Mauricio Funes recently was elected president in El Salvador, ending two decades of conservative rule.

The people you see here are from the Central American nation El Salvador. They are celebrating the recent election of the man in the left photo, Mauricio Funes. They are excited because after 20 years of having the government controlled by one party, a new party is in power and is promising change. Do you think one political party could ever keep power for that long in our own country?

Mr. Funes, a former television journalist, is part of a party called the Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, or FMLN. Although the FMLN are very peaceful today, 30 years ago, they were part of a group that worked to defeat the government during a 12-year civil war. Small groups of fighters that use military means to try to bring down a country's government are known as guerrilla fighters. Many people were watching this election closely because of the history of the FMLN party. But Mr. Funes and his party were voted into office because many people weren't happy with how things were going under the previous government.

This tiny country has a lot of problems with poverty and crime. Although it will be very difficult, President-elect Funes said he hopes to ease those problems. He also said that he wants to continue his country's close ties to the U.S. government. Unfortunately, the United States' involvement in this country has some tragic history. Let's take a further look.