Journalist's lead grows in El Salvador

Mauricio Funes, El Salvador’s journalist-turned-presidential candidate has become entrenched as the likely victor in next year’s election, though spectulation is growing as to how sturdy his lead will remain as he moves from underdog to front-runner.

The recent UCA and UTEC polls in El Salvador report that the 48 year-old Funes, a one-time CNN reporter, now holds a lead of nearly 20 points over the ARENA candidate, Rodrigo Avila, a former police captain. International speculation also continues to grow as to what kind of president Funes would be.

On one hand, he is media-savvy, centrist, and pro-business – and even considered by some to be the Salvadoran Barack Obama. On the other hand, he represents the leftist and formerly revolutionary Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN) which has been the opposition to the ruling ARENA party since 1989. The Washington Post, which produced two articles on the Funes campaign last week, reported on the political maturity in the new FMLN leadership:

The FMLN has moved closer to the political center and now has the largest bloc in El Salvador's national assembly. "Choosing Mauricio is a reflection of the changes in the FMLN," said Gerson Martinez, an FMLN lawmaker and a rebel during the civil war that killed 75,000 people.

Not everyone is convinced that times have changed, however. Some have compared Funes to the string of recently-elected leftist leaders under the presumed influence of Hugo Chavez.

Jaime Darenblum, of the DC-based Hudson Institute, wrote a recent op-ed entitled "Losing El Salvador", warning not only against Funes’ own intentions, but against the Trojan horse his candidacy represents for a Marxist reprisal in the FMLN:

Here's the problem - while Funes cuts a relatively moderate figure, he does not have any real sway over the FMLN's structure and ideology, which are inspired by old-fashioned Marxism-Leninism. The FMLN is a party that continues to defend the leftist narco-terrorists in Colombia, and refuses even to call them terrorists. Many analysts question how much its core beliefs have really changed. "If it flies like a duck, swims like a duck, and eats like a duck, it's a duck. The FMLN is a communist party," President Saca said recently.

While citing a lame-duck president’s views of his rivals may not be the most convincing argument, it seems clear that Funes and the FMLN have their work cut out in convincing the electorate that they are offering a change El Salvador can believe in.

Sources: Washington Post, La Prensa Gráfica, Weekly Standard