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The new President-elect of El Salvador, Mauricio Funes, made his first foreign trip this past week to meet with Brazilian President Lula da Silva. The candidate of the leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front claimed victory over his opponent Rodrigo Avila of the Nationalist Republican Alliance Party in a historic election held just last week. The president-elect of the FMLN party was able to prevail electorally despite what one European Union observer called an “absence of a level playing field.” Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was the first head of state to congratulate Funes on his electoral win. Last Wednesday, President Barack Obama, whose administration issued a statement of neutrality prior to the Central American nation’s election, followed by phoning Funes to congratulate him while sharing his interest in cooperating in numerous issues such as the current global economic recession. The former TV news reporter turned President-elect is slated to take office on June 1st. Funes has already made good on one campaign promise by stating last week his administration’s intentions to re-establish diplomatic ties with Cuba which have been severed since 1959.

GUESTS: Isaura Rivera-Anagnos, head of the FMLN – Comisión de la Mujer, Board member of the FMLN, Aris Anagnos, Vice President of Americans for Democratic Action.