Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
thieves stop the bus and enter from each end, extorting all of their valuables. They don't
leave home with anything of value without considering, “Do I want to risk losing this?”
We discussed one of the biggest changes since my last visit: The scrappy, can't-get-
no-respect FMLN party had finally taken power in 2009. Only by offering up a less polit-
ical candidate for president—Mauricio Funes, who was better known as a journalist than
as a politician—could the former guerillas win a slim majority. Their priorities were to
improve education and health care; to address gang violence; and to reform the tax codes
that aggressively favored the rich. But the FMLN's win set up a startling reality check. It's
easy to be the guerilla opposition and just complain. But once in power, it's a delicate bal-
ancing act: staying true to your populist past, accepting the reality that capitalism drives
our globalized world, and being constantly tempted by the inherently corrupting trappings
of power. Beatriz said that every guerilla has his price; in the view of many poor Salvador-
ans, the FMLN's ideals have been compromised, and the new leaders are only marginally
better than the old. Beatriz explained that the voice of the Church is now gone—a symp-
tom of a society tired of political struggle. People complain that there's no way to organ-
ize.
My hunch is that the wealthy elite are hardly mindful of the downtown realities be-
cause they can function fine without ever crossing paths with this humble side of their so-
ciety. The fortified housing compounds of the wealthy—with their stout walls, razor wire,
and armed guards—had been beefed up even more since my previous visit. Wealthy locals
(and tourists) happily pay triple for a reputable taxi to hop from one “safe zone” to anoth-
er.
To get a better look at El Salvador's upper crust, I went to La Gran Vía, one of
several top-end malls serving San Salvador's wealthy. These are more than just malls;
they function as a city center for people who live in gated communities. The mall had the
fantasy aura of Disney World, with a happy pedestrian boulevard flanked by two floors of
restaurants, shops, children's playgrounds, and a multistory garage filled with very nice
cars. Little sightseeing trains took visitors on the rounds. The Starbucks had a vast ter-
race—clearly a place to see and be seen.
