Resumen

RAMOS, CARLOS G; LOYA, NAYELLY  y  ARTEAGA, ERIKA A. El Salvador 2008: Between Ideological Polarization and Economic Crisis. Rev. cienc. polít. (Santiago) [online]. 2009, vol.29, n.2, pp. 407-428. ISSN 0718-090X.  doi: 10.4067/S0718-090X2009000200008.

During 2008 the dynamics of the country focused on the second general elections in the post-civil war, where will be renewed the executive, the legislative and the members of the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN), and the mayors of the 262 municipalities. The electoral atmosphere, the campaigns, and above all, the contest for the presidency marked the political discourse and behavior of all sectors of the society. At the end of the year, El Salvador observed clear signs of a heightened political polarization - that even the local effects of the international financial crisis could dilute-, and was preparing to enter to a new scenery that could be mark, for the first time in 20 years, by the possibility of the presidency's alternation.

Palabras clave : El Salvador; elections; XVIII Cumbre Iberoamericana; ARENA; FMLN.