SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador -- Salvadorans go to the polls on Sunday, March 15, in a presidential election dominated by the country's economy, already beginning to slow amid the economic crisis. The leading candidate in the race according to most polls is former TV-talk-show host Mauricio Funes. The party he now heads, the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), evolved out of an umbrella group of leftist guerrilla factions active during El Salvador's 12-year civil war. His opponent, Rodrigo Avila of the ruling right-wing party ARENA, has made Funes' economic program a central focus of the campaign, calling the election a crossroads for the economy. Avila is running on ARENA's track record since the civil war's end in 1992. The flood of foreign investment that ARENA's trade policies attracted and the resulting boom in export growth has economists comparing this minute tropical nation to the Southeast Asian tigers.
El Salvador Election a ‘Crossroads’ for Economy
