Monday, March 16, 2009

Actual good news

The voters of El Salvador have elected Mauricio Funes, candidate of the leftist FMLN, as their new president. Now, I don't know anything about President-Elect Funes or the details of his politics, but this is good news, because (a) the race was a close one; Funes had a big lead, but the party of the Right, ARENA, had the money and clout with the establishment, slammed Funes as a tool of Hugo Chavez and gained much ground; (b) FMLN was asserting that if the race was close, ARENA would engage in fraud and prevent Funes from winning; (c) the margin was, apparently, around 51-49 percent and (d) it sounds like no one is making noises about nullifying the election results.

In a nation like El Salvador, a peaceful change of government is an important and heartening step.

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