Burke Stansbury from the Washington office of CISPES talks with community radio about the first round of the El Salvadoran elections - Legislative and Municipal - to be held on January 17, 2009. Burke has is able to report that the chances of an FMLN victory (supported by a 10 to 15 point lead in the polls over the last year) are looking good, with the voting population shrugging off the scare tactics of the ARENA party's media blitz. There are still fears though, that ARENA, with a history of using violence, intimidation and terror (the founder of ARENA was also the head of the notorious Death Squads of the 1980s) may resort to more drastic tactics, before the Presidential elections in March. There is a loud call from the opposition FMLN party for international observers to be there to ensure the integrity of the elections.
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