Schafik Handal
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Schafik Jorge Handal (born October 13/14, 1930) is a Salvadoran politician. He is the son of Palestinian immigrants.
Between 1959 and 1994, he was the general secretary of the Communist Party of El Salvador. As a guerrilla leader in the late 1970s and early 1980s, he was a member of the group that brought five opposition forces together to found the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN.)
Following the signing of the Chapultepec Peace Accords in 1992, the FMLN converted itself from a guerrilla army into a political party, and Handal served as its general coordinator. In 1997, he was elected to the National Assembly, serving as the leader of the FMLN's party bloc in the legislature.
He was the FMLN's candidate in El Salvador's 2004 presidential election, held on March 21, running on a leftist platform that called for a more distant relationship with the United States, renegotiation of free trade treaties and a closer relationship with socialist-oriented countries in Latin America, including Cuba, Venezuela and Brazil. Opponents accused Handal of exploiting anti-American sentiment while FMLN supporters accused the United States of corrupting the electoral process, because several high ranking American officials stated that American relations with El Salvador would be seriously threatened if Handal won the elections. This opinion was strengthened by the fact that the opposing ARENA stated that the United States might deport Salvadorians who live in the US after a leftist election victory. Handal was defeated by the candidate of the ruling conservative ARENA party, Antonio Saca, by a margin of 58% to 36%. The election saw a turnout of 70% at the polls.
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