Jul
Politics
FMLN members captured in El Salvador
Earlier today people were sharing information about the apprehension of Violeta Menjivar, former Health Minister during Mauricio Funes’ administration. People were concerned since she was not informed of the charges against her.
Little by little, more names were added to the list.
LA PRENSA GRAFICA reports:
Five former FMLN officials were captured this afternoon and the arrest of another four for the crime of money laundering is pending, announced the attorney general Rodolfo Delgado at a press conference called this Thursday night at the Police Investigations Subdirectorate. National Civil (PNC) where the detainees are located.
The detainees are the former Minister of Health and former Mayor of San Salvador, Violeta Menjívar; the former Vice Minister of Science and Technology, Erlinda Hándal; the former Vice Minister of Agriculture, Hugo Flores, the former Minister of Finance, Carlos Cáceres and the former deputy Calixto Mejía.
The attorney general appointed by the new Legislative Assembly on May 1st, Rodolfo Delgado added during a press conference that there are four other warrants against the following officials:
- Salvador Sánchez Cerén, for crimes allegedly committed when he was Vice President of the Republic between 2009 and 2014.
- Gerson Martínez, former Minister of Public Works.
- Lina Pohl, former Minister of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN).
- José Guillermo López Suárez, who was Minister of Agriculture between 2010 and 2012 and president of the Autonomous Executive Port Commission (CEPA).
The attorney general assured that the former officials are accused of appropriating public funds. According to the prosecution’s accusations, the amounts embezzled from the State by each defendant are:
- Salvador Sánchez Cerén: $ 530,000
- Carlos Cáceres: $ 210,000
- Calixto Mejía: $ 208,000
- Lina Pohl: $ 177,000
- Guillermo López: $ 565,000
- Violeta Menjívar: $ 177,000
- Hugo Flores: $ 174,000
- Erlinda Hándal: $ 162,000
- Gerson Martínez: $ 290,000
Delgado warned that the arrests will continue and will request an international notice. They will also initiate processes to request the extinction of ownership of their assets.
The director of the Police, Mauricio Arriaza Chicas, said that the missing former officials are out of the country but he refrained from giving information about their whereabouts.
While the Public Prosecutor’s Office and Security authorities gave the press conference, a protest was taking place outside. Members of the party denounced since the afternoon that these arrests did not follow legal procedures and demanded that their right to due process and human rights be respected.
The FMLN released a statement in which they declare:
It is clear that the regime acts with this kind of political violence and political persecution in the face of the rejection towards unpopular and harmful policies such as the Bitcoin law, laws that allow impunity in cases of corruption of the current government such as the Alabí Law and the clear setback in terms of access to public information.
It is important to remember that there are no longer guarantees of due process in El Salvador. The former constitutional chamber was dismantled and its new members were chosen by the Legislative Assembly ruled by Nuevas Ideas. In recent days, another FMLN member, Lorena Peña, was interviewed by one Legislative commission investigating the Non-Governmental and feminist organization “Las Melidas”. There she endured vicious and misogynistic attacks.
On the other hand, it was recently revealed that the police director, Arriaza Chicas, earns more than 5,000 dollars a month. Chicas once asked people to refrain from sharing information about disappeared Salvadorans on social media and that most cases were just a “change of address“. These remarks were remembered when several bodies were found in Chalchuapa, in a house owned by a former cop, Hugo Ernesto Osorio.
The allegations that these captures are just another smoke-screen after what has been described as the “first cracks” in Bukele’s administration are not far-fetched, especially since it has been mentioned that members of the army have been “on alert” during the last couple of weeks.
Sister Cities will be soon reaching out to you asking your support during these difficult times for civil society organizations and Human Rights in El Salvador.
Agentes de la UMO llegaron a la Subdirección Central de Investigaciones de la @PNCSV donde se mantienen concentrados los simpatizantes del @FMLNoficial.
Vía @AlejandraBara_ #Teleprensa33 #Nacionales pic.twitter.com/qcXzfMNjZR
— Teleprensa (@Teleprensa33) July 23, 2021
