Local PR Exec Runs for El Salvador's Congress

With elections decided in the local area, one local businessman is beginning his quest for congress in South America.

Rafael Flores, 40, owns Flores Public Relations and International Consulting, which is based in East Meadow, and he recently told Newsday that he is running for one of the six open Salvadoran congress seats in March.

From Newsday:

Flores, who has been a community activist and travels to El Salvador frequently, said that he can run for office in that country as long as he maintains a residence there. Flores has a home in Sonsonate, in the western part of the country. Flores says he has received much support from Salvadorans in the United States and in his native country, and that his campaign is based on ridding the nation of "corruption."

Flores encountered legal problems six years ago when he pleaded guilty, along with his brother Herberth, to being part of a scam to sell patient information at

"I apologized 100 times" for the crime, Rafael Flores told Newsday. "I'm a human being. I made a mistake. I'm not proud of what happened, but I'm looking forward to this opportunity."