Monday, January 19, 2009

Leftists seemingly post big wins in El Salvador

Unofficial results show that El Salvador’s leftist FMLN made significant gains during yesterday’s local elections.

According to preliminary numbers, the right-wing ARENA lost its slim control of the country’s federal Legislative Assembly to the FMLN. Additionally, most local posts nationwide were won by the FMLN candidates though ARENA seemed to salvage a win in the election for San Salvador mayor.

The FMLN would become the favorite to win El Salvador’s presidency in two months assuming that the electoral results hold. Poll results published earlier this month owed that FMLN presidential candidate Mauricio Funes has a 17-point lead over his closest rival. (Current president Tony Saca is allied with ARENA).

What would an FMLN win signal for the U.S. and the rest of the Americas? According to CNN:
"There's another possibility that yet another country will join the pink tide and go leftist," (Council on Hemispheric Affairs director Larry) Birns said. "What Washington worries about is momentum building up behind one election after another for leftist candidates" in Latin America: "institutional" governments, such as Brazil's, that "have made peace with the free market" while still championing social programs, and populist, more radical governments such as Venezuela's...

Heather Berkman, a Latin America analyst with the Eurasia Group, thinks the FMLN would take a pragmatic approach. The nation relies too much on outside investments and remittances from Salvadorans living abroad for the FMLN to adopt too much of a radical approach.
Image- AFP (“FMLN supporters cheer at the close of voting in San Salvador.”)
Online Sources- Angus Reid Consultants, El Faro, Prensa Latina, Bloomberg, CNN

3 comments:

Hodad said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Hodad said...

BUENA ELECION
estuve en de Gimnasio nacional casi todo el dia, tengo muchos lindas fotos,si algunas quieren
es tiempo no mas de la pasada 30 anos y todos nos trabajamos juntos

voy a poner los fotos en mi blog y en una link a elfrenteverde.org. cuando mi tiempo permitan, muy ocupado en El Salvador, y necesito mucho pescado de aqui por los clientes preferidas, a quien quieren pescado de El Salvador!!!

cheap viagra said...

I didn't know it but it's a good political force in that country, they are so poor but in 1970s the FMLN grew and became the largest and most influential organization on the Salvadoran left. In the 1970s many other revolutionary organizations were formed as well. 23jj