§ Mr. WrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what information he has on(a) the percentage of voters which elected the present Governments of Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua, (b) the protection of opposition parties and supporters from military or para-military attacks or repression in these countries and (c) the facilities to meet and campaign enjoyed by such parties; and what regard he has to these factors when formulating his policy towards Central America.
§ Mr. WaldegraveThe figures available to us are as follows:
(a) Country Election Date Winning Candidate/Party Per cent. of votes cast El Salvador 6 May 1984 José Napoleon Duarte (Christian Democrat) 154.05 Guatemala 5 December 1985 Vinicio Cerezo Arevalo (Christian Democrat) 168.00 Honduras 14 November 1985 Jose Azcona Hoyo (Liberal) 49.23 Nicaragua 4 November 1984 Daniel Ortega Saavedra (Sandinista National Liberation Front) 61.77 1 Second Round Figures. In the most recent Presidential election in E1 Salvador (19 March 1989), Alfredo Cristiani of the National Republican Alliance (ARENA) won on the first round with 54.8 per cent. of the votes cast. He will take office on 1 June.
(b) There were reports of harassment of the opposition in the course of all these elections. The nature of this harassment varied according to the situation in each country. In E1 Salvador in 1984 a number of Left-wing parties decided that it would not be safe for them to participate. They did however participate in 1989.
(c) Opposition parties have in general enjoyed reasonable freedom to meet and campaign, although 360W according to the Socialist International, in the Nicaraguan elections in 1984 the opposition suffered harassment and censorship of their campaign materials. They were also allotted unequal time on radio and television. Several political parties did not participate because they considered conditions did not exist for a genuinely democratic election.
Support for democracy is one of the guiding principles on which our policy towards Central America is based. We therefore take very careful account of the conduct of elections and the context in which they take place.