On Dec. 20 El Salvador's Legislative Assembly approved a request by President Antonio Saca to extend the presence of Salvadoran troops in Iraq until Dec. 31, 2008. This will give Saca the authority to send two more six-month rotations; Salvadoran soldiers have been part of the US-led occupation force in Iraq since August 2003. El Salvador, which has lost five soldiers, is the only Latin American country with troops in Iraq. The leftist Farabundo Marti Front for National Liberation (FMLN) opposed the extension, which was supported by Saca's Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA); 46 of the Assembly's 84 deputies voted for keeping troops in Iraq. (El Diario-La Prensa, NY, Dec. 22 from AP)

From Weekly News Update on the Americas, Dec. 30

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