Location
Opening reception: Friday June 19, 7-10pm
2009 has been an historic year for the Left in El Salvador. The January 18 municipal elections saw the FMLN win their first majority of seats in the Legislative Assembly and the number of mayors increase by more than 60%. Building on that success, on March 15, Salvadorans elected Mauricio Funes of the FMLN as the new president, breaking the right wing’s 20 year reign.
Historically there has been rampant fraud, intimidation of voters and even targeted assassinations connected to the election process. This year 5,000 election observers registered to monitor the vote in an attempt to support the Salvadorans who wanted a fair and democratic election. Some of the observers momentarily put down their notepads and took up their cameras to capture this turning point in history. A selection of their photos will be on display at the Toronto Free Gallery.
Aaron Cain followed Salvadoran candidates on their campaign trails and worked along side the teacher’s organization, ANDES 21 de Junio, in the run up to the January elections. In March he returned as an observer for the presidential elections. Aaron is a writer and photographer working out of Toronto.
