University of Bradford Ethesis

University of Bradford eThesis This thesis is hosted in Bradford Scholars – The University of Bradford Open Access repository. Visit the repository for full metadata or to contact the repository team © University of Bradford. This work is licenced for reuse under a Creative Commons Licence. Striving for security State responses to violence under the FMLN government in El Salvador 2009-2014 Susan HOPPERT-FLÄMIG Submitted for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy Faculty of Social Sciences Division of Peace Studies University of Bradford 2016 Abstract Susan Hoppert-Flämig Striving for security: State responses to violence under the FMLN government in El Salvador 2009-2014 Keywords: El Salvador, security policy, ad hoc decision making, police professionalisation, prison reform, FMLN, gang violence This research focuses on the provision of intrastate security and on the question how states in the global South do or do not provide security for their citizens and do or do not protect them from physical violence. This thesis argues that while institutional conditions are an important aspect of security provision in the global South, more attention needs to be paid to policy processes. Institution building as set out in the literature about Security Sector Reform and statebuilding assumes that it is possible to provide security to all citizens of a state by building democratic state security institutions. However, this is only possible if the state is the predominant force of controlling violence. Research showed that this is rarely the case in countries of the global South. This thesis contends that statehood in the global South is contested due to power struggles between multiple state and non-state elites. It argues that the analysis of security policy processes allows for an analysis of security provision in societies where no centralised control over violence exists. It contributes to a better understanding of the shortcomings of security provision in the global South because it shows the impact of societal and state actors on security policy making. Using the case of security policy making under the first FMLN (Frente Farabundo Martí para la Liberación Nacional, Farabundo Martí Front for National Liberation) government in El Salvador (2009-2014), the thesis shows that, in a contested state policy making does not result from a pact between the state and society or from a social consensus as envisaged by parts of the FMLN and other forces of the New Left in Latin America. Instead, policy making results from elite pacts and elite struggles. This is illustrated in the domination of i an ad hoc decision-making mode which describes short-term decisions which are insufficiently implemented and easily reversed or replaced. Thus, security provision as a policy field remains focused on elite interests and does not include the interests of the broader population. ii Table of Contents ABSTRACT I TABLE OF CONTENTS III ACKNOWLEDGEMENT VII LIST OF TABLES IX LIST OF FIGURES X LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS XI 1. INTRODUCTION 1 2. THE STATE AND SECURITY PROVISION IN THE GLOBAL SOUTH 15 2.1 Introduction 15 2.2 Security provision as statebuilding 16 2.3 Critical security studies and citizen security 24 2.4 Security provision in contexts of ‘limited statehood’ 28 2.5 The state in Latin America: reproducing violence or providing security? 32 3. POWER STRUGGLES AND AD HOC-ISM IN SECURITY POLICY MAKING 36 3.1 Introduction 36 3.2 Contested statehood: power struggles between state and social actors 37 3.2.1 Migdal’s state-in-society approach 37 3.2.2 Defining power and violence in contexts of contested statehood 44 3.3 Ad hoc decision making as security practices 49 iii 4. RESEARCH DESIGN: DECISION MAKING IN SECURITY POLICY IN EL SALVADOR 59 4.1 Introduction 59 4.2 Case selection 60 4.2.1 Why choose a case study as the methodological approach? 60 4.2.2 Why choose a case study about security policy making in El Salvador? 61 4.2.3 Why choose police and prison reforms? 63 4.3 Field access and data collection methods 67 4.4 Data analysis 74 4.5 Cultural sensitivity and ethical responsibility during data collection 75 4.5.1 Communication and informed consent in high and low context cultures 75 4.5.2 Safety issues 80 5. ELITES AND ACCOMMODATION IN THE PROCESS OF STATE FORMATION IN EL SALVADOR 82 5.1 Introduction 82 5.2 The cafetaleros: rent creation through coffee exports 83 5.3 The military dictatorship (1931-1984) and economic elites: struggle and accommodation in the light of popular resistance 93 5.4 ARENA as the civilian representative of economic elite interests 102 6. GENESIS OF THE FMLN: FROM AN ARMED GUERRILLA TO A POLITICAL PARTY 109 6.1 Introduction 109 6.2 The formation of the FMLN as armed guerrilla 110 6.3 From militants to political work 118 7. FROM COERCION TO THE RIGHT FOR PROTECTION: VIOLENCE CONTROL AFTER THE PEACE ACCORDS 124 7.1 Introduction 124 iv 7.2 Protecting citizens: security reforms as key component of the Peace Accords 125 7.3 Security at the expense of democracy: security approaches under ARENA governments (1992- 2009) 134 7.4 Police and prison institution building: new rules, old practices 143 7.4.1 Policing in post-war El Salvador 143 7.4.2 The post-war prison system 149 7.5 Contemporary forms of violence in El Salvador 152 8. THE FMLN AND CITIZEN SECURITY 160 8.1 Introduction 160 8.2 The FMLN and citizen security between 1992 and 2009 160 8.3 The FMLN’s Policy of Justice, Security, and Living Together 165 8.3.1 Policy formulation 165 8.3.2 Policy implementation 173 8.3.2.1 Controlling and repressing crime 175 8.3.2.2 Social prevention of violence and crime 178 8.3.2.3 Rehabilitation, reintegration, and penalty system 182 8.3.2.4 Reparations and attention to victims 183 8.3.2.5 Institutional and legal reforms 184 9. CONTESTED POLICE REFORMS 186 9.1 Introduction 186 9.2 Police reform efforts under the FMLN 187 9.3 Ad hoc security decision making: the replacement of the Minister of Justice and Public Security 191 9.3.1 Pressure from the United States 192 9.3.2 The private sector and state security provision 194 9.3.3 The polarisation between the political Left and Right 202 9.3.3.1 1992-2009: The roots of polarisation at the PNC 202 9.3.3.2 2009-2014: Polarisation versus police professionalism 209 9.3.4 Conclusion 216 9.4 Effects of elite power struggles on policing 218 v 9.5 Conclusion 232 10. PRISON REFORMS AND STATE RESPONSES TO GANG VIOLENCE 234 10.1 Introduction 234 10.2 Prison reform efforts under the FMLN: from the penal state to the ‘Road of Opportunities’235 10.3 Ad hoc security decision making: the power struggle between the FMLN government and the gangs 239 10.3.1 Deployment (and withdrawal) of the armed forces to (from) the prison perimeters 239 10.3.2 The anti-gang law 246 10.3.3 The gang truce 249 10.3.4 Conclusion 260 10.4 Effects of the power struggle between the FMLN government and the gangs on prison reforms 261 10.5 Conclusion 267 11. CONCLUSION 269 11.1 Security provision as a result of power struggles 269 11.2 Areas for further research 274 BIBLIOGRAPHY 277 APPENDIX: LIST OF INTERVIEWS 308 vi Acknowledgement In El Salvador, I would like to thank the numerous people who supported me in so many ways. Talking to so many smart people who shared the passion for my topic and knew so much about it was definitely the best part of this research. I was deeply impressed by the openness, helpfulness, and kindness I was received with. Special thanks go to Silke Kapteina who provided me with shelter and invaluable information about the Salvadoran society. Thanks to Adrian Bergmann for sharing his priceless knowledge about the Salvadoran security sector and for sharing the vision of a peaceful El Salvador. I am grateful for the help of Juan Carlos Moreno from the Servicio Social at the Central American University with the transcripts. I would like to thank Joanna Korbutiak for her friendship, the Porter family for their warm hospitality, and Rhina Valencia for her selfless support. I am immensely grateful for being supervised by Professor Jenny Pearce. She taught me how to be a critical and passionate researcher, and always encouraged me to believe in my intellectual abilities. Jenny was a fantastic source of inspiration and a constant companion since the very first proposal of this project. Thanks to the German Academic Exchange Service for allocating me a grant that contributed substantially to the undertaking of this PhD. I am also grateful to Professor Martin Leiner and Professor Manuel Fröhlich from the University of Jena who sparked my interest in security issues and supported me in the early stages of my academic endeavours. Thanks to Professor Heidrun Zinecker from the University of Leipzig for keeping me connected with academic life during the final months of writing up. Thanks to my wonderful colleagues from the Peace Studies community in Bradford with whom I dreamt, suffered, and celebrated. I have met some truly inspiring persons and whilst I cannot mention all of them here, I would like to thank Roberta Holanda Maschietto, Monalisa Hague, Adebiyi Openiyi and Benita Sumita for their friendship. I would like to thank my dear friend Libby Kerr for introducing me to the peculiarities of British academia. Sadly, we cannot vii celebrate the completion of this journey together but I know she would be proud of me.

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