ARENA narrows list to 3 candidates
Luis Mario Rodríguez, Ana Vilma de Escobar, Rodrigo Ávila
The executive council of the ruling conservative ARENA party in El Salvador has narrowed the list of its possible candidates for the 2009 presidential elections to three names. All three, until recently, were members of president Tony Saca's administration. The three finalists are Ana Vilma de Escobar, the current Vice President, Luis Mario Rodríguez, former Legal Affairs Secretary to the president, and Rodrigo Ávila, former head of the National Police. The final selection of a nominee to run under the ARENA banner will be made on March 15 by a show of raised hands at a meeting of ARENA party officials.
The final group of candidates were picked after a process which included appearances by a larger group of ARENA hopefuls in all the departments in the country followed by a televised debate. The online news site ContraPunto describes police director Avila as the favored candidate of ARENA party leadership, but vice president Ana Vilma de Escobar is preferred by powerful business interests in the country. (It's unclear who favors Rodriguez).
A recent poll in La Prensa Grafica, however, shows FMLN candidate Mauricio Funes defeating any of these three ARENA candidates in a head-to-head matchup.
Comments
This last week my wifes cousin, Raul of 15 yrs of age was arrested by the National Civilian Police in San Bartolo San Salvador. He apparently got off the bus and was walking casually with his brother Nelson towards their Colonia. Luckily, Nelson had a bout of diarreah and broke loose running toward his house FAST. Raul, hung back and noticed he was walking by some gang members. All of a sudden, the PNC stopped with their Pickups jumped out and put about 20 youth against the wall and arrested them.
Under the Super Mano Dura Law, Police can arrest anyone that “looks like” a gang member and jail them up to six days without a lawyer. Raul found himself in the back of the truck with a bunch of 18 gang members.
Family anxiety went up not knowing where Raul was, and knowing how gangs recruit. Raul alledgedly told PNC that he was 18 in order to not be harmed by the gangs. We were wondering what would happen to him in jail once the gangs find out he’s a fake.
Nelson told us on the phone that they are getting a lawyer to get him out of jail fast so that nothing happens. Nelson was probably grateful for having diarreah that day.
Raul spent 3 nights awake, following reccomendations from fellow inmates that warned about rape. An “agreement” was made with the lawyer and he was released unharmed.
While interred he was strip searched by a female, photographed and printed,-his identity being entered into some database.
We found out that the police make a business out of this, keeping tags on people they pick up in street sweeps, keep them jailed, and getting paid off by lawyers. A circular business. Knowing that the PNC are probably thumb and nail with Salvadoran intelligience and Homeland security, little Raul’s face is probably in the Al-Qaeda checklist database.
same as here in USA Obama only can be the one,
however both their lives I am sure are in danger,
if anything happens to either one then another bloodbath it will be
Viva La Revolucion, in whichever form it needs to be
it is time for us HIPPIES