Versión Español
EspañolOn Sunday, Salvador Sánchez began his term as El Salvador’s first ex-guerrilla president, after securing a narrow 0.2 percent victory over conservative Norman Quijano in the March elections.
In a speech delivered at his swearing-in ceremony, he promised to govern for all Salvadorans and to fight against corruption and violence. El Salvador has the fourth highest murder rate in the world (40 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants), just after Honduras, Venezuela and Belize.
Sánchez takes office after serving as vice president in the Mauricio Funes’ administration. Funes leaves office amid a scandal over an alleged misuse of public funds.
Sánchez will have to deal with public concerns over increased crime rates over the last five years while his party, Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMNL), has been in power. A survey by the José Siméon Cañas Central American University (UCA) estimates that 71.3 percent of Salvadorans see crime as the country’s main problem.
