CENTRAL AMERICA

 

Ruling Party's Candidate Confident of Winning El Salvador Presidential Race

San Salvador - The ruling Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) is confident of its victory in the upcoming presidential election, said its candidate ARENA Rodrigo Avila Avilez on Saturday, local media reported.

Right-wing ARENA, which had won the presidential race for four consecutive times since 1989, will secure yet another victory in the upcoming election scheduled for Sunday, he told a press conference.

In his campaign, Avila promised to improve public security.

His major rival is Carlos Mauricio Funes Cartagena, candidate for the left-wing opposition party Farabundo Marti Front for the National Liberation (FMLN).

As one of the most influential media personnel in El Salvador, Funes promised to push reform in education, health and to fight poverty.

Latest survey released by the electoral committee showed that Avila's supportive rate was 48.6 percent, while Funes, 50 percent.

Born on June 25, 1964, Avila graduated with an engineering degree in Industrial Engineering from North Carolina State University in the United States in 1988. During his college years, he took some courses in the National Academy of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in the United States.

Before entering politics, Avila served as an executive in national and multinational companies.

He joined ARENA in 1981 and began his political career in 1993.On March 15, 2008, Avila was elected by ARENA as its presidential candidate for the 2009 presidential election. Upon his nomination, he also became the president of ARENA.

Funes was born on Oct. 18 1959. He studied literature at the Central American university "Jose Simeon Canas" and gained immensepopularity after working as a journalist for more than 20 years.

He left his successful journalistic career to enter politics and elevated FMLN, a former guerrilla group, to power.