchez Cerén (representing the FPL), Villalobos (ERP), Sancho (FARN), Hándal (FAL/PCES), and Jovel (PRTC).
Guerrilla coalition (1980–1992) Early military offensives (1980–1983) The FMLN launched its first military offensive—known as the
final offensive of 1981—on 10 January 1981 when it carried out 43 attacks against various government and military positions including the
Ilopango International Airport and the headquarters of the
Treasury Police. Carpio issued
FMLN General Order Number 1 that called on the Salvadoran people to join the FMLN in a national uprising. Although the FMLN had captured 82 cities and villages, mostly in northern El Salvador, by 17 January, the JRG launched a counteroffensive and Hándal called for a "temporary tactical retreat". By 26 January, the offensive failed and the FMLN acknowledged that it did not spark the national uprising it hoped for. Although the offensive failed, the FMLN proved itself to be a competent fighting force and retained control of some territory. On 28 March 1982, the date of the
1982 Constitutional Assembly election, the FMLN launched the
general offensive of 1982 that intended to disrupt the election's conduct, but the offensive failed to achieve this goal and all 60 seats on the Constitutional Assembly were decided. That year, many FMLN leaders believed that a negotiated settlement was the best way to obtain their goals, but this approach was strongly rejected by Carpio who described it as a betrayal of the revolution. In January 1983, the FPL Central Committee voted Carpio out of power and replaced him with
Mélida Anaya Montes. In April 1983, Carpio had Montes assassinated in
Managua, Nicaragua and he committed
suicide days later when the assassins were captured. Carpio's suicide diminished the FPL's influence within the FMLN and the coalition's members moved towards further cooperation with each other led by the ERP. The FMLN divided its forces into five fronts: the Feliciano Ama Western Front (in
Ahuachapán,
La Libertad,
Santa Ana, and
Sonsonate), the Anastasio Aquino Para-Central Front (in
San Vicente and parts of
Cabañas and
La Paz), the Modesto Ramírez Central Front (in
Cuscatlán,
San Salvador, and parts of Cabañas and La Paz), the Francisco Sánchez Eastern Front (in
La Unión,
Morazán,
San Miguel, and
Usulután), and the Apolinario Serrano Northern Front (in
Chalatenango).
Peace negotiations (1983–1989) , West Germany Carpio's death also led to the FMLN approaching the Salvadoran government to enter negotiations ahead of the
1984 presidential election in the hopes of joining a government. In 1983, the FMLN entered private negotiations with the government of President
Álvaro Magaña. After the 1984 election, the FMLN entered open negotiations with the PDC government of President
José Napoleón Duarte. The FMLN and Duarte's government held several meetings between 1984 and 1988 but were unable to come to an agreement to end the civil war. While in negotiations, the FMLN continued to carry out hit-and-run attacks against the government including assassinations,
kidnappings, and bombings. FMLN militants particularly attacks American military personnel as the
United States was supporting the Salvadoran government with weapons, supplies, and advisors. The FMLN also destroyed infrastructure, blockaded public transportation, and imposed "war taxes" on businesses (such as kidnappings and bombings) that cost the Salvadoran government US$2 billion between 1979 and 1988. Throughout the civil war, Cuba trained hundreds of FMLN personnel and Nicaragua subsidized the FMLN's operation of
Radio Venceremos, the group's clandestine radio station. There were unsubstantiated rumors during the civil war of direct support from the
Soviet Union such as an alleged sighting of a Soviet submarine near
La Unión or a Soviet soldier in
Chalatenango. The FMLN received materiel support from communist countries such as
Bulgaria,
Czechoslovakia,
East Germany,
Ethiopia,
Hungary, the Soviet Union, and
Vietnam, much of which was sent to the FMLN through Nicaragua. The FMLN also received financial support from sympathetic solidarity committees in the United States,
Mexico, and
Europe. FMLN membership varied throughout the civil war: it was as low as 4,000 members in 1981 to as high as 15,000 members in 1991. In December 1987,
Rubén Zamora and
Guillermo Ungo, two FDR leaders, announced the creation of
Democratic Convergence (CVD), a left-wing political party formed from the merger of the
Popular Social Christian Movement (MPSC), the
National Revolutionary Movement (MNR), and the
Social Democratic Party (PSD). The CVD was allowed to participate in the
1989 presidential election with Ungo as its presidential candidate, and the CVD's electoral participation was approved by the FMLN. Ungo finished in fourth place with 3.8 percent of the vote.
Last offensive and peace accords (1989–1992) in 1990 Duarte was succeeded by
Alfredo Cristiani of the right-wing
Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA), the winner of the 1989 election. Cristiani was more moderate than his predecessor, Major
Roberto D'Aubuisson, and was open to continuing negotiations because he believed that FAES was unable to induce a decisive victory against the FMLN to end the civil war. In November 1989, the FMLN launched the
final offensive of 1989 in a bid to overthrow Cristiani's government and ignite a popular uprising, but the offensive failed and the popular uprising did not materialize. Although the FMLN was weakened by the military defeat together with the FSLN's electoral defeat in the
1990 Nicaraguan general election, the
United States Congress voted to reduce funding to the Salvadoran government which also put it in a weaker position. In April 1990, the FMLN and Cristiani's government resumed peace negotiations mediated by the
United Nations. Additionally, by 1991, the FMLN abandoned Marxism–Leninism in favor of
democratic socialism as the group received diplomatic support from European and Latin American social democratic governments that pressured it to negotiate peace. On 16 January 1992, the FMLN and Salvadoran government signed the
Chapultepec Peace Accords that ended the civil war. The peace accords implemented various political and military reforms within the Salvadoran government. In exchange, the FMLN agreed to demobilize. The peace accords also legalized the FMLN as a
political party. According to the
Truth Commission for El Salvador, around 5 percent of
human rights abuses during the civil war were committed by the FMLN, in contrast to 85 percent committed by the government. According to the
University of Pittsburgh's Mitchell A. Seligson and Vincent McElhinny, between 58,382 and 92,823 people were killed during the civil war, of whom, between 12,274 and 23,840 were FMLN combatants.
Political party (1992–present) Transition to a political party (1992–1994) On 30 June 1992, the Legislative Assembly formally legalized the FMLN, and on 14 December, the
Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) registered the FMLN as a political party. Although the FMLN was now a registered political party, its now-demobilized component militant groups continued to exist. The ERP (rebranded as the Renewed Expression of the People) and FARN wanted to moderate the FMLN and move it towards
social democracy. Conversely, the FPL and PCES believed that the FMLN criticized those who wanted to moderate the FMLN, and PCES member
Dagoberto Gutiérrez argued that the FMLN should continue the civil war but as an opposition political party. Ahead of the
1994 general election, the first election held after the end of the civil war, the ERP and FARN proposed that the party should nominate a
center-right reformist politician for president, but the FPL, PCES, and PRTC rejected this and instead nominated Zamora. Zamora advanced to the
second round where he lost to ARENA's
Armando Calderón Sol with 31.7 percent of the vote. The FMLN also won 21 of 84 seats in the
Legislative Assembly, 15 of 262
municipalities, and 4 of El Salvador's 20 seats in the
Central American Parliament (PARLACEN). The FMLN was most successful in territories it controlled during the civil war.
In opposition and political splits (1994–2009) The FMLN's elected officials assumed office in May 1994. The FMLN's legislators affiliated with the ERP and FARN voted in favor of ARENA's national budget resulting in the party suspending their membership. The ERP and FARN also wanted to dissolve the FMLN's five lingering factions, but the FPL, PCES, and PRTC rejected this. In December, 7 legislators and 14 mayors affiliated with the ERP and FARN left the FMLN and later founded the
Democratic Party (PD) in March 1995. That same year, the FPL, PCES, and PRTC dissolved and fully merged into the FMLN. In the
1997 legislative and municipal elections, the FMLN won 27 seats in the Legislative Assembly and 49 municipalities.
San Salvador, El Salvador's capital city, was among one of the FMLN's municipal victories. Meanwhile, the PD lost all its seats and was deregistered by the
Supreme Electoral Court (TSE) for its poor performance, and the FMLN recuperated the seats that it had lost when the PD split from it. Ahead of the
1999 presidential election, FMLN leaders such as Hándal and Sánchez Cerén wanted to maintain the party's "orthodox" revolutionary socialist identity while leaders such as Jovel,
Facundo Guardado, and wanted to make the party resemble European parties that support social democracy. Jovel, Guardado, and Mijango represented the party's
Renewal Movement (MR). The party ultimately nominated Guardado and he finished in second behind ARENA's
Francisco Flores Pérez with 29 percent of the vote. Zamora also ran as a member of the
United Democratic Center (CDU) and finished in third. The FMLN held a party convention in May 2001 to hold its internal leadership election, but Guardado and Jovel boycotted the revolutionary socialist-dominated convention and held his own rival convention to get social democrats elected to party leadership positions. For this, the FMLN expelled both from the party in October. In March 2002, they and five FMLN legislators registered the Renewal Movement as a political party with the TSE. At the
2003 legislative election, the FMLN won 31 seats in the Legislative Assembly while the MR failed to surpass the 3 percent threshold as had its party registration canceled by the TSE. Ahead of the
2004 presidential election, Hándal vetoed the pre-candidacy of journalist
Mauricio Funes as he was not a historic FMLN member and defeated reformist
Óscar Ortiz in the primary election. Hándal lost the presidential election to ARENA's
Antonio Saca with 35.7 percent of the vote. The revolutionary socialists winning the FMLN's 2004 internal leadership election led to another split in the party. In June 2005, 7 FMLN legislators left the party and formed the
Revolutionary Democratic Front (FDR, no relation to the civil war-era organization). In the
2006 legislative election, the FDR lost all its seats in the Legislative Assembly while the FMLN won 32 seats. Ahead of the 2009 elections, Ortiz proposed to nominate Funes as the FMLN's presidential candidate. The party's leadership accepted Funes' candidacy on the condition that Sánchez Cerén was his running mate. Critics such as ARENA's candidate,
Rodrigo Ávila, claimed that Sánchez Cerén would be the
power behind the throne and that Funes would be little more than a puppet. The FMLN won 35 seats in the
January legislative election; Funes won the
presidential election two months later with 51.3 percent of the vote. Funes' victory coincided with the Latin American
pink tide. The FDR performed poorly in the same election and was deregistered by the TSE.
Control of the presidency (2009–2019) (wearing the
presidential sash) and
Salvador Sánchez Cerén, the two FMLN presidents of El Salvador Funes assumed office on 1 June 2009 becoming the FMLN's first president after 15 years of participating in elections. Some of Funes' presidential acts included reestablishing diplomatic relations with Cuba, implementing social reforms and anti-poverty programs, and apologizing for past state atrocities from the civil war and other eras of Salvadoran history. Additionally, the FMLN entered into a coalition government with the
National Coalition Party (PCN) and
Grand Alliance for National Unity (GANA) in the Legislative Assembly, and in February 2011, the FMLN's
Sigfrido Reyes Morales became the
president of the Legislative Assembly as a part of the coalition agreement. Funes' coalition with the right-wing GANA and PCN was criticized by more hardline FMLN members. The FMLN–PCN–GANA coalition lost control of the legislature after the
2012 election and negotiated with ARENA to create a grand coalition government, but Reyes retained his position as president of the legislature. Funes' government implemented a
controversial truce with the country's largest
street gangs,
MS-13 and
18th Street gang, in a bid to lower the country's homicide rate. Mijango and Funes' defense minister, Divisional General
David Munguía Payés, were two of the truce's principal negotiators, but Sánchez Cerén denied that the FMLN itself was responsible for the truce. The truce was a major campaign topic during the
2014 presidential election. The FMLN nominated Sánchez Cerén and Ortiz as its presidential and vice presidential candidates, respectively. Sánchez Cerén narrowly defeated ARENA's
Norman Quijano in the second round with 50.1 percent of the vote. Gutiérrez split from the FMLN in 2013 and attempted to get the splinter New Country Movement (MNP) registered with the TSE in time for the election, but the party failed to accumulate enough signatures to be registered. Sánchez Cerén was inaugurated on 1 June 2014 becoming the first former guerrilla to serve as President of El Salvador. During his presidency, he attempted to remove restrictions on
El Salvador's abortion ban (but this was blocked by right-wing parties), banned
metal mining for environmental and public health concerns, and established
diplomatic relations with
China over
Taiwan. The gang truce also collapsed by the time Sánchez Cerén assumed office and homicides spiked during his presidency, peaking at a rate of 104 homicides per 100,000 people in 2015. The FMLN retained control of the Legislative Assembly after the
2015 legislative election; it formed a coalition with GANA and
Lorena Peña served as the legislature's president from 2015 to 2016 as a part of the coalition agreement. In 2017, the FMLN expelled
Nayib Bukele, then the
mayor of San Salvador, from the party after allegedly throwing an apple at a fellow party member. During the
2018 legislative and municipal elections, Bukele called on his supporters to
spoil their vote or not vote instead of voting for the FMLN. The FMLN had its worst electoral showing since 1994 and won only 23 seats. Meanwhile, ARENA gained control of the Legislative Assembly and right-wing parties were able to override Sánchez Cerén's presidential veto. The FMLN's
Hugo Martínez finished in third place in the
2019 presidential election behind ARENA's
Carlos Calleja and Bukele, who won the election as a
third-party candidate. After Bukele's victory, Roberto Lorenzana, the presidential communications secretary, stated that the FMLN's expulsion of Bukele was a mistake that cost the party votes.
Return to opposition (2019–present) Bukele's 2019 victory ended the FMLN–ARENA
duopoly on controlling the presidency. The FMLN opposed Bukele's government in the Legislative Assembly. In February 2021, FMLN and ARENA legislators briefly considered removing Bukele from office for being "mentally unfit" after he accused the FMLN of staging the deaths of two of its supporters at a rally prior to
that month's midterm election. In the election, Bukele's allies won a
supermajority in the Legislative Assembly while the FMLN won only 4 seats. The FMLN remained in the opposition for the duration of the 2021–2024 legislative term. The party opposed various electoral and constitutional reforms ahead of the 2024 elections such as the TSE allowing Bukele to seek immediate re-election, the reduction of seats in the Legislative Assembly from 84 to 60, and the reduction of municipalities from 262 to 44. Ortiz, then the secretary-general of the FMLN, described the reductions as "institutional fraud" by Bukele's government. The FMLN nominated former legislator
Manuel Flores for president; he
finished in second place with 6.4 percent of the vote behind Bukele. In the
legislative election, the FMLN lost all its seats in the Legislative Assembly
extraparliamentary party for the first time since participating in elections in 1994. It furthermore failed to win any municipal race. The FMLN has convoked its primary elections to elect candidates for the 2027
presidential,
legislative, and municipal elections. == Ideology ==