Dec
Politics
Eventful week for the Salvadoran Government
(EN ESPAÑOL AQUÍ)
It’s only Wednesday and the start of December but several things have happened in El Salvador. Here’s a sample of some news reports:
Ministry of Tourism to go to trial for payments made to Chepe Diablo’s hotels and to Minister Alabí’s cousin
The Minister of Tourism Morena Valdez will face an accounts trial for the unjustified payment of $764,135.90 to 21 hotels and a house owned by a cousin of the Minister of Health, Francisco Alabí, who were supposed to function as quarantine centers for suspected cases of covid -19. In the opinion of the Court of Accounts, to date there is no certainty as to whether these hotels and private houses fulfilled their goal: to isolate citizens suspected of carrying the virus for 30 days.
In every purchase process, there is a delegate from an administrative unit who prepares a document that explains why the institution needs to acquire a good or service, but the auditors identified that Tourism ignored this step and signed 238 purchase orders for $5,305,677.22. “As a consequence, services were contracted not based on the Ministry’s needs, as the entity in charge of the containment centers; therefore, the risk of excessive and unjustified contracts increases”, the auditors conclude.
(EL FARO)
“Ad honorem” ministers and deputy ministers were paid almost half a million dollars
Three ministers and six ad honorem deputy ministers from the Government of Nayib Bukele have cost $462,456 in 16 months of this administration. This alternate payment exceeds the salaries established for those positions in the Salary Law and violates the Governmental Ethics Law.
The Minister of Housing, Michelle Sol de Castro; the Minister of Local Development, María Chichilco; the Deputy Minister of Finance, Jerson Posada; the Deputy Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Alex Michel Hasbún; and the Deputy Minister of Security, Mauricio Arriaza Chicas are officials with an alternative salary. As it is the case for the former Minister of Finance, Nelson Fuentes; the former deputy Minister of Finance, Óscar Anaya; the former Deputy Minister of Revenue, Douglas Rodríguez; and the former Deputy Minister of Foreign Relations, Integration and Economic Promotion, Cindy Portal.
On January 3, 2020, Fuentes signed the contract 33/2020 and Anaya the contract 34/2020. In this way, Anaya authorized, once again, the monthly payment of $7,500 to Fuentes for being an advisor to his own office and Fuentes authorized, in turn, that of Anaya. This alternative wage mechanism did not start in the current government. Fuentes and Anaya used the same formula to charge more than what is established by the Salary Law for their positions since the last year of the FMLN government, ruled by Salvador Sánchez Cerén.
Fuentes and Anaya were the only trusted officials who survived the change of government. The two were the only ones who had the benefit of the alternate salary with the new administration.
Bukele had already reneged on alternate payments before taking office. On March 13, 2019, in his speech to the Heritage Foundation, Bukele promised that his “ministers will not receive bonuses, as they did in previous and current governments (of Sáchez Cerén)”.
“Nuevas Ideas” sympathizers lock up magistrates and employees of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal in El Salvador
Supporters of the NI party demand that the Supreme Electoral Tribune (TSE) register their candidacies. The TSE has registered 8 legislative forms of Nuevas Ideas.
Candidates for deputies, mayors and supporters of Nuevas Ideas blocked access to the headquarters of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal of El Salvador for almost five hours, preventing the departure of the institution’s staff and magistrates.
…the Attorney General of the Republic, Raúl Melara, reported on Twitter at 8:45 p.m. that he had given “guidelines to the National Civil Police to intervene according to its mandate, in relation to deprivation of liberty to the detriment of TSE employees”, in addition, “failure to act in accordance with the law will make them incur the respective penal sanctions”, he warned.
Ministry of Finance blocked access to auditors of the Court of Accounts to monitor the use of funds
The blockade of the entity arises a few weeks after a study made by the same organization established that the Government had the funds to pay the FODES (Funds for mayor offices) and the payment of the salaries of employees of the Legislative Assembly. The latter were retained for several weeks by the Executive.
“According to the data, in the preliminary financial analysis that the audit team has, we have corroborated that there were funds to make the transfers” said Roberto Anzora, president of the Court, at the time.
The Government has maintained that the delay in payments has been due to the lack of available funds and has thus tried to negotiate the approval of loans by conditioning the transfers to the approval of funds by the Assembly.
Other government entities have also been in charge of blocking proceedings that seek to control the use of public funds. On November 10, the National Civil Police and the Ministry of Health blocked the entry of delegates from the Office of the Attorney General of the Republic who were seeking to carry out a search of the facilities of that institution as part of the investigations to determine the use of funds during the pandemic.
Fomilenio II suspends works due to lack of allocation of resources and warns of breach of agreement
The institution indicated that the Ministry of Finance informed them that the resources approved by the Legislative Assembly last week are not available because they were used for other things.
The agreement established September 9, 2015 as the beginning and September 9, 2020 as the closing date, the maximum date to receive funds from MCC (Millenium Challenge Corporation) and the projects that are still in execution must be completed with the resources assigned by the Government of El Salvador before January 7, 2021.
However, the state counterpart was not included in the 2020 budget and, after a series of efforts in recent months in the Legislative Assembly, they approved the allocation of $50 million to it last week. (Bukele threatened with a veto)
Reactions to Monday’s events outside the Supreme Electoral Tribunal
The fact that the PNC (National police) did not proceed to bring order to the protesters and to ensure that the employees could regain their freedom was criticized.
“It is worrying that we are facing a situation like that in the country, which tarnishes the democratic process. We condemn it, we do not agree with the deprivation of liberty of employees”, said Yanci Urbina (FMLN), who also questioned the actions of the police.
Deputy Guillermo Gallegos of the Gran Alianza por la Unidad Nacional (GANA) argued that on previous occasions the political parties have demonstrated in a similar way and it has not been considered alarming. “I do not see it as that alarming as to say that there were hostages”, he said.
During the meeting of the finance commission at the Legislative Assembly, where Rogelio Rivas, minister of security and justice attended to justify the 2021 budget for that ministry, the legislators questioned him about the events. However, the official only said that there is an agreement signed with the TSE to guarantee the support of the police corporation in the elections.
Later, he told the press that the deputies are trying to politicize the event. “There was a concentration but at no time was there violence (…) the deputies will try to discredit the PNC, but we will continue to focus on fighting crime,” he said.
Ministry of Environment authorizes the Dueñas family to build the Valle el Ángel urban project
Despite the fact that environmental organizations delivered letters and signatures against the execution of the urban project, the MARN (Ministry of the Environment) ignored the citizens’ rejection of the project.
The megaproject will cover 228.06 hectares located in one of the most important water recharge zones for San Salvador. If this project is consummated, an important aquifer recharge zone would be affected, the source of the Chacalapa River, which supplies 60 thousand people from different communities of Apopa and neighboring municipalities, as well as serious damage to the ecosystem and wildlife in the area.
(TVX)
Pablo Anliker answers to the Legislative Assembly on the expenses of the Ministry of Agriculture (MAG)
After his presentation, the deputy Yanci Urbina, of the FMLN, questioned him that the figures he reports in relation to what he has really spent with the FOPROMID fund for the pandemic do not match. According to Anliker, the MAG has executed $145.8 million from that fund, but according to Urbina, the presentation brought reflects an expenditure of $207 million with money from FOPROMID.
When questioned by Urbina, the Minister of Agriculture turned around to consult with his technicians, who informed him that it is true that only $145.8 million have been executed, but that the rest, $62 million, are “accounts payable for purchases” made.
