News In Brief

Returns in El Salvador, Ecuador, Panama come in

Three Latin American countries held presidential elections, with moderate Jose Napoleon Duarte claiming victory in El Salvador Monday and vowing to eradicate death squads in his war-torn nation. (See related stories on Pages 1 and 14.)

In Ecuador, Leon Febres Cordero, a conservative millionaire businessman, claimed a surprise victory Monday in the runoff presidential election there. He pledged to take the oil-rich country out of its worst economic slump in 50 years.

In Panama, both front-runners claimed the lead Monday. Arnulfo Arias Madrid, belonging to a four-party coalition, and Nicolas Ardito Barletta, handpicked by the Army and backed by a coalition of six parties, are both pro-American. Sunday's presidential vote was the first after 16 years of military rule.