Antonio Saca
| Elías Antonio Saca | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| President of El Salvador | |
|
In office June 1, 2004 – June 1, 2009 |
|
| Vice President | Ana Vilma de Escobar (2004-2009) |
| Preceded by | Francisco Flores |
| Succeeded by | Mauricio Funes |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Elías Antonio Saca González March 9, 1965 Usulután, El Salvador |
| Political party |
ARENA (Before 2010) GANA (2013–present) |
| Spouse(s) | Ana Ligia Mixco (m. 1989) |
| Alma mater | Central American University |
| Religion | Evangelicalism |
Elías Antonio "Tony" Saca González (born March 9, 1965) is a Salvadoran politician who was President of El Salvador from 2004 to 2009.
Born in Usulután, Saca is of Palestinian Arab descent on his father's side, a family of Catholic Christian immigrants who arrived in El Salvador in the early 20th century from the town of Bethlehem. Saca's maternal grandfather, Musa Ali Saleh, was a Muslim until converting to Catholicism and changing his name to Moises Gonzalez. Prior to becoming President he was a broadcast journalist, specializing in sports radio and a prominent businessman. He attended the University of Central America. He is an outspoken Evangelical Protestant and has expressed his faith through his historic friendliness with Salvadoran and American Protestant churches.
Saca married Ana Ligia Mixco Sol de Saca on August 11, 1989. The couple have thee children, Gerardo Antonio, Jose Alejandro and Christian Eduardo.
On March 21, 2004, Saca was elected President of El Salvador, and on June 1, 2004 succeeded President Francisco Flores. Both Saca and Flores are members of the conservative Nationalist Republican Alliance party, generally known by its Spanish-language acronym ARENA.
During the election campaign, some commentators criticized Saca's lack of political experience. In the election, Saca defeated leftist Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) candidate, Schafik Handal, also of Arab descent. The election results were:
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