Ex-Guerrillas Win El Salvador Election

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 23:47:38 +0000

Where: San Salvador, El Salvador

March 15, 2009 : Mr.Mauricio Funes of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) defeated the Arena party’s Rodrigo Avila to become the first left-wing President of El Salvador. Arena had won every presidential election in the country since 1991. The winning party won 51.3 per cent of the votes polled against Arena’s 48.7 per cent.

FMLN formed in 1980 as a band of Marxist guerrilla* fighters. Mr. Funes, a former television journalist, is the first party leader who was not a participant in the warfare. The country still bears marks of the 12-year-long civil war in which some 70,000 people died. In addition to this, Mr. Funes will have to tackle widespread crime and an economic slump.

Central America on Pitara Kids Network

Ex-Guerrillas Win El Salvador Election