Bukele leads El Salvador's presidential race

Nayib Bukele declared victory in El Salvador's presidential elections on Sunday after securing a decisive lead over his two main rivals.

According to preliminary results from the Supreme Electoral Court (TSE), with more than 87 percent of ballots counted, the 37-year-old former mayor of San Salvador garnered a commanding 53.8 percent of the votes, enough to win the first round.

In second place was Carlos Calleja, candidate of the conservative Nationalist Republican Alliance, with 31 percent of the votes.

Hugo Martinez, candidate of the ruling leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front, trailed in third place, with nearly 14 percent of the votes.

"We have won in the first round, we made history," Bukele told supporters in a victory speech.

The president of the TSE, Julio Olivo, told the press "we have results that mark a definitive trend."

The presidential elections began Sunday morning with the opening of more than 9,000 polling stations throughout the country. More than 5.2 million Salvadorans were eligible to vote, including nearly 6,000 living abroad.