Funes Remains Ahead in El Salvador

Mauricio Funes is leading in the early stages of El Salvador’s presidential race, according to a poll by LPG Datos published in La Prensa Gráfica. 31.1 per cent of respondents would support the left-leaning Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) candidate in next year’s election. Rodrigo Ávila of the governing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) is second with 24.8 per cent. More than two-in-five respondents remain undecided or would vote for other contenders. ARENA’s Antonio Saca, a media businessman, was elected in March 2004, garnering 57.73 per cent of the vote. ARENA candidates have won the last four presidential elections in the Central American country. Saca is ineligible for a consecutive term in office. In September 2007, Funes became the FMLN’s presidential nominee. In March 2008, Ávila, a former... [read full story]