Ex-guerrilla leader Sanchez Ceren ahead in El Salvador run-off vote

[Judi Lynn]

Ex-guerrilla leader Sanchez Ceren ahead in El Salvador run-off vote
by AFP | March 09, 2014 , 6 : 51 pm GST

San Salvador: A former guerrilla commander is favoured to win El Salvador's presidential run-off vote on Sunday and be tasked with cutting rampant crime and poverty in the Central American country.

Pre-election polls show Salvador Sanchez Ceren from the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) — which fought US-backed governments in a bitter 1979-92 civil war — comfortably ahead of San Salvador Mayor Norman Quijano of the right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA).

The conservatives were in power for two decades until 2009, when Salvadorans elected their first leftist government and former journalist Mauricio Funes from the FMLN became president.

Sanchez Ceren, 69, is a teacher by profession and the country's current vice-president. He is also a former education minister, and was one of five top guerrilla commanders during the civil war.

More:
http://www.timesofoman.com/News/Article-30862.aspx

[Judi Lynn]

1. Salvadorans head to vote with ex-rebel favored

Salvadorans head to vote with ex-rebel favored
By MARCOS ALEMAN
Associated Press
Mar 9, 3:14 PM EDT

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) -- Salvadorans were expected to elect a former Marxist guerrilla as president in a runoff Sunday, favoring him over the conservative former mayor of the capital who has pledged to get tough on gang violence.

Salvador Sanchez Ceren, 69, the candidate of the ruling Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, would be the first true guerrilla to lead the Central American nation. Outgoing President Mauricio Funes was a journalist who was sympathetic to the FMLN rebels during the country's civil war but was never an actual guerrilla.

Sanchez Ceren has promised to deepen the outgoing government's popular social programs and govern as a moderate. He said he envisions ruling like Uruguay's President Jose Mujica, also a former guerrilla who formed an inclusive government.

His victory would give the FMLN a second consecutive term after Funes ousted the long-ruling Nationalist Republican Alliance, or ARENA, in 2009.

More:
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/L/LT_SALVADOR_ELECTIONS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-03-09-00-04-04