ABSTRACT
This chapter analyses the course taken by left-wing groups in Central America from the 1970s—when the most important guerrilla organizations were established—until the present day. The main focus is on the transformation of the left that occurred during the 1990s, when it evolved from taking more radical and revolutionary positions to accepting elections in the framework of the rule of law and the context of market-orientated policy, something which, from the end of the first decade of the 21st century, it actually promotes in El Salvador and Nicaragua. Additionally, before beginning our analysis it is necessary to point out that the chapter focuses on the ‘transforming left’ with Marxist or Socialist routes and, therefore, we will only briefly refer to the more moderate expressions such as the Partido Liberación Nacional (PLN—National Liberation Party in Costa Rica) or the Partido Liberal (Liberal Party) in Honduras.
