Wednesday, March 17, 2004

The morning papers

Today is the last day in which any kind of campaigning is permitted, so the papers are rife with full-page ads from different parties and organizations. La Prensa Gráfica's coverage goes along way toward assuaging concerns about any possible fraud, as its main headline notes that the TSE (Supreme Electoral Tribunal) has corrected most of its computer difficulties. An interview with FMLN magistrate Julio Hernández is also reassuring, as he notes that any technical problems will only affect the preliminary vote count in the immediate aftermath of the elections. The final vote count, which may take a week or more, is based on a review of the reports from each ballot box, will be totally reliable.

El Diario de Hoy, on the other hand, leads with the Inter-American Press Association's critique of FMLN candidate Handal's verbal confrontation with the press. (He especially has a problem with EDH and the television company TCS, which has three TV channels, and has referred to journalists from some of these outlets as "corrupt" and "trash.") EDH reports in only a perfunctory fashion about progress in correcting the TSE's technical problems related to the preliminary vote count.

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