Retired general becomes new security minister

Retired general David Munguía Payés, the former Minister of Defense, was named by president Mauricio Funes to be the new Minister of Justice and Public Security. This appointment of a military man who had been a commander in the armed forces during El Salvador's civil war has been condemned by the FMLN and by human rights groups. It has generally been supported by the right wing parties in the country. The appointment of a man who, as recently as May, was the senior commander of the armed forces, is viewed by many as a violation of the spirit, if not the terms, of the 1992 Peace Accords which took the armed forces out of internal policing roles.