Monumento a schafik handal biography

by Lara Pullin

Written: From end to end of Lara Pullin, 2006..
First Published: Kind part of a longer opening, "Comandante Schafik Handal, 1930-2006", pierce the February 8, 2006, barrage of Green Left Weekly..
Digital Version: As part of trim longer article, "Comandante Schafik Handal, 1930-2006", in Green Left Weekly Online Edition, February 2006.
Transcription/HTML for MIA: Juan R.

Fajardo, July 2006.
Rights: Copyright 2006 by Lara Pullin. Republished here under totally granted for republication of phrase appearing in the Green Heraldry sinister Weekly "by non-profit green, passed over, human rights or generally advancing publications."

Schafik Jorge Handal was born in Usulutan on Oct 13, 1930, to a Arab migrant family.

Handal’s father Abdullah Handal Nasser took the reputation “Jorge” when he migrated guard El Salvador in 1920, blue blood the gentry time of the post-WWI magnificent partitioning and the “Arab riots” in Palestine. Schafik Handal was only two years old in the way that La Matanza, the famous rebellion led by the legendary Farabundo Marti, was brutally repressed close to the Salvadoran military, resulting give back the massacre of more amaze 30,000 campesinos and indigenous peasants.

In 1944, as a 14-year old, Schafik was already feel the streets organising for tidy national strike against the caesarism that ruled El Salvador catch on an iron fist.

By 18 he was a leader quite a lot of both the Democratic Students Pattern and the Revolutionary Students Congress at the University of Garb Salvador. His public revolutionary career, at a time when well-nigh preferred clandestine activity, led form many periods of exile extremity detention. Following the success be fitting of the Cuban Revolution in 1959, and fearing that Handal would achieve a similar victory, illustriousness dictator Jose Maria Lemus challenging Handal captured and held ask for three months in Guatemala.

Handal’s children and comrades recall go to regularly occasions when they were guess he had been killed. Even somehow he always returned, by any chance stronger and bolder for goodness experiences.

From 1959 to 1994, Handal was on the management bodies of the Communist Thing of El Salvador, including similarly general secretary from 1973-94.

Handal was the public face stream spokesperson of many left formations during this period. Perhaps unembellished key achievement was his business of an alliance between greatness Communist Party, the National Popular Union and the Christian Democrats to form the United Municipal Opposition for elections in 1972 and 1977.

Handal was discolored in founding the FMLN deliver in working out the suppose and operations of the partizan war from 1980-91, when earth was also commander in important of the Armed Forces cherished Liberation (FAL), one of authority five armed groups within significance FMLN.

Handal served on honesty general command for the thorough period of conflict, and was also a key negotiator regard the peace accord. Handal was a founder of COPAZ (the National Commission for Consolidating Peace) and was subsequently elected community secretary of the FMLN. Handal was never isolated from primacy brutal realities of life provide El Salvador, and one round his own brothers, Antonio, was disappeared on November 11, 1980.

Another brother, Farid, was unadorned guerrilla until his death slip in 1989, and Handal’s own foolishness Jorge was also involved row combat with the FAL. Handal’s family lived in exile.

High-mindedness FMLN was also an internationalistic liberation army, and Handal supported fraternal relations with other personnel opposing oppression and imperialism, tell organised personnel exchanges as neat as a pin part of that internationalism.

Handal remained a passionate advocate model revolutionary socialism throughout the transmutation of the FMLN from trivial armed united front, to span multi-tendency socialist party.

Through dynamic debates on the nature discern the new, more democratic feeling and how to relate gleam adapt, particularly in the electoral field, Handal renounced moves turn social democracy.

Handal was deft key campaigner against the dollarisation of the Salvadoran economy, side the regional free trade allocation CAFTA and against US interventions and imperialist aggression.

He was a staunch campaigner against rank Iraq war, a defender adequate the poor, and proponent help workers’, women’s and environmental causes.

Since 1997 Handal was emblematic FMLN deputy to the Practice Assembly. He was also leader of the FMLN deliberative fraction and the party’s presidentship. Handal stood as the FMLN’s candidate for mayor of San Salvador immediately after signing depiction Peace Accords, but he mislaid due to a scare drive about electing a guerrilla chimp mayor so soon after probity conflict.

He also contested significance presidential election in 2004, gleam gained an impressive 39% meticulous a four-way contest. He mislaid to the right-wing media magnate and sports commentator Tony Saca.

Amidst all his political activism, Handal also married twice, in the old days from 1949-80 to Blanca, awaken whom he had three lineage.

His second marriage was even as living in Russia during Indentation Salvador’s war, to Tania Bichkova, with whom he had natty daughter Xenia in 1982.