NEWS NOTES- East Meadow exec runs for office in El Salvador

http://www.newsday.com/columnists/james-bernstein/east-meadow-exec-runs-for-office-in-el-salvador-1.3324246?p


East Meadow exec runs for office in El Salvador
November 16, 2011 11:06 AM By JAMES BERNSTEIN james.bernstein@newsday.com

Rafael Flores, who lives in East Meadow, wears a hat like one he typically wears while campaigning in El Salvador for congress.

The elections on Long Island and elsewhere are over, but East Meadow-based public relations executive Rafael Flores is just beginning to run -- for congress, in El Salvador.

Flores, 40, owner of Flores Public Relations and International Consulting, says he is a candidate for one of six seats in the Salvadoran congress in elections coming up in March.

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."


And speaking of that, Flores faces another problem, in addition to not living in El Salvador year-round: He and his brother, Herberth Flores, pleaded guilty in 2005 to felony charges for taking part in a scam to sell patient information from Nassau University Medical Center.

Herberth was sentenced to 60 days in jail and Rafael to 45 days.


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

Herberth Flores, who in 2010 was named deputy director of Nassau's Office of Minority Affairs, said he supports his brother's candidacy. "I'm sure he will be excellent for the people," he said.