Tracking Presidential Races in El Salvador & Costa Rica (Lp1312014)

The surging popularity of left-wing parties in Central America and the fear tactics used against them take center stage for this preview on Latin Pulse of the presidential elections coming in El Salvador and Costa Rica. In El Salvador, a former guerrilla leader is the frontrunner to be the next president. In Costa Rica, although the center-left ruling party leads the polls, strong challenges are coming from farther left on the political spectrum. The news segment provides an update on drug violence in the Mexican state of Michoacan and the new pact between the Mexican government and vigilante groups. The program includes interviews with: Geoff Thale of the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA); and Francisco Robles Rivera of the Universidad Nacional and the Universidad de Costa Rica. Executive Producer: Rick Rockwell; and Associate Producer: Megan Ekhaml. The photo of political campaigning in Costa Rica is from the campaign of Johnny Araya of the PLN and is in the public domain. “Latin Pulse” is produced at American University’s School of Communication. This program is sponsored by the university’s Center for Latin American & Latino Studies (CLALS), in association with Link TV. http://www.american.edu/soc/ http://www.american.edu/clals/latin-pulse.cfm