Interview of Mauricio Funes on Al Jazeera

The English language channel of Al Jazeera, which has a long history of good quality reporting from El Salvador, posted on its website a twenty minute interview with president Mauricio Funes. The interview begins with a discussion of the crime problem in El Salvador and continues with a wide-ranging discussion of the challenges Funes has faced in his first two years in office. Well worth watching.

Comments

1. It made me sick to hear him make excuses that it's just the bad gang members killing each other. Few "innocent" people are dying. It's not true, and even if it were, the implications are still sickenning.

2. He admitted that the zetas are infilitrating the PNC and army to get weapons, and then later contradicted himself by saying that organized crime has not infiltrated the Salvadoran state. Furthermore, he said that organized crime was in the state back when he was a journalist!

3. I completely agree with his closing remarks about the point of having power--what is the point if you just leave things as they are so the priveledge few can stay on top? My only disagreement, of course, is that I would say he needs to ask himself that question.