Interview with El Salvador's President-Elect Mauricio Funes

(Latin Pulse: May 1, 2009) Link TV's Latin Pulse Team brings you an exclusive interview with El Salvador's president-elect Mauricio Funes in this second part of the special presentation "El Salvador: A Historic Election".

El Salvador, a tiny Central American country, has elected its first leftist president. The Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front FMLN candidate Mauricio Funes won the election with 51.3% of the votes.

Funes, 49, is a popular TV journalist with a reputation for honest and critical reporting. Funes' broadcasting journalism career spans over 20 years, including as a CNN correspondent for 15 years. In 1994 Funes was awarded the Columbian University Maria Moors Cabot Prize for outstanding reporting on Latin America and the Caribbean, and in 1996 he received a journalism prize from the Brazilian government.

Real democracy may finally come to El Salvador with this unlikely FMLN candidate, who is individually more of a moderate than his colleagues.

The president-elect faces many challenges, as El Salvador is gripped by economic and public-security crises. A quarter of the population depends on money sent by their relatives who are working in the United States. Yet these funds are drying up as the U.S. economic situation deteriorates. The nation has one of the highest homicide rates in the world: ten to twelve people die every day.

Funes faces these issues, in addition to an angry, powerful and well-funded right wing, as well as hard-liners in his own party who may push for radical reforms.

As Funes takes the reins of power on June 1st, people are waiting to see how U.S.-Salvadoran relations will change.

For a long time, El Salvador has been a staunch U.S. ally. Now the smallest country in Central America has joined the increasing number of Latino American countries that have chosen a change to the left. However, with a new U.S. president warmly shaking hands with Funes, Brazils Lula, and even Venezuelas Hugo Chavez, many are hopeful about the future of Latin American-U.S. relations.

Category:

News & Politics

Tags:

• latin pulse
• link tv
• linktv
• el salvador
• election
• president
• Mauricio Funes

[santos4real]

@shenyaku De eso es lo que esta cansado el pueblo Salvadore~o de ser paciente

de esperar viendo como la economia se desploma y la delincuenia se apodera del pais, con un govierno sin propuestas concretas para salir del problema.

[TheCidaR]

Los salvadreños inmigran a otros paises. Por tanto gobierno corruptos que habido.

y los 80 salieron tambien, por la guerra y los hijos extrajanjero son los que gobierno hoy dia. Los salvadoreños pueden salir adelante con un gobierno responsable que quiera ayudar al pueblo para no mas buscar inmigrar. Protejer al pueblo que haya mas seguridad.

[manuelpipil]

Ver las cosas desde un punto de vista exterior te hace pensar en cuanto tiempo El Salvador Perdio haciend las cosas erroneas, todo lo que El Senor Presindente ha dicho en la entrevista me parece sensato y espero se pueda desarrollar poco a poco.

[embozgonzalez]

@RedEnsign1986 yeah i always wonder why they always rely on US instead of looking in other places like Canada...

[embozgonzalez]

estados unidos no le importa el flujo de drogas....ese pais es basado en la droga el narcotraffico...ala mierda el gobierno gringo porque son hipocritas y Obama no es un cambio al bien sino soloe s un cambio de color de piel porque es la misma mierda que las administraciones anteriores....

[Sexisttroll]

@qqssaa Increible! lo unico bueno que dijo funes y vos estas en contra de ello? HAHAHA ustedes comunistas retrogradas me matan de la risa...

[Sexisttroll]

@chicasrodriguez par de meses? ya paso mas de un anhio! y que ha hecho? la situacion esta entre igual o peor...

[Sexisttroll]

@3rotorFD I agree! he didn't say shit! all he said was that: "people go because the situation is bad in here... but I'll fix that" HOW? he doesn't present any strategy or anything! Its been a year and the country is worse... now they've got a bunch of holes all over the streets...

[Sexisttroll]

I agree with you! besides deploying troops there plenty of ways to deal with gangs. they should import deputies from countries like canada, usa, germany and china. people who know!

[Sexisttroll]

Ya paso mas de un anho y las cosas solo han empeorado. Ahora a los corruptos de la asamblea legislativa se les ha dado incluso mas poder desde la aprocacion de el articulo 191. Ambos partidos son igual de malos. Segundo, Funes no espicifico nada fue como escuchar un discurso de quinto grado. Dijo que creando una estabilidad economica se va a atraer mas empleo pero como? como va a mejorar las condiciones macroeconomicas? se remonto a lo obvio, todos saben que la gente se va a USA por la economia!