Mauricio Funes

When Mauricio Funes took office a year ago as El Salvador's first leftist president, he promised to "reinvent" the impoverished, polarized nation. "The Salvadoran people asked for change, and change starts now," he proclaimed in his inaugural speech. His election was greeted with high expectations and celebration by many Salvadorans who had long felt disenfranchised. A year later, Funes faces an avalanche of criticism, from opponents and supporters alike, over broken promises, corrupt management and a failure to halt rising violence that threatens to turn the nation into "a criminal state."

Aldo Damian, 15, seems a likely recruit for the rough, and often abbreviated, life of a street-gang member in El Salvador. Aldo is poor, doesn't know his father and says he is unaware what his mother does for a living. Instead of going to school, he passes the day with members of a gang he hasn't yet officially joined. What to do with such boys? Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes has an idea: Draft them. Funes, a leftist who came into office two years ago, is proposing a form of obligatory military service he says would combat the growth of gangs in this violence-plagued Central American nation.

Back in the 1990s, when he was a television reporter who relished tweaking the government, Mauricio Funes accepted an invitation from the president to dine at his home and receive an award. Funes asked if he could tape the ceremony for his mother. The president, Armando Calderon Sol, consented. Then, at the moment of the toast, Funes launched into a scathing rebuke of Calderon and what Funes considered to be government abuse and corruption.

El Salvador's president, Mauricio Funes, the country's first leftist leader since the end of its civil war in 1992, finds himself preoccupied with a deepening struggle against criminal gangs and international drug cartels. Since winning office in 2009, Funes has deployed the army to back up police, who are trying to curb a drug-fueled homicide rate that claims about 12 victims a day. On Thursday, he signed a controversial law criminalizing gang membership. The gangs responded by shutting down nationwide public transportation with the threat of violence.

Salvadorans on Sunday elected a former TV reporter as the country's first leftist president, unseating a conservative party that ruled for two decades and choosing a government that will be dominated by former guerrillas. Mauricio Funes, an affable political moderate running on behalf of the leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, or FMLN, claimed victory after nearly complete returns gave him a lead that experts said was insurmountable. "This is the happiest night of my life, and I also want it to be the night of greatest hope for El Salvador," an emotional Funes said in a crowded hotel conference room, as cameras flashed and supporters cheered.

Mauricio Funes, a television journalist whose party once fought a bloody guerrilla war in El Salvador, on Monday became the country's first leftist president amid emotional symbols of landmark change. Funes, a 49-year-old moderate elected under the banner of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, cast himself as a motor of change for El Salvador, in the mold of President Obama and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil.

Like a prizefighter nearing the ring, Mauricio Funes strides through a gantlet of feverish fans. Booming speakers blare an old left-wing political anthem while a fluttering canopy of red campaign banners lends a celebratory air to this sweltering farm town. It is an intoxicating moment for Funes, a presidential candidate, and his flag-waving backers from the Salvadoran left. In what would be an improbable turn, Funes could be the next leader of this famously conservative country.

El Salvador's president, Mauricio Funes, the country's first leftist leader since the end of its civil war in 1992, finds himself preoccupied with a deepening struggle against criminal gangs and international drug cartels. Since winning office in 2009, Funes has deployed the army to back up police, who are trying to curb a drug-fueled homicide rate that claims about 12 victims a day. On Thursday, he signed a controversial law criminalizing gang membership. The gangs responded by shutting down nationwide public transportation with the threat of violence.

Aldo Damian, 15, seems a likely recruit for the rough, and often abbreviated, life of a street-gang member in El Salvador. Aldo is poor, doesn't know his father and says he is unaware what his mother does for a living. Instead of going to school, he passes the day with members of a gang he hasn't yet officially joined. What to do with such boys? Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes has an idea: Draft them. Funes, a leftist who came into office two years ago, is proposing a form of obligatory military service he says would combat the growth of gangs in this violence-plagued Central American nation.

For anyone who witnessed the horror show of El Salvador's 12-year civil war, the ballot-box victory of former leftist guerrillas there on Sunday was a stunning development. Though it took another 17 years after the war ended, the country now joins Northern Ireland in demonstrating that it is possible for a rebel group to effect political change and assume power through peaceful means. That's a gratifying development.

When Mauricio Funes took office a year ago as El Salvador's first leftist president, he promised to "reinvent" the impoverished, polarized nation. "The Salvadoran people asked for change, and change starts now," he proclaimed in his inaugural speech. His election was greeted with high expectations and celebration by many Salvadorans who had long felt disenfranchised. A year later, Funes faces an avalanche of criticism, from opponents and supporters alike, over broken promises, corrupt management and a failure to halt rising violence that threatens to turn the nation into "a criminal state."

Mauricio Funes, a television journalist whose party once fought a bloody guerrilla war in El Salvador, on Monday became the country's first leftist president amid emotional symbols of landmark change. Funes, a 49-year-old moderate elected under the banner of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, cast himself as a motor of change for El Salvador, in the mold of President Obama and President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva of Brazil.

The inauguration of El Salvador's first leftist president on Monday was another democratic landmark in Latin America, and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's attendance at the ceremony was a welcome show of U.S. support for this peaceful transfer of power between parties that fought on opposite sides of the country's civil war.

Back in the 1990s, when he was a television reporter who relished tweaking the government, Mauricio Funes accepted an invitation from the president to dine at his home and receive an award. Funes asked if he could tape the ceremony for his mother. The president, Armando Calderon Sol, consented. Then, at the moment of the toast, Funes launched into a scathing rebuke of Calderon and what Funes considered to be government abuse and corruption.

Salvadorans on Sunday elected a former TV reporter as the country's first leftist president, unseating a conservative party that ruled for two decades and choosing a government that will be dominated by former guerrillas. Mauricio Funes, an affable political moderate running on behalf of the leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, or FMLN, claimed victory after nearly complete returns gave him a lead that experts said was insurmountable. "This is the happiest night of my life, and I also want it to be the night of greatest hope for El Salvador," an emotional Funes said in a crowded hotel conference room, as cameras flashed and supporters cheered.

For much of the 16 months he's been campaigning to become El Salvador's first leftist president, Mauricio Funes seemed headed for a landslide victory. But three days before Salvadorans vote, there are signs that the outcome is far from certain as tensions rise throughout this violent, polarized country. Funes, a former television reporter, is the widely popular candidate of the onetime guerrilla movement that fought U.S.

For much of the 16 months he's been campaigning to become El Salvador's first leftist president, Mauricio Funes seemed headed for a landslide victory. But three days before Salvadorans vote, there are signs that the outcome is far from certain as tensions rise throughout this violent, polarized country. Funes, a former television reporter, is the widely popular candidate of the onetime guerrilla movement that fought U.S.

Like a prizefighter nearing the ring, Mauricio Funes strides through a gantlet of feverish fans. Booming speakers blare an old left-wing political anthem while a fluttering canopy of red campaign banners lends a celebratory air to this sweltering farm town. It is an intoxicating moment for Funes, a presidential candidate, and his flag-waving backers from the Salvadoran left. In what would be an improbable turn, Funes could be the next leader of this famously conservative country.