Leftist wins in El Salvador

A leftist television journalist won El Salvador's presidential elections, bringing a party of former guerrillas to power and ending two decades of conservative rule.

Mauricio Funes of the rebel-group-turned-political-party Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, became the latest leftist to rise to power in Latin America.

With 90 per cent of the vote counted, Funes had 51 per cent compared to 49 per cent for Rodrigo Avila of the ruling conservative Arena Party.