16-03-2009, 02:25 PM
May this 'wave' wash across N. America, as well....
Left-wing party wins El Salvador elections
El Salvador's FMLN party of former Marxist guerrillas swept to power yesterday in a presidential election that split the country along old civil war fault lines.
Mauricio Funes, a former TV journalist and candidate of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) claimed victory after results showed he had 51.3 per cent of the vote with over 90 per cent of returns counted.
Jubilant leftists let off fireworks, waved flags and gathered at a monument in the capital to celebrate.
Rodrigo Avila of the conservative Arena party, which has ruled El Salvador since 1989, trailed with 48.7 per cent support and he conceded defeat late on Sunday night.
It was a historic victory after a bitter campaign that split the small Central American nation, where memories of the 1980-92 civil war that killed 75,000 people are still strong.
"My party, the FMLN, has shown to the whole world it is ready for a new government," Funes said in a victory speech. He called for reconciliation with the Arena, whose founder was linked to right-wing death squads during the war.
The victory boosts a growing group of left-wingers in Latin America, led by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
The United States spent billions of dollars in supporting a string of right-wing governments in the fight against the FMLN during the civil war, although Mr Funes insists he will look for good relations with Washington.
Arena has held office since 1989 and kept the coffee-exporting Central American country firmly in the pro-Washington camp, even sending troops to help U.S. forces in Iraq.
But stubborn poverty and street crime have helped the FMLN, which laid down its weapons under a 1992 peace deal and set up a political party to seek power at the ballot box.
Reuters
More on this soon....
Left-wing party wins El Salvador elections
El Salvador's FMLN party of former Marxist guerrillas swept to power yesterday in a presidential election that split the country along old civil war fault lines.
Mauricio Funes, a former TV journalist and candidate of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) claimed victory after results showed he had 51.3 per cent of the vote with over 90 per cent of returns counted.
Jubilant leftists let off fireworks, waved flags and gathered at a monument in the capital to celebrate.
Rodrigo Avila of the conservative Arena party, which has ruled El Salvador since 1989, trailed with 48.7 per cent support and he conceded defeat late on Sunday night.
It was a historic victory after a bitter campaign that split the small Central American nation, where memories of the 1980-92 civil war that killed 75,000 people are still strong.
"My party, the FMLN, has shown to the whole world it is ready for a new government," Funes said in a victory speech. He called for reconciliation with the Arena, whose founder was linked to right-wing death squads during the war.
The victory boosts a growing group of left-wingers in Latin America, led by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
The United States spent billions of dollars in supporting a string of right-wing governments in the fight against the FMLN during the civil war, although Mr Funes insists he will look for good relations with Washington.
Arena has held office since 1989 and kept the coffee-exporting Central American country firmly in the pro-Washington camp, even sending troops to help U.S. forces in Iraq.
But stubborn poverty and street crime have helped the FMLN, which laid down its weapons under a 1992 peace deal and set up a political party to seek power at the ballot box.
Reuters
More on this soon....