Word: handal
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...more mainstream political branding: Funes, 49, a former television journalist, is the first FMLN presidential candidate who was never a guerrilla commander. In El Salvador's last presidential election, in 2004, the FMLN led in early polls until it announced its candidate - the former communist and guerrilla chief Schafik Handal - and went on to be crushed by the ARENA incumbent. This time, the right-wing party managed to narrow Funes' early lead in the polls by painting him, often maliciously, as a puppet of the more radical Latin left led by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. The Chavez gambit may have...
...Steady Grip on Power EL SALVADOR The right-wing Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) won the presidential election for the fourth time in a row. Its candidate, Tony Saca, took 58% of the vote compared to 36% for his main rival, Schafik Handal of the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, the former guerrilla coalition...
...guerrillas sound determined to fight unless a newly elected government proves unexpectedly willing to reopen negotiations. Warns Cirilo: "We have a genuine desire for peace. But that should not be mistaken for weakness." Schafik Jorge Handal, head of the Salvadoran Communist Party and one of the F.M.L.N.'s top five comandantes, agrees. "If the military says no to our plan, then that indicates their intention of defeating us militarily," he says. "That would oblige us to respond, and the product would be a deepening of the war." Roberto, a veteran E.R.P. combatant is more direct: "If the elections are held...
...relative stature of the three other F.M.L.N. chieftains remains a matter of speculation. There is Shafik Jorge Handal, 53, general secretary of the Salvadoran Communist Party and commander of its armed wing, the 1,500-member Armed Forces of Liberation. The son of Palestinian immigrants, Handal has been the F.M.L.N.'s main go-between with the Soviet Union and Cuba. He first led the Communists into armed action in 1979. Because of his standing in Moscow, Handal's influence in guerrilla councils may be out of proportion to the size of his forces...
According to the U.S. State Department, Handal has close links with the Soviet Union and Cuba, and often travels to both countries, as well as to other East bloc members. He also has ties to the Palestine Liberation Organization, and in particular to its leader, Yasser Arafat. Handal has been active in the purchase of arms for the Salvadoran guerrillas. Richard Araujo, a Latin American expert at the Heritage Foundation, says of Handal: "He'd like to be the Latin American Arafat...