El Salvador heads to the polls

FMLN presidential candidate Mauricio Funes speaks at his final rally in San Salvador March 11. (Ted Lieverman)

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SAN SALVADOR — A charismatic television journalist who is a member of the country’s left-wing party is the odds-on favorite to become the next president of El Salvador.

In the final days of campaigning before Sunday’s election, Mauricio Funes had a lead in the polls. If he wins, it will mark a first for the left-wing Faribundo Marti Front for National Liberation (FMLN) — allowing the party to do at the ballot box what it couldn’t on the battlefield during the country’s civil war, which ended in 1992.

More than 4 million Salvadorans are expected to vote Sunday. Funes is running against National Republican Alliance (ARENA) candidate Rodrigo Avila, and polls show him up 9 percent.

Campaigning on a slogan of “change,” Funes has been buoyed by huge audiences at his rallies, and by local elections held in mid-January.

The resemblance of the Funes campaign to that of Barack Obama — including the heavy use of the internet — hasn’t escaped the notice of Salvadoran voters. FMLN ads even use the slogan, "Yes, we can."

Despite Funes’ poll numbers, the outcome is far from certain.

Polls here aren’t considered reliable, even when conducted just days before an election. Historians allege there has never been a fair election in El Salvador’s history.

The FMLN claim that ARENA has stolen past elections with "aggressive fraud," including registering dead voters and using false identifications to allow Mexicans and Guatemalans to vote.

But this presidential election will be the most closely watched in the country’s history — the FMLN has arranged for about 5,000 international and local observers. Most of the observers are from the U.S. and Canada.

As the party has in the past, ARENA is running ads claiming that an FMLN victory would mean retaliation from Washington, endangering the money that the more than 3 million Salvadorans abroad send home.

Money sent home from the U.S. and Canada makes up about 20 percent of El Salvador’s gross domestic product. Some ARENA ads claim an FMLN win would also cause Washington to cancel the program that allows Salvadorans 18 months of legal status in the U.S.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/the-americas-at-large/090313/el-salvador-heads-the-polls