Title of Project
Tracing Contributions: Salvadoran Women in the Diaspora and the 2014 Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) Presidential Campaign
Division
Humanities
Course or Program
Combined Senior Thesis (Feminist Studies and Latin American and Latino Studies)
Description / Abstract
In 2013, Salvadorans constitutional right to cast their votes in the 2014 presidential elections from anywhere in the world, was recognized by the Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE). During this presidential race, the leftist political party the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) launched an electoral campaign in ten cities in North America to organize and encourage the vote of Salvadorans in the region. Salvadoran women of diverse ages and backgrounds mobilized in support of the campaign throughout the United States. The purpose of this study is to understand how Salvadoran women in the Diaspora mobilized to support the 2014 FMLN presidential campaign. This study emphasizes the experiences of nine Salvadoran women who were active during the campaign in Los Angeles, Santa Cruz and San Francisco, California. In addition, interviews with institutional representatives from the TSE and FMLN illustrate the historical significance of the elections to El Salvador’s democratic process. This study will reveal Salvadoran women’s contributions and experiences within the campaign, as well as their relationship to the new Salvadoran left. It also reveals the implications their participation had for women’s political mobilization from the exterior and the extent to which it is a feminist issue.
