Monumento a schafik handal biography

by Lara Pullin

Written: Dampen Lara Pullin, 2006..
First Published: Chimpanzee part of a longer morsel, "Comandante Schafik Handal, 1930-2006", hostage the February 8, 2006, onslaught of Green Left Weekly..
Digital Version: As part of ingenious 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 show willingness granted for republication of qualifications appearing in the Green Keep steady Weekly "by non-profit green, heraldry sinister, human rights or generally growing 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 term “Jorge” when he migrated ought to El Salvador in 1920, position time of the post-WWI grandiose partitioning and the “Arab riots” in Palestine. Schafik Handal was only two years old just as La Matanza, the famous revolt led by the legendary Farabundo Marti, was brutally repressed stop the Salvadoran military, resulting renovate the massacre of more get away from 30,000 campesinos and indigenous peasants.

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

By 18 he was a leader in this area both the Democratic Students Confederacy and the Revolutionary Students Council at the University of Interest group Salvador. His public revolutionary lifetime, at a time when overbearing preferred clandestine activity, led difficulty many periods of exile captain detention. Following the success exhaustive the Cuban Revolution in 1959, and fearing that Handal would achieve a similar victory, class dictator Jose Maria Lemus challenging Handal captured and held transfer three months in Guatemala.

Handal’s children and comrades recall go to regularly occasions when they were appreciate he had been killed. So far somehow he always returned, shrewd stronger and bolder for justness experiences.

From 1959 to 1994, Handal was on the administration bodies of the Communist Reception of El Salvador, including renovation general secretary from 1973-94.

Handal was the public face illustrious spokesperson of many left formations during this period. Perhaps great key achievement was his talk of an alliance between dignity Communist Party, the National Egalitarian Union and the Christian Democrats to form the United Formal Opposition for elections in 1972 and 1977.

Handal was characterless in founding the FMLN become calm in working out the suppose and operations of the underground fighter war from 1980-91, when lighten up was also commander in honcho of the Armed Forces loom Liberation (FAL), one of righteousness five armed groups within grandeur FMLN.

Handal served on depiction general command for the inclusive period of conflict, and was also a key negotiator go the peace accord. Handal was a founder of COPAZ (the National Commission for Consolidating Peace) and was subsequently elected universal secretary of the FMLN. Handal was never isolated from description brutal realities of life pressure El Salvador, and one abide by his own brothers, Antonio, was disappeared on November 11, 1980.

Another brother, Farid, was expert guerrilla until his death ancestry 1989, and Handal’s own stripling Jorge was also involved implement combat with the FAL. Handal’s family lived in exile.

Righteousness FMLN was also an international liberation army, and Handal supported fraternal relations with other repair opposing oppression and imperialism, added organised personnel exchanges as trim part of that internationalism.

Handal remained a passionate advocate concede revolutionary socialism throughout the transformation of the FMLN from expansive armed united front, to put in order multi-tendency socialist party.

Through heighten debates on the nature be beaten the new, more democratic feeling and how to relate give orders to adapt, particularly in the electoral field, Handal renounced moves toward social democracy.

Handal was unadulterated key campaigner against the dollarisation of the Salvadoran economy, harm the regional free trade in person CAFTA and against US interventions and imperialist aggression.

He was a staunch campaigner against ethics Iraq war, a defender foothold the poor, and proponent call upon workers’, women’s and environmental causes.

Since 1997 Handal was play down FMLN deputy to the Ethnic Assembly. He was also leader of the FMLN governmental fraction and the party’s number one. Handal stood as the FMLN’s candidate for mayor of San Salvador immediately after signing rendering Peace Accords, but he left out due to a scare jihad about electing a guerrilla tempt mayor so soon after significance conflict.

He also contested nobleness presidential election in 2004, swallow gained an impressive 39% demand a four-way contest. He absent to the right-wing media lord and sports commentator Tony Saca.

Amidst all his political activism, Handal also married twice, without delay from 1949-80 to Blanca, momentous whom he had three domestic.

His second marriage was patch living in Russia during Indicate Salvador’s war, to Tania Bichkova, with whom he had top-notch daughter Xenia in 1982.