Leftist FMLN Party Victorious in Salvadoran Election

In El Salvador, the twelve years of conflict between government forces and the radical leftist insurgency ended in 1992, when the combined guerrilla factions (ERP, FPL, FARN, RN and Communist Party that together formed the FMLN) accepted to put down their weapons and sign the peace accords with the Salvadoran Armed Forces. As part of the peace process, a general amnesty was granted to the warring parties, and the old governmental Guardia Nacional, Policia de Hacienda and Policia Nacional were dissolved and a new police force was formed (the Policia Nacional Civil). This newly created police force would incorporate into its ranks ex-guerrilla fighters and demobilized government units. The responsibility of maintaining public order would now fall upon the newly created Civil Police force, while the regular Armed Forces would continue to maintain their principle mission as protectors of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of El Salvador, and more importantly, the Salvadoran Armed Forces would also continue their mission of guaranteeing the rights and obligations as defined by the national constitution. The Armed Forces mission of guaranteeing the constitution will surely become a point of contention now that the radical old guard in the FMLN will want to have a say in government policy. Their new champion, Salvador Sanchez Ceren, ex-comander of the guerrilla faction FARN, who is the vice presidential running mate of president elect Mauricio Funes, will clearly be the man to watch because now only one man, Mauricio Funes, stands between the geriatric old guard and their Castro style dictatorship dream. This situation in tiny El Salvador will certainly be getting more and more interesting because we'll be witnessing real Democracy in action, where it was ballots and not bullets that finally were victorious in that turbulent land.