El Salvador joins rights council

For the first time in its history, El Salvador was elected as a member of the Human Rights Council of the United Nations.

Along with Bolivia and Paraguay, El Salvador will participate in the Council for three years, starting January 1, 2015.

El Salvador received a total of 151 votes, the highest level of support by Member States of the UN, said Salvadoran Foreign Minister Hugo Martinez.

The election is "a recognition of the confidence that the international community gives El Salvador, based on our commitment to respect and promote human rights," said Martinez.

El Salvador in recent years has sought to project an image of a society which seeks peaceful solutions to conflict, including a 2013 truce between gangs and government, while healing the scars of the civil war, which ravaged the country in the 1980s.

The mission of the Council, which has 47 members, is to promote and protect human rights worldwide.