Victory in El Salvador

I felt a surprising surge of emotion when I read yesterday evening that the leftist FMLN Party in El Salvador had claimed victory in that country's presidential election. Why should I care about an election in a tiny little Central American country? My interest in El Salvador--and in Central America as a region--goes beyond just its' pupusas and fine coffee. For many years, I knew little about El Salvador, but in the years I've spent working in the East Bay, I've met many Salvadorans and became interested in their stories and the history of their small nation. When I decided to travel to Central America a little over a year ago, I had my sights set on spending some time in El Salvador, so I delved into a few books about the history of that country's civil war. It became clear to me that the FMLN had waged a just guerilla war against a brutal, repressive right-wing regime for nearly a decade. It always seemed sad to me that after the Peace Accords in 1992?, the FMLN could not gain power over ARENA, the right wing party whose leaders had orchestrated countless death squads and murders. After nearly twenty years of ARENA rule the FMLN has finally gained victory over a system that has long favored El Salvador's oligarchy at the expense of the country's poor. Alas, I am no expert on El Salvador, and many others have written better pieces on the election

(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/marc-cooper/leftist-victory-in-el-sal_b_175174.html)

but I know enough that the victory of the FMLN in El Salvador is something worth celebrating.