Roberto d’Aubuisson vs Schafik Handal: Militancy, Memory Work and Human Rights

Ralph Sprenkels

doi:10.18352/erlacs.9240

Abstract

ERLACS – European Review of Latin American and Caribbean Studies is an Open Access, scientific journal. It publishes peer-reviewed articles in English and Spanish. Contributions reflect substantial empirical research and/or are theoretically innovative with respect to major debates within social science research (understood in the broadest sense, including history and economics) on Latin America and the Caribbean. In addition to research articles, ERLACS includes 'Explorations' (a section in which new themes are presented and new debates are stimulated), review essays, book reviews, and film reviews. Articles are published online soon after they have been accepted.Sign up for our newsletter and read our latest issue!Special Collections:Heritage, protests and coloniality in contemporary Latin AmericaViolent configurations of power in MexicoVenezuela's crisis from global perspectivesElite and popular responses to a left in crisisMega-projects, contentious action, and policy change in Latin America ERLACS – Revista Europea de Estudios Latinoamericanos y del Caribe es una revista científica de Acceso Abierto. Difunde artículos bajo la revisión de pares en inglés y español. Las contribuciones reflejan la investigación empírica sustancial y/o son teóricamente innovadoras con respecto a los grandes debates dentro de la investigación social (en el sentido más amplio, incluyendo la historia y la economía) en América Latina y el Caribe. Además de los artículos de investigación, ERLACS incluye 'Exploraciones' (una sección en la que se presentan los nuevos temas con el fin de estimular nuevos debates), ensayos de reseña, reseñas de libros, y críticas de cine. Los artículos se publican en línea poco después de haber sido aceptados.¡Suscríbase a nuestro boletín de noticias y lea nuestro último número!Números especiales: Heritage, protests and coloniality in contemporary Latin AmericaViolent configurations of power in MexicoVenezuela's crisis from global perspectivesElite and popular responses to a left in crisisMega-projects, contentious action, and policy change in Latin America

Highlights

This article examines the memory work that former parties to the Salvadoran conflict engage in with regard to two key historical leaders: Roberto d’Aubuisson, on the right, and Schafik Handal, on the left
The similarities in the political memory work around Roberto d’Aubuisson and Schafik Handal are obvious: partisans project them as extraordinary citizens, of impeccable moral standards, visionaries and lovers of freedom, victims of persecution and slander, gifted speakers, close to the people and loved by the people, willing to endure every imaginary sacrifice for their ideals
The pervasiveness of a ‘militant’ conception of politics in both the Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN) and Alianza Republicana Nacionalista (ARENA) has its roots in how different Salvadoran political forces prepared for or responded to armed struggle and civil war

Summary

Introduction

This article examines the memory work that former parties to the Salvadoran conflict engage in with regard to two key historical leaders: Roberto d’Aubuisson, on the right, and Schafik Handal, on the left. The leadership of the party he led for several years, the Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional (FMLN), designated Handal as representing ‘the synthesis of the Salvadoran revolutionary process..., he who reads the past and points to where we should go’.1 On the opposite side of the political spectrum, partisans of the right-wing Alianza Republicana Nacionalista (ARENA) often endow Roberto d’Aubuisson, the wartime leader of the militant right, with similar honours and functions. This article identifies and analyses similarities in how Roberto d’Aubuisson and Schafik Handal, opposite poles in Salvadoran history, are represented by their partisans.

Results

Conclusion