WASHINGTON DC - U.S. Rep. Bill Delahunt, Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on International Organizations, Human Rights, and Oversight, praised today’s inauguration of Mauricio Funes in El Salvador as the country’s first president from the FMLN, a party of leftist former guerrillas who laid down their arms in 1992 after a bitter, 12-year civil war. 

“This is a significant day for democracy in El Salvador,” said Delahunt, who attended the inauguration in the Salvadoran capital San Salvador as part of an official US government delegation led by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton.  “This peaceful transfer of power between parties who at one time were on opposite sides of a brutal war demonstrates the health and maturity of El Salvador’s democracy.  And it serves as an example to the rest of the world that ballots, not bullets, are the path to victory with full legitimacy and respect.”  

President Funes succeeds Antonio Saca, whose conservative ARENA party was founded during the conflict by FMLN opponents.  In his inaugural address, Funes singled out President Barack Obama as an inspiration to him and to all Salvadorans.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by representatives of every government in Latin America.  Also joining Secretary Clinton and Chairman Delahunt were Representatives Eliot Engel (D-NY), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, and Gregory Meeks (D-NY), Chairman of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on International Monetary Policy and Trade.