El Salvador Perspectives

Last week Nayib Bukele took steps to terminate the agreement between his government and the Secretary General of the Organization of American States ("OAS") under which the OAS sponsors the Commission Against Corruption and Impunity in El Salvador  ("CICIES" for its initials in Spanish).  Creating such a commission was one of the central promises of Bukele's 2019 campaign for the presidency of El Salvador when he told voters "there's enough money when nobody steals."  Today the OAS and others assert that Bukele is kicking CICIES out of the country because the commission spent too much time investigating potential corruption in Bukele's own government, and not enough time pursuing Bukele's political opponents.  Ostensibly, the termination of CICIES under the auspices of the OAS centers around the person of Ernesto Muyshondt, Bukele's successor as mayor of San Salvador from 2018-2021.  Muyshondt was recently defeated in his reelection bid...

Investigators from the office of the Attorney General of El Salvador ("FGR" for its initials in Spanish) raided the offices of various government ministries between November 9 and 12 to gather documents and computer files. The investigators held a judicial order in an investigation of possible corruption in pandemic-related contracting by the government.   The transactions in question total as much as $155 million according to reporting by RevistaFactum .    Reportedly two thirds of the contracts used to purchase medical supplies during the pandemic are under investigation. While the Ministry of Health was the primary focus, investigators also showed up at the Ministry of the Treasury, the Ministry of Agriculture and the water authority ANDA, as well as several businesses tied to government officials or their families.  Among the questioned contracts are ones purchasing $12.6 million in PPE at inflated prices from a Spanish auto parts distributor which had ...

During the presidential election campaign of Nayib Bukele, the fight against corruption was one of his major themes.    He used the slogan "there is enough money when nobody steals," and promised the creation of a Commission against Corruption and Impunity in El Salvador ("CICIES" for its initials in Spanish).   The acronym CICIES was intentionally similar to CICIG, the anti-corruption commission in Guatemala backed by the United Nations which exposed and prosecuted corruption of powerful leaders in the country. Seven months into the Bukele presidency, there is an entity called CICIES, and we are able to better understand what this organization will do and what will be its limitations.  CICIES is the creation of agreements executed between the Organization of American States (OAS) and El Salvador.  A key document was signed in December between the OAS and the office of attorney general (FGR) Raúl Melara, to describe the role of CICIES along with ...

Here is a collection of English language articles regarding Nayib Bukele's first 100 days in office and the launch of the International Commission Against Impunity in El Salvador (CICIES): Global Americans:  El Salvador’s CICIES is a good start, but it’s going to need a lot of work Americas Quarterly:  Can El Salvador's New Anti-Corruption Commission Deliver? Revista Factum:  Bukele Announces his CICIES with no Legislative or Judicial Backing El Faro:  Government and OAS Announce Technical Round Table for a CICIES Subordinate to the Executive Branch Reuters:  United Nations to aid El Salvador anti-corruption body NACLA:   100 Days of Nayib Bukele in El Salvador: Social Movement Perspectives World Politics Review:  Is El Salvador’s New Social-Media Savvy President Promising Too Much?  (subscription required)